中輪咲きの食用菊「阿房宮」が咲き始めました。阿房宮は食用菊の代表的な品種で、スーパーでよく見かけます。
これは道路から見たようす。玄関前に植えてある小輪咲きの「松風」はきちんと2箇所に集約していますが、阿房宮は庭のあちこちに散在しています。成長期の夏の間、他の植物に埋もれてヒョロヒョロ伸びていても、切り戻しのために私が入り込めないので、どの株もだらしなく徒長しています。
The edible chrysanthemum with medium-sized flowers have started to bloom. This variety, 'Aboukyu', is the most popular variety that you can find in supermarkets in Japan.
This is the view from the road. Unlike the small flower variety that I grow in front of the porch, which I prune several times through summer, Aboukyu is scattered over my garden and left totally free to grow. It is partly because I cannot easily access Aboukyu because of other plants growing close by. So, they are never cut back to make them sturdy.
If I had trimmed them, there would have been more branches and flowers. The flowers would have been of perfect round shape, although slightly smaller, and the size of the flowers would have been more uniform.
今年は8月以降、台風が連続して到来し雨で裂果が生じたので、７月時点の実の数と比べて約３分の１が失われました。でも、苗はまだ１メートルそこそこの小苗なので、現在着いている９個の実でも多すぎるかもしれません。
塀の近くに植わっている種無し柚子 多田錦の実が色づき始めました。実の付き方は去年成長した枝に集中していて、上のほうの枝は今年の春から伸び出したものです。
Close to the fence facing the road, I have the seedless Tadanishiki yuzu. The fruits have started to turn yellow. The fruits are concentrated on the branches from last year, and the branches growing above them are this year's growth.
This summer, we had continual rain due to numerous typhoons, which caused cracks on the fruits. Compared with the number of fruits I had in July, I lost about 1/3 of them due to cracks and mould. However, this plant still being small (about 1 meter tall), having 9 fruits growing as of today may be excessive.
これが今のところムラなく色づいている唯一の実です。あと数個完全に色づけばジャムにする予定です。
Currently, this is the only fruit that is yellow all over. When I have several more, I will be making jam.
多田錦の横の壁にも阿房宮。
Close to Tadanishiki yuzu, another cluster of Aboukyu.
こちらは門の近く、リスボンレモンの苗に絡みつくように伸びた株。
This one is near the gate and leans heavily on the Lisbon lemon tree.
今年の８月中旬にヤフオクで買ったイチジク ビアーズブラック（又はViolette de Bordeaux）は、届いたときのこの状態から、
This is the fig tree, Beer's Black (aka Violette de Bordeaux), that I bought in mid-August on an auction site. From this size at that time,
最近 気になり始めているのが、葉腋に出てきたまん丸のものです。葉芽にしては丸すぎるので、もしかして蕾？ これから落葉期なので、もし本当に蕾の元であるなら、来年の初夏までこのポチのまま？ 葉っぱはまだツヤツヤしているので、しばらく２階部屋に取り込んで観察してみます。
今年の８月中旬にヤフオクで買ったイチジク ビアーズブラック（又はViolette de Bordeaux）は、届いたときのこの状態から、
This is the fig tree, Beer's Black (aka Violette de Bordeaux), that I bought in mid-August on an auction site. From this size at that time,
今はここまで成長しています。期待したほどの成長スピードではありませんでしたが、
it has grown to this. It did not grow as much as I had expected, but
I noticed something interesting recently - there are perfectly round things at the base of leaves. They seem too spherical for future leaves, so I am thinking that these might be flower buds? Already? If they are flower buds, will they stay like this until early summer next year? Although a deciduous tree, this fig's leaves are still green and shiny, and full of life. So, I decided to take it upstairs to observe in a warm room.
