パッションフルーツなど Passion fruits etc

 今日こそ庭の片付けものや草むしりなどを実行しようと、午後に重い腰を上げました。タイガは玄関ドアの前で監督。まだ暑いのか、座布団よりも冷たいタイルの上のほうが良いようです。

There had been a lot of things piling up in the garden that had to be done before winter.  I forced myself to do some of them this afternoon.  Taiga took up her position in front of the door, choosing to lie on the cool tiles instead of the cushion.

パッションフルーツが育ち続けて、ツルが支柱よりもはるか上に伸びてしまいました。

The passion fruit plant continues to grow and now extending well above the support.

９月の連日の雨のなか、第２花と第３花が咲いたときに人工受粉しておいたのが着果しました。右上の幼果は第３花から、左下のは第２花からのものです。

Durin the rainy days of September, the 2nd and 3rd flowers opened.  I pollinated them both and now young fruits are growing.  The upper one is from the 3rd flower, and the lower one from the 2nd flower.

これは第３花の幼果。

This is from the 3rd flower,

こちらは第２花から。これらの幼果に苗の成長エネルギーが向けられれば、室内越冬中、ツルの伸びも少しは抑えられるのではと期待しています。

and this is from the 2nd flower.  Since I have to keep this young plant indoors during the coming winter, I am hoping that growth energy will be concentrated into growing the fruits, thus suppressing the growth of the vine itself.

今年のハイビスカスローゼルは、夏のあいだ雨続きだったせいか、花後の実の成長がかんばしくありませんでした。もう涼しくなったし、実の成長もストップしたようなので、片付けることにしました。

The rainy summer months had a disastrous effect on the roselle plant, with the calyxes remaining small after flowering.  Since it is already October and cooler, I decided to finish the plant.

実は小さいし、雨でススっぽいものもあるので、今年は利用しないことにしました。コンポスト行きです。

The calyces are small and some of them even sooty from the rain.  I am not going to use them for jam and put them into the compost.

９月12日に買ったアロエベラを、今になってやっと株分けして植え替えました。

The aloe vera plant I bought on 12th September had to be repotted, and I finally brought myself to do it this afternoon.

親株２個と、子株３個に分けました。元の土は赤玉の単用でしたが、私は赤玉は使わないので鹿沼を中心に、「花と野菜の土」を少し混ぜ込みました。

I ended up with two large plants, and 3 tiny babies.  The grower had used pebbles made from loamy soil which I never use.  Instead, I made a mixture consisting mainly of Kanuma pumice and a little of dark soil for vegetables.

大き目の鉢に植え替えたとたん、立派な苗に見えるのが植物の不思議です。アロエベラは中のゼリー状の肉を食用にできるだけでなく、挿し木苗を作るときにも利用できます。

It is always interesting to see how a plant suddenly looks impressive once replanted in a larger pot.  I will be using these aloe vera as edible herbs, as well as for preparing cuttings.

でも、こんなに沢山のアロエベラが育つと使いきれないかも。

When all these grow up, I will have more than enough aloe vera.

久しぶりの青空 First blue sky in weeks

 台風26号の影響が去って、今日は朝から良い天気でした。8月24日に買った売れ残りパッションフルーツの苗は、ここ数日で更に成長して３個めの花が昨日の雨のなか咲いていました。

The effect of typhoon No. 26 has disappeared, and we had a fine day since early morning.  The leftover passion fruit plant that I bought on 24th August has been growing well, and in spite of the rainy weather, the third flower opened yesterday.

上の赤丸の中が昨日開花した３番めの花。受粉できたか未だ分かりません。下の青丸の中のは数日前の開花、更に下のピンクの丸の中のは第１花で、受粉できずに今はガクだけが残っています。

Starting from the top, the flower in the red circle is the one that opened yesterday.  I am not sure whether it pollinated itself or not.  The flower in the blue circle is the second flower that opened a few days ago.  The one in the pink circle was the first flower which did not get pollinated, and now only the calyx is left.

青丸の第２花のほうは受粉できたようで、子房が膨らんできました。室内越冬に向けてなるべくツルの成長を抑えたいので、できれば栄養が実に向けられてツルの勢いが抑えられることを期待しています。

As to the second flower in the blue circle, I think it was successfully pollinated, since the ovary is growing.  This plant will stay indoors during winter, and I want to keep it as small as possible.  So, I am hoping to get one or two young fruits, in the hope that the plant will concentrate its energy on growing the fruits, instead of the vine itself.

日中、気温がどんどん上昇してタイガは冷たい玄関タイルの上で涼しんでいました。目で「さんぽ」を訴えてきたので、４時半頃に公園へ向かいました。

With the sun out, the temperature kept rising through the day.  Taiga was resting on the cool porch tiles, with her eyes saying 'Walk, mom?', and we went out at around 4:30 p.m., headed for the park.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

最初の草地に到着。途中のコンビニでソフトクリームを買ったので、タイガの足取りが速くなっていました。

We arrived at the first field.  On our way here, I bought an ice cream at a shop, after which Taiga's walking picked up the pace.

いつもの「マイスプーン」。百均で買ったプラスチック製ですが、スプーンの周りに縁取りのような隆起があるので、ワンコが舐めてもアイスが引っ掛かってこぼれにくいのです。

そんなことはどうでも良いタイガは、「よし」の合図待ち。

As usual, 'my spoon', instead of the free spoon they have at the shop.  I got this from a 100-yen shop.  It is cheap but an ideal spoon to give ice cream to Taiga.  It has a sort of 'lip' around the head which catches the ice cream when Taiga licks it.  The lip prevents the ice cream from falling to the ground and makes it last longer.  All this is not important for Taiga who is eagerly waiting for the sign 'OK'.

一緒に食べると美味しい。

Ice cream tastes nicer when we share it.

最後の部分はタイガが独り占め。

The last part is dedicated to Taiga.

アイスの跡は石神井川を渡り城北中央公園へ入りました。

After the refreshment, we crossed the Shakujii River and entered the 'Central' part of Johoku Park.

林の中はヒンヤリして心地良いですが、

Walking through the woods with its cool air is very pleasant, but

今の時期は歓迎されない臭いが。。。

at this time of the year, there is also an unwelcome smell....

イチョウの実が落果し始めています。

The ginkgo trees have started to shed the fruits.

人が歩いて通ると果肉がつぶれるので、臭いがキツイです。

When people walk through the woods, they tread over the ripe flesh, and the smell permeates the air.

散々歩き回ったので、帰る前に一休み。久しぶりの天気なので、草地ではあちこちで色んな人達がボール遊びをしたり賑やかなので、タイガは興味深そうに見回していました。

After walking through the park, we sat down to rest before heading home.  Taking advantage of the good weather, there were many groups of people playing various games in the field, and Taiga kept looking around with child-like interest.

すっかり日が暮れてしまいましたが、明日も良い天気になりそう。

When we got up to go home, it was getting dark.  Judging by the sky, we can expect another fine day tomorrow.

秋の気配 Signs of autumn

 毎年ヒガンバナより一足先に開花する、洋物リコリスが咲いています。花柄が大きく、花びらは分厚くてしっかりしているのに加え、濃い黄色の蛍光色で目立ちます。

This lycoris aurea starts flowering ahead of spider lilies.  Its flowers are larger than those of the spider lily and the petals are strong.  Most of all, I love the bright golden colour which I find to be stunningly beautiful.

リコリスの手前には桃花ヒガンバナも上がってきました。こちらは本物のヒガンバナで、デリケートなピンクの花色です。

In front of the lycoris aurea, flower stems of the pink spider lilies are starting to come out of the ground.  In contrast to the red spider lily (lycoris radiata), this variety's colour is delicate pink.

赤花ヒガンバナも咲き始めています。

The lycoris radiata are starting to flower.

2024年に購入した日本ナツメが色づき始めています。うちでは数種類のナツメを育てていますが、去年 挿し木が成功した日本ナツメ以外はトゲ無しなので管理が楽です。よって、この↓苗もトゲ無し。この苗のヒコバエから育てた２株は写真上のほうのバルコニーに置いてありますが、まだ青々しています。

Fruits of the Japanese jujube tree that I bought in 2024 are turning yellow.  I grow several varieties of jujube and, with the exception of the Japanese jujube tree developed from a cutting last year, all of them are thornless, which makes it easier to look after them.  I have trees developed from the suckers of this tree, and they are peeping out of the trellis in the top part of this photo.  Their fruits are still green.

これくらい色づけば十分甘くてジューシーです。

The fruit is already very sweet and juicy with this much of brown on the skin.

果肉の色を示した写真を載せたくて、なるべく歯形を残さないよう努力しました。この↓ような果肉が白のタイプが私の好みです。

It is rude/bad mannered in Japan to show the bite mark, but I wanted to show the colour of the flesh.  So, I tried to avoid the teeth mark as much as possible.  I like jujubes with milky white flesh like this.

８月24日に購入した売れ残りパッションフルーツとビラフランカレモン苗は、この植え付け時の状態から順調に育っています。

The leftover passion fruit and Villafranca lemon that I bought on 24th August this year have grown significantly from this↓.

パッションフルーツのツルの長さは、元の状態と比べて３倍ちかくに伸びています。

The passion fruit's vine is 3 times that of the original height.

しかも節々に蕾も出ています。冬は室内越冬になるので、できるだけ成長を抑えたいところ。

Moreover, each node has a flower bud.  I will be keeping this plant indoors during the winter, so I hope the plant does not grow too much henceforth.

レモン苗は葉っぱが増えてきました。

The lemon tree is becoming leafy.

また、最初から着いていた２個の実のうち小さいほうの実が２倍くらいに肥大しています。

Of the two fruits that were already there when I bought the plant, the smaller fruit has grown visibly.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

午後になっても雨が降らなかったので、散歩がてらにタイガのオヤツを買いに出かけました。

Today, it did not rain even in the afternoon, so we went out for a walk and to buy Taiga's treats.

レモン＆パッションフルーツ苗 Lemon and Passion Fruit plants

 スーパーからの帰りに近所のJAを覗いてみたら、値下げ苗につい手が伸びてしまいました。JAは私がいつも買い物するスーパーのすぐ側、そしてうちはJAのすぐ近所なので、ついこういうことになってしまいます。でも、JAの事業再編の動きで２，３年後にはこの桜台のお店が遠く離れた平和台のJAに統合されるそうなので、近所で買えるうちにという気持ちが働いてしまいます。

ということで、右はレモン苗、左はパッションフルーツです。

I looked into the nearby JA on my way home from the supermarket and, before I knew it, my grubby large hands were on these plants.  The JA is located close to the supermarket, and my house is less than 100 meters away from the JA, so this happens often.  However, this will not last forever.  Due to the reorganisation movement of the JA, the outlet near my house will be merged into another one which is in a town far away from where I live.  So, I am taking advantage of the current situation while it lasts.

This morning, I picked up a lemon tree (on the right), and a passion fruit vine (on the left).

レモンはくたびれた状態の苗ですが、回復させる自身があります。

The lemon tree was a leftover and was in a sorry state, but I am confident I will be able to nurse it back to health.

品種はビラフランカ。うちに既にあるリスボン同様、トゲ無しなので扱いやすいです。私は基本的に果樹苗は、接ぎ木された太い一年生苗を買いますが、この苗は大きく育たなくても良いので挿し木苗で十分です。

It is a Villafranca.  As with my Lisbon lemon, this Villafranca is thornless, which makes it easier to handle.  Normally, with fruit trees, I buy a grafted one-year tree with a big trunk so that it will grow healthy and large.  However, I would rather that this tree remained small, growing in a pot, and I am happy with this one grown from a cutting.

パッションフルーツは、最も栽培難易度が低いエドゥリス。以前、この品種をバルコニーに設置した棚に這わせて毎年たくさんの実を収穫していましたが、ナツメ苗がバルコニーを占拠し始めたので一時中断していました。来年はナツメの大苗を庭に下す予定で、棚の再利用ができます。

The passion fruit plant is Edulis, the easiest variety to grow.  For several years, I grew this variety on the upstairs balcony using the shelf that I constructed myself.  It produced abundant fruits every year.  However, as I became keen on growing jujube plants, the balcony has been occupied by them, and I gave up growing passion fruits.  Fortunately, next year, I will be taking down some of the large jujube plants downstairs, leaving room enough for restarting passion fruits.

レモン苗は10号鉢に植え付け。パッションフルーツ苗は、冬の間 2階の部屋で管理になるので、持って階段を上り易いよう小さめの鉢です。

I planted the lemon tree in a pot with 30 cm in diameter.  As to the passion fruit, since I will have to take it upstairs for indoor wintering, I am using a smaller pot until next spring.

植物は鉢増しすると立派に見えるのが嬉しい。

Repotting a plant in a larger container makes it look much better.

種から育てたローゼル２本のうち、片方に花が咲き始めました。去年、JAで買った苗は「レッド」に分類される苗で、花はクリーム色、収穫時のガクの下の部分は緑色でした。今年育てているのは「パープル」に分類されるもので、花はピンク、ガクは全体が赤です。

This is one of the two roselle plants that I am growing from seeds.  This morning, I found two flowers on it.  The roselle plant I bought from the JA last summer was a 'red' type, with yellow flowers and the base of its calyx when ripe was green.  This year, I am growing a 'purple' type, with pink flowers and the whole calyx will be dark red.

あまりに主幹がヒョロヒョロ伸びたので、このあと天辺を摘芯しておきました。

The trunk simply shot up with few branches.  After taking this photo, I pinched the top of the trunk in order to encourage growth of new branches.