最近の寒さと晴天でドウダンツツジが紅葉しています。今朝の散歩で通った道の花壇のは特に鮮やかでした。
Thanks to the cold air and sunny days, leaves of the Enkianthus perulatus (doudan azalea) have turned bright red. This bush we saw during our morning walk was particularly eye-catching.
タイガは今朝も隣の6丁目を目指しました。坂道を登ったり下りたりで、私は脚が鍛えられるし、民家の植物を観察できるので退屈しないので歓迎です。
Taiga chose to walk in the neighbouring district this morning. We have a lot of slopes in this area, and my legs get plenty of exercise. Also, I never get bored looking at plants in people's gardens.
I remember taking a photo of this bush around this time last year - this bush is a part of the hedge running along the front of this house.
更に歩いて、丘の上にそびえる孤高のケヤキの木は、葉っぱが落ちたあとカラスの巣らしきものが見えるようになっていました。
Further on, on top of a hill, there is a solitary Japanese zelkova tree. With the leaves gone, I could see a few crows' nests.
午後に、ずっと気になっていた作業を思い切って行いました。今年の１月23日に届いた種無し柚子「多田錦」の苗が全く育たずに、棒苗のままなのです。しかも、頂上から枯れ始めて、一度その枯れた部分を取り除いたのに、また同じような状態に戻りました。これ↓は今日の状態。
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In the afternoon, I decided to do something I had procrastinated for some time - i.e., check what was happening to the seedless yuzu plant that I bought in January this year. Since it was delivered to me on January 23rd, no branches have come out. Moreover, the top 5cm of the tree went dead, which I removed in spring, but it is back to the same situation, as can be seen here.
届いたときの根っこのままで、ヒゲ根が全くない。
これ↓が配達時の苗の様子。頂上の緑色の部分が春までには枯れたので、切除して切り口をふさいでおきました。その後、更に下数センチが枯れてしまった。
This is how the plant looked like when it arrived. The green part at the top went dead by spring, so I cut it off, and now another 5 cm or so has gone dead.
鉢から出してみると
I took it out of the pot.
This looks exactly as it was in January - i.e., no fine root.
あー、もう諦め状態。新しい土を使って、排水性を良くするために以前の10号鉢から今度は7号鉢へとダウンサイズ。最後に上の枯れた部分は切除しました。
It seems hopeless. However, I made new soil mixture and, in order to ensure good drainage, I used a smaller pot, by downsizing from 30cm diameter to now 21cm diameter. I also cut off the dead part at the top.
