It has been so mild here that I have continued planting trees. I am creating a hedgerow along one length of chain link fence that separates the house from the fields. I want to attract quail which we had in abundance at our last house. I saw a few up the road but there aren’t any flocks that come through our property. I love their cooing and clicking sounds and how they travel in great bunches, running at breakneck speed when they are spooked. We could set our clocks by them and I find them comforting somehow.
So I have planted different varieties of roses along the fence along with a couple of evergreen trees and a new Venus dogwood. We had a beautiful pink dogwood at our last house and a kousa dogwood so I am excited to see how this tree fills out.
We received a Honeycrisp apple tree for Christmas from our friends. We had already researched this tree and planted one in October so we planted the second one in the middle of the orchard.
The apple tree on the far left is a Winter Banana and they taste great. Back right is the new Stella cherry. We aren’t sure how much life is left in the old cherry tree in the middle because it has been pretty badly pruned through the years. The new Honeycrisps are in the foreground and in the middle. These really are amazingly delicious apples with lots of juice and a crispy crunch when you bite into them. They are the rock stars of the apple world and the price reflects that. A bag of Honeycrisps at Costco is $11.99 compared to the Royal Galas at $4.99.
There is another unidentified apple tree on the left that Keith has already lightly pruned. We will have to go to the Saltspring Apple Festival next September with a sample to have it ID’d. At the far back left is a purple plum tree that had a huge crop this summer. The plums were ripening just as we were moving in last August so the wasps got to them before we could get a good harvest. We will see if next year is an off year or not as I find they are usually a biennial crop.
I also got the Weeping Mulberry tree planted yesterday on the corner of the patio. The birds should enjoy the fruit from this tree and I am hoping it looks good when it spills down the wall. See the new flag we got for Christmas? The old one was a disgrace being all ripped and faded, so we tracked down a new on at Canadian Tire. I think we need the next size up but we will see how well this one holds up.
I moved a huge old rose that was on the corner of the patio wall down behind the fig tree. I will have to get all these roses identified next summer. Too bad I didn’t get to spend more time with the previous owner to go through the garden.
Happy New Year everyone!