Edible

Cydonia sinensis

The  Chinese Quince that was until recently called Pseudocydonia has to be one of the best small trees you could have! It has attractive deep pink flowers in mid spring followed by large oblong yellow fruit in summer that is by the way edible, then the foliage turns stunning colours in autumn and as if that wasn’t …

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Viburnum setigerum

This Genus has almost everything! Some are scented some and deciduous,some are evergreen,some have huge flower clusters, some have great berries. In fact if you ever wanted to collect a Genus without it dominating your garden then this could be it! My selected species is a rarely seen one from China and its assets are …

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Halleria lucida

Attractive and interesting multipurpose evergreen shrubs are not that easy to find hence the proliferation of such abominations as the James Stirling Pittosporum grown in the thousands to annoy good gardeners everywhere. Were I looking for a quick growing shrub to 4 metres or so to hide my strange behaviour from them next door I …

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Allium siculum

This bulb has for a long time been excluded from the Onions into the much harder to spell Genus of Nectaroscordum but thank heaven it is back again! However no matter what it is called it is a fine addition to any garden. It grows during the late winter through the early spring and then …

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Tulbaghia cominsii

This group of hardy perennials is well known for the mauve flowered species T. violacea commonly called society garlic even though its oniony flavour is perhaps marginally useful in cooking. The plant however is a good thing in the garden. Perhaps even less useful in the kitchen because of its tiny stature but none the …

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Rubus rugosus

There are blackberries and there are blackberries! I spend a lot of time destroying the weedy ones and almost no time tending this handsome beastie. It has long arching canes so needs a fence or other support to tie it back to and the oldest canes need removing every couple of years otherwise it couldn’t …

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Cormus domestica

You will probably know this plant or find it in books as Sorbus domestica, the Sorb or Service berry but we all need to get used to the name changes unfortunately. What ever you call it however it is a wonderful ornamental deciduous tree which is edible to boot. It is reasonably upright in habit …

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