Notable Plants – Shrubliminal

Respect Your Elders – Continued

The elderflowers are long gone. But there’s another chance to enjoy elder, and it’s happening right now. From late August to October, the same bushes you gathered elderflower blossoms from will now be full of berries. Having had such success and pleasure from the flower cordial, I’ve decided to make a berry cordial. Syrups areContinue reading “Respect Your Elders – Continued”

Respect Your Elders

In late spring and early summer—May and June—there’s plenty going on outside. Flowers are appearing everywhere, insects are buzzing around, you could be forgiven for missing the soft, puffy clouds of elderflowers in the countryside hedgerows. Sambucus nigra, the common elder, is found all around the countryside. It’s no attention-seeker, but once you have foundContinue reading “Respect Your Elders”

Artichoke Architecture

It arrived over the fence—a twisted-looking root ball wrapped in plastic packaging. My neighbour called it a Cardoon, though to me it could have been anything. I hadn’t asked for it, hadn’t planned a place, but there it was. A quick Google search revealed its mystery: a cousin of the thistle and a relative ofContinue reading “Artichoke Architecture”