August 9th – Now we’re moving on to late summer, the colour du jour is moving from the purples of willow herb, thistle and buddleia to the oranges and crimsons of hips, haws and berries.
Sparkling with raindrops in the morning sun, this year’s fruitfulness was glorious.
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July 4th – One of the signs of a passing summer is the emergence of various fruits and berries, and their gentle ripening. This morning at Clayhnager, I spotted these rowan berries – beloved of wine and jam makers as well as songbirds – turning from green to a light orange.
Soon they will be a wonderful deep colour, and fall on pavements where they crackle and pop satisfyingly when walked or ridden upon.
The summer really is passing fast now.
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May 10th – One of the most unnoticed blossoms of all that decorate the hedgerows and waysides this time of year is rowan, or mountain ash. This pretty, nicely scented flowers are mostly little appreciated because they appear at the same time as hawthorn flowers, so it all blends into one.
Rowan has beautiful orange berries that are good for jams and wine, and are a lovely splash of late-summer colour.
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July 16th – In Telford, I noticed that following the dry summer, the rowan berries were ripening well, but not large; they look dry, rough and on the verge of shrivelling.
It’ll be interesting to see if other fruits are similarly affected.
It’s a long time since we had a dry summer like this.
July 5th – Always bittersweet to see the berries come; a sign that spring is well and truly gone and summer is peaking.
Still, the Belisha orange berries of the rowan or mountain ash are beautiful in their own right and will bring colour aplenty to hedgerows, parks, verges and thickets for weeks to come, as well as being foraged for jams and jellies.
You can’t escape the passage of summer, so best enjoy it.
May 18th – I said last week, somewhat stupidly, that the blossom season was passing. That was completely and utterly wrong – it’s still in full swing.
Not with the brassy, brash cherries, apple and other fruit blossoms that entertained for an all too short period a few weeks back, but with the more subtle blossoms of humbler hedgerow soldiers – in this case hawthorn and rowan.
Both smell remarkable. Both creamy white, but very different. And both rarely deemed worthy of a mention, but criminally overlooked as they’re beautiful, especially close up.
July 10th – Nice to see the rowan, or mountain ash berries ripening well, adding a welcome splash of orange to hedgerows, verges and thickets.
A useful berry, it can be used to make jam or wine, and birds love it.
Can’t help feeling a tinge of sadness hough that this new arrival signals a notch further towards late summer and the fruiting season.
June 28th – A miserable wet day, but thankfully, I mostly managed to avoid the worst of the rain. Although not great for me, it’ll be good to swell the rapidly growing fruits by the wayside.
How quickly we move to the fruiting phase of summer: Rowan berries, cherries, haws and all manner of delights are now developing steadily and beginning to ripen.
A genuine delight on a dreadful morning, but where the hell is summer slipping away to?
May 17th – The rowan is blossoming at the moment, and I always neglect this beautiful, m creamy with flower, which is a shame, as when you look at it closely, it’s fascinating in it’s beautiful, geometric perfection.
Som many delights in the hedgerows right now.
July 27th – A foul commute in steady rain and a headwind, with the greasy roads I’d experienced a couple of days ago. There was really nothing at all to commend cycling this morning.
And then I passed the ripening rowan berries, bright orange and glistening with raindrops, and the morning didn’t seem as grim anymore.
I love how nature does that.
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