西洋サンシュユに花芽 Flower buds on Cornelian cherry

 コーネリアンチェリーに、ほんの２，３個ですがもう花芽が確認できています。

これはパイオニア、25年５月１日に届きました。初年度に着いた２個の蕾は、今年の冬の嵐で吹っ飛んでしまいました。栽培２年目なので樹姿が充実してきました。

I have noticed a few flower buds on both of my Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) plants.  I never knew that you could see them so early in the summer.

This plant is 'Pioneer' which arrived on 1st May 2025.  Last year, it had two flower buds, even though the tree was still tiny.  However, the buds were blown away in a winter gale -  they were probably not really viable.  This being the second year of growing, the plant looks a lot more like a proper tree.

これ↓が蕾で、先端がぷっくらしています。他にも少しあるので、今度の冬を乗り越えることを期待しています。

These are two of the flower buds on Pioneer.  Since there are a few more others, I am hoping that some of them may survive the next winter.

これが葉芽。先がシャープに尖っています。

To show the difference, these are leaf buds, looking much sharper like the tip of a toothpick.

こちらはカザンラク：23年3月に購入。４年目ともなると枝の分岐が十分おきています。

This is Kasanlak which arrived in March 2023.  In its fourth year of growing, the plant looks mature with a lot of short branches.

でも、花芽の数はパイオニアよりずっと少ない（無いよりはマシ）。カザンラクは自家受粉するけどパイオニアは他品種の花粉を必要とするので、来年 是非両方とも開花してほしいです。

However, the flower buds are not as numerous as on Pioneer (although better than nothing).  Kasanlak is said to be self-pollinating while Pioneer needs cross-pollination, so I hope both plants will bloom next spring.

こちらはカザンラクの葉芽。

These are leaf buds on Kasanlak.

ノコンギクの桃山があちこちで咲いています。現在は蕾全部の３割くらいが開花しています。開花が終わったら切り戻して、晩秋にも咲くか実験する予定です。何年もずっと探していた品種なので、眺めているうちにほっこりします。

Earlier this year, I divided the Japanese aster's roots into many small units and replanted them in several places.  They have started to bloom here and there.  Of the total flower buds that currently exist, about 30% are in bloom which means that I can enjoy the flowers for some time to come.  When all the flowers are gone, I plan to cut the stems down close to the ground, to see if they will regrow during the summer and bloom again in late autumn.  I searched for this variety for many years, and now this is one of the most precious plants in my place.

シロザ Lamb's Quarter

 朝散歩で久しぶりに通った道。この角の土地には去年の秋頃までは古い日本家屋が建っていて、樹高数メートルのロウバイの木が毎年１月下旬から見事な花を咲かせていました。今年の1-2月は坐骨神経痛がひどくて、ここまで散歩で来れなかったのですが、冬の間に家は取り壊されていたようです。今はすっかり雑草に覆われて、今後の建設予定を告知する看板が目立っていました。それを見てここの風景の変化に驚いたばかりでなく、

During our morning walk, we walked a street for the first time since last autumn.  At this corner of the street, there used to be an old Japanese house with a huge wintersweet tree that used to be covered with fragrant blossoms during January-February.  This year, due to my sciatica, we never walked as far as this place, and I did not know that the house had been pulled down.  Now the empty plot is covered with weeds, with a board announcing the planning permission.  I was surprised not only by the change of scenery, but also 

何と、敷地のほとんどをシロザが覆っていて、シロザの林となっていました。

finding that almost the whole plot was covered with lamb's quarter - virtually a forest of lamb's quarter.

坐骨神経痛の影響で健康オタクになって、冬の間に米国のYouTube動画で知ったシロザですが、春になってうちの近所を探しても一向に見当たりませんでした。かろうじて公園近くの空き地で高さ10cmほどのを４本見つけただけで、うちの庭には皆無でした。それが、ここではまるで商業栽培でもしているかのような繁茂ぶりです。

My sciatica made me a health fanatic and, while watching US videos on YouTube about wild plants that are good for health, I learned about the lamb's quarter.  However, when I looked for it in spring, I could not find any in my neighbourhood.  Fortunately, I found 4 tiny lamb's quarter (about 10cm tall) in an empty plot near the park, but nothing in my own garden.  Yet, here, the ground is packed with lamb's quarter, as if it is commercially grown.

帰り道は石神井川沿いを歩きました。先週の台風6号の影響で大雨が降ったとき、石神井川が増水していて空恐ろしいほどでしたが、今朝は水深20cmくらいで、いつものサラサラ流れる川でした。

On our way home, we walked along the Shakujii River.  We had a brush with No. 6 typhoon last week, when the water level rose alarmingly.  It is now back to the normal level of about 20cm deep, and the water is very clean.

川底がきれいすぎて、水草も生えていない。聞いた話では、城北公園近くの水草が生えているところで一度 遺棄された金魚のような魚が数匹泳いでいたことがあったけれど、大雨の増水であっけなく流されたようで、以来 魚の姿はありません。

In fact, the water is too clean for fish to live, without any aquatic plants.  However, close to Johoku Park, the river winds and flows more slowly, where there is some greenery.  Once, several goldfish were spotted but, after a flood caused by heavy rain, they were washed away never to be seen again.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

帰宅して、うちのシロザ（空き地から拉致してきた４本）を確認しました。ゴチャゴチャしていますが、

Coming home, I checked my lamb's quarter (the 4 plants that I kidnapped from the empty plot in early spring).  

赤丸で囲んだ３本と、それらに挟まれている細かい葉っぱの個体1本です（青い矢印）。この１本だけ、試しに摘芯してみたら枝の分岐が活発におきて今の草姿になりました。

In addition to the 3 plants in red circles, the one pointed by the blue arrow are all I have.  As to the one with the blue arrow, I pinched the top to see what might happen - it branched out, and

分岐した枝の先々に花の穂ができているので、このまま開花して種ができるのを待ちます。来年の春にはうちの庭のあちこちに発芽するのを期待しています。

now each branch has flower buds.  I hope I will be able to collect seeds from these flowers so that I will have self-seeding lamb's quarter for next spring, and no need to forage any more.

他の３本は、バター炒めなどにしてみたいです。
Other 3 are leafy enough and will be sauteed in butter.

タイガのシャンプーなど After shampoo etc

 ピンク花のノコンギク「桃山」が咲き始めました。秋の花のはずが、桃山はうちでは秋よりも初夏のほうが開花に勢いがあります。デリケートな性質で最初の２年間は苦戦しましたが、３年目の今年は元気に育っています。これの他に青紫のノコンギクもありますが、そちらは普通の野菊のように10月頃に咲きます。

This is an extremely rare Japanese wild aster with pink flowers, as opposed to normal lilac-coloured flowers.  There used to be two on-line shops dealing in this variety, but they have stopped selling it because supply was unpredictable.  By sheer luck, I found a private seller 2 years ago and jumped at the opportunity.  I have since then found that it is a very delicate variety and struggled to keep it alive for the last 2 years.  To my delight, they bounced back and they seem to be thriving in my place this year.  Japanese wild asters normally flower in October, and my other variety with dark purple flowers come into season like common wild asters with lilac flowers.  However, this pink variety seems to produce more flowers in early summer instead of autumn.

種から育てたボリジが勢いよく育って、花茎が続々上がってきます。な～んか、期待とのギャップが大きいので、葉も花も利用していません。葉はサラダとして生で食べるとキュウリの風味だと言うので、一度だけ齧ってみて終わり。他にはスープや野菜炒めにも使えるそうです。葉っぱ、茎、花のガク全てにトゲトゲの毛が生えています。

The borage plants that I grew from seeds are doing exceptionally well in a pot, with flower stems coming out one after another.  I had never seen borage plants, and these are turning out to be quite different from what I imagined.  The ratio of flowers to the total plant is not attractive, and the whole plant (leaves, stems and even the calyces) are covered with spiny hairs.

エディブルフラワーと言われても、毛むくじゃらの花は童話の中の魔女が育てる植物のようなイメージです。

They say the flowers are edible, but they look like something that fairy tale witches might be growing.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

毎日タイガをブラッシングしているうちに「洗ったほうが速い！」と思い、午後にシャンプーしました。その後は自然乾燥の散歩で公園へ向かいました。

I brush Taiga's coat every morning during her moult.  However, I decided that it might be much quicker to wash her.  So, I gave her a shampoo this afternoon, followed by a walk to the park for natural drying.

歩いているうちに抜け毛が浮き上がってきます。引っ張りたい衝動をガマンして、

As she walked, loose undercoat hair started rising to the surface, but I resisted the temptation to pull it out until we arrived at the park.

公園に着きました。ブラシとゴミ用袋を持参しているので、林の日陰で休憩。

Once in the park, we went into the shade of the woodland, and I pulled out the brush and a plastic bag to collect the loose hair.

まずは浮いた抜け毛を手で引っ張って、その後にブラッシング。

Such a satisfying feeling to pull out the loose hair, before the actual brushing.

さっぱりしたところで公園の上の草地へ移動しました。

Brushing done, we went up to the upper part of the park.

ちょうど良い風が吹いていたのでオヤツタイム。

In the shade of the tall trees, we enjoyed a cool breeze.  Taiga also enjoyed her treat.

帰宅して、持ち帰った抜け毛を処分。

Having returned home, Taiga saying goodbye to her unwanted undercoat.

ナツメなど Jujubes etc

 先日の網掛ケージの出来に気を良くして、今度はバルコニーに置いてあったケールも網で保護することにしました。2階のナツメ苗の間に点在していた状態でモンシロチョウがやって来ると、狭いバルコニーを移動しながら追い払っていたのですが、ナツメの枝に服が引っ掛かってしまいがちでした。ケールを一箇所に集約して網掛することでチョウの産卵の心配が無くなります。ポルトガルケールはバルコニーに３株、庭に２株。普通のケールはここに４株、庭に１株。

Having confirmed the usefulness of the vegetable cage that I built a few days ago, I decided to cover the kale plants on the upstairs balcony, by gathering them in one place.  These kales had been placed between jujube pots, and whenever I saw cabbage butterflies, I had to walk sideways chasing the insects.  Every time I did so on the narrow balcony, my clothes got caught by jujube branches.  By covering the kales with a net, I no longer have to worry about green grubs.  Having sacrificed one pot of each variety, I now have 5 plants of each, including the ones in the garden.

庭の棗は、今年の春に地植えにした皇帝ナツメと、鉢植えの日本ナツメ。これ↓は皇帝です。

The jujubes in the garden are one 'Emperor' and one Japanese variety.  This tree in the below photo is Emperor which I planted in the ground this spring.

２階のナツメ苗はおびただしい数の花が咲いていますが、着果の兆しは無し。対して、遅れて咲き始めたこの皇帝は、授粉の確認ができる箇所がたくさんあります。でも、本格的な着果が期待できるのは７-８月の猛暑のなかでの開花です。

The jujubes on the upstairs balcony have tons of flowers but no sign of fruit setting.  In contrast, the Emperor started flowering late but I can see numerous flowers that seem to have successfully pollinated.  However, I must not forget that it is really flowers of July-August, during extreme heat, that result in serious fruit setting.

こちら↓は２年前の７月に買った日本種の苗。そのときは猛暑の時期だったので、そうっと鉢増ししただけで、去年の春に絡まった根っこをほぐして徹底的に粘土の土を洗い落としました。そのショックで去年は全く成長なし。今年の春にやっと新梢が出てきて、それがもう50cmほどに伸びています（赤矢印が今春のスタート点）。

This is the Japanese jujube that I bought in July 2024.  We were in the middle of a heat wave then, so I simply potted it without disturbing the roots.  In spring last year, I washed off the heavy clay soil and cut a great deal of entangled roots.  The shock to the plant was too much and there was no growth during last year.  However, this spring, new branches shot out and they are already 50cm long (the red arrows indicate the starting points of this year).

花数も去年より多い。

And, it has more flowers than last year.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

今日も暑かったですが、夕方は乾燥した涼しい風が吹くなか、城北公園へ向かいました。草丈が伸び始めた草地に座り込んでリラックス。

It was another hot day today.  In the evening, we had cool breezes and we set off to the Johoku Park, where we sat down and relaxed among the tall grass.

タイガが目でオヤツを催促。ヨダレが風に揺れている。

Taiga urging me to pull out the treat, with her saliva swaying in the breeze.

今日のは牛タンの乾燥皮で、完全無添加です。

A healthy treat - dried skin of cow's tongue with no additives whatsoever.

カリカリ音をたてて満足そうに食べています。

She savours it making a crackling sound.

あっ、カンタ。

She spots Kanta in the distance.

カンタはタイガより４歳ちかく年下なのに、タイガはいつも低姿勢で挨拶します。しっぽが完全に右側に倒れている。

Kanta is nearly 4 years younger than Taiga, but she always greets him as if she were his junior.  Notice her tail falling to the right - she likes him a lot.

カンタはシュッとした甲斐犬です。

Kanta is a sharp-looking Kaiken.

紫色の舌班が見えます。タイガの舌班は口の奥に小さなのがあるだけ。

He has purple stains on his tongue.  Taiga's spot is much smaller and is located at the back of her mouth.

帰りしな、タービュレンのルイ君にも会えました。ルイ君はタイガより１歳下の12歳で、幼馴染です。
On our way home, we met Louis, a male Belgian Tervuren.  He is 12 years old, and one year younger than Taiga.  They have been good friends since they were puppies.

家の近くまで来ると暗くなり始めていて、東の空に満月がかかっていました。

By the time we reached our neighbourhood, it was getting dark, and I noticed a full moon in the east.

西の空は夕焼け。明日も暑くなりそうです。

In the west, there was a shepherd's delight, indicating another hot day tomorrow.