Malus Week

Table apples are falling from the trees, but decorative sorts like our Malus Downii are not yet ripe. Roadside blackberry bushes, both in Schleswig-Holstein and in Saxony-Anhalt, offer delicious snacks while we are out walking and cycling in week 2009/33. We found a couple of abandoned bicycles on a lonely road near Rogätz on the left bank of the Elbe: we wondered if it was the scene of a crime: but the riders had slipped behind a bounteous hedge of berries to cram their mouths with the sweet harvest. Euonymus berries are approaching pink. Our white Hortensia are fading, but coloured varieties are working their way into flower.

Malus Week

This is the week when apples ripen to red and become the new eye-catchers. In 2008/33, rain made the contrast between the greens of foliage and the fruit colours of Malus especially strong. The yellows of Rudbeckia add to the brightness. Many Buddleja shrubs in the area seem to be at the peak of their glory, with the palest, near-white cultivars extremely attractive against dark brick walls. On the Baltic coast, the lush, wine-red rose hips of Rosa canina grab attention. Still blooming: Lavatera.