”The Mad Gardener’s Song” is such a wonderful title that I can’t resist quoting four of the verses from one of my favourite nonsense poems.
He though he saw an Elephant,
That practiced on a fife:
He looked again, and found it was
A letter from his wife.
‘At length I realise’, he said,
‘The bitterness of Life!’
He thought he saw a Banker’s Clerk
Descending from the bus:
He looked again, and found it was
A Hippopoptamus.
‘If this should stay to dine’, he said,
‘There won’t be much for us!’
He thought he saw a Kangaroo
The worked a coffee-mill:
He looked again, and found it was
A Vegetable-Pill.
‘Were I to swallow this,’ he said,
‘I should be very ill!’
He thought he saw a Garden-Door
That opened with a key:
He looked again, and found it was
A Double rule of Three:
‘And all its mystery,’ he said,
‘Is clear as day to me!’
Lewis Carroll

When Moreen Cunliffe booked a garden tour with cream teas for 42 people I thought it was the usual horticultural event and I gave them the full treatment, complete with botanical names in Latin. These gardening groups usually consist of ladies of a certain age and tonight I was a little surprised to see quite a few children and even a babe in arms. There were also quite a few glazed faces and not one of those awkward questions trying to trip me up. It was only after they had had their cream teas that I found out that they were in fact a group of family and friends celebrating Moreen’s 40th wedding anniversary. In fact it was a joint celebration between Moreen and her twin sister Eileen, who had got married on the same day. And Eileen’s husband Nick was also a twin.

We had an Open Day in the garden today when, miraculously, it stayed fine and we were rewarded with 467 visitors, the most we have ever had. I’m there to answer questions, (while Margaret slaves away over the cream teas) and one of the things which makes every open day interesting is that there is always one question which everyone asks, and the question is different every time, depending on which flower or plant is at its best. Today everyone asked about the strange plant growing against a wall in the kitchen garden. It’s the Japanese wineberry (rubus phoenicolasius) which this year has for the first time produced a spectacular crop. I planted several Japanese wineberries 3 years ago to fill spaces between some apple and plum trees and they have finally come into their own. Although the plant is related to the ordinary raspberry it develops in a completely different way, as the immature fruit is enveloped in a protective calyx covered in hairs, as can be seen in this photo. The fruit, when it emerges is tiny, but it packs a punch and tastes much sweeter than the ordinary raspberry.