Hope

People who've read my previous blog will know that I'm a big fan of medlars, both the tree and the fruit. It's been a source of sadness to me that I've had very limited success so far growing the fruit at home.

It's not that I don't have a medlar tree. The very first winter after we moved in I planted a bare-root Iranian medlar, which is now in its fifth year. And it's not that it doesn't flower. It does, but in previous years fruit set has been poor and many of the fruits have fallen off before ripening.

This year, though, this year... it's covered in flowers, and they look bigger than in previous years. Hope springs eternal, and I'm crossing my fingers that this year it will actually produce a decent crop of fruit.

My medlar tree in bloom

If not, it's still a beautiful tree. Even my wife, who isn't always the most plant-aware person in the world, remarked on how nice it looked the other day. And I do have the backup plan of the Royal medlar I planted this winter just gone on the other side of the garden. Did I mention that I really like medlars?