ご近所の玄関先にいるワンコ。道路のすぐ側なので、タイガが初めて見たときギョッとして動かなくなりました。私も驚きましたが、良くできた置物だということが直ぐ判明しました。
This doggy guards the porch door of my neighbour' house. When Taiga first saw this, she was taken aback and became frozen. However, she soon realised that it was an inanimate object.
Taiga has got completely used to this object and takes little notice of it these days. This morning, the owner of the house was outside, so I asked for the permission to take photos.
そこへ仲良しのトイプードルのポニョ君が到着。飼い主さんに引っ張られてオブジェのワンコに挨拶に行きます。
There came Ponyo, a Toy Poodle friend. He was quite scared of the dog, and his dad had to drag him to get close to it.
置物だと分かったらリラックスして臭いかぎ。
Once he knew it was an object, he relaxed and started sniffing.
先月末からナツメの芽が動き出しました。これは去年が初年度だった３品種のうち、早脆王。去年同様、真っ先に活動が始まりました。
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The jujube trees started budding at the end of March. This is Early Crisp King, one of the 3 varieties that I started growing last year. As it did last year, this variety started budding ahead of others.
ナツメ独特のテカテカの葉っぱです。
The new leaves are shiny, which is typical of jujube.
これは３品種のうちの本命、蟠棗（パンザオ）。３本のうち最も新芽の展開が遅れています。去年できた枝数も少ないです。（もう一品種は無核金絲棗ですが、状況は早脆王とそっくりでなので割愛。）
This is Panzao, the reason I placed the order for the 3 varieties. This started moving last of all, again as was the case last year. (Another variety of the 3 is Seedless Gold Thread, whose developmental stage is almost identical to that of Early Crisp King, so no photos.)
この頂点の芽はまだ開いていません。
The top bud of Panzao has not started opening.
こちらは去年の初夏に購入した冬棗。当初は棒苗に一年限りの枝が出たばかりの状態でしたが、のちに２本の恒常的な枝が出てからは、ひと夏で蟠棗よりも充実した枝ぶりに育ちました。
This is Winter Jujube, the plant I bought in early summer last year. When it arrived, it was basically a straight stem with a few temporary twigs that would fall off in autumn. However, once the two permanent branches came out, it grew rapidly and, by the end of the summer, this plant had developed far better than Panzao.
この苗の特徴は、節の間が非常に詰まっていることです。
Uniquely, the nodes on branches are very close to each other.
こんな感じ。
How dense they are.
これは去年までは２階バルコニーに置いてあった鉢植えを、今年に入ってから地植えにした皇帝棗です。日当たりはあまり良くありません。うちは北向き斜面に建っていて、南側の家の陰になりがちです。たぶん真夏にしか根元まで陽が届くことはないかも。ちなみに、根元の盛り土にグラウンドカバーとして植えた白クローバーがこの夏から花が咲きそうなほど育っています。開花すればこぼれ種から更に密になることを期待しています。
This is Emperor Jujube that used to be on the upstairs balcony, but I planted it in the ground earlier this year since the pot had become too small. Unfortunately, it no longer gets full sun. My house is on a North facing slope and the next door stands in the way of sun ray. The tree trunk near the roots probably will not get the sun until summer. The clover that I planted earlier this year as the ground cover for the mound on which the jujube stands has grown well. They will likely get flowers this summer. After the flowers, hopefully, the clover will grow further by self-seeding.
パイオニアよりも１年早くうちに来たカザンラク。今年は３年目なので、ぜひ夏の間に来年用の蕾が出ることを願っています。
コーネリアンチェリーのパイオニア。去年の夏にできた２個の花芽は、冬の嵐で吹っ飛んでしまったので、元々ダメだったようです。
This is 'Pioneer' of Cornelian Cherry. It had two flower buds by the end of last summer. Sadly, they were blown off in a gale during the winter, so they must have been duds.
This is 'Kazanlak' which I bought one year before Pioneer. This will be the 3rd year of growth, and I am hoping I will at last see flower buds on this tree.
今朝は暖かかったのでタイガは座布団よりもタイルの上のほうが涼しくて気に入ったようです。
It was a warm morning and Taiga preferred to rest on the tiles rather than the cushion.
