Apricot Tree

Whilst watching a TV programme a few weeks ago, both my wife and I were surprised to hear a so called "gardening expert" say that he had never heard of apricots being grown outdoors in England and had only ever seen them under glass. He himself was surprised to see them outdoors in the south of the country. He must have led a very sheltered life!


This is a picture taken this week of an apricot tree growing in a neighbour's garden where it has been for almost twenty years and it is fully laden with fruit just about ready for picking. We have often noticed when travelling to the south of England that it is usually warmer than here in the East Midlands. In fact a phrase we often use is that it is "a top coat warmer down there" and I've often noticed when looking at sites such as Cornwall Cam that when flowers are in bloom there it is about three weeks later before they flower here. So my advice to that "gardening expert" not that he will ever read this, is to get out more and come a bit further north than the Watford Gap. He might learn a thing or two and then can truly be regarded as an expert!

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy: They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. - Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922)