…but I think I should resurrect this blog!
I looked at it when Photobucket had its announce and flounce episode and was greeted with so many Upgrade Your Photobucket Account NOW and pay us hundreds of euros demands (instead of the photos I’d uploaded) that I rather lost heart but I’ve found my files of photo backups and I’m decided I’m off again and posting. I will go back and replace the photos Photobucket has suppressed (unless I pay hundreds of dollars) but I want to post new things too. So here we go.
December can be a bit of a blowy month (as well as downright cold and rainy) but we took advantage of a briskly cold but bright day recently and had a tramp around Avranches Jardin des Plantes. Overlooking the Baie de Mont-St-Michel, it suffers from some traffic noise but it is sheltered and there are some interesting plants, sculptures, memorials and trees.
Looking over the hydrangea beds (in need of a bit of dead-heading) towards the cathedral just outside the Jardin
I’ve not seen a persimmon tree before but here one is, fruit still hanging on in December. The fruit was very popular with blackbirds who were feeding straight from the branches
The persimmon – or sharon fruit – is called kaki in France which, from a background of Old English slang, doesn’t make it sound the most appealingly named item. I think they’re fairly tasteless (ie, flavour!) but perhaps they’re just delicate and too much garlic has burnt out my ‘delicate’ tastebuds.
A carpet of golden Ginko biloba leaves under quite a venerable specimen – such a fabulous shape and texture
This is a mulberry tree in full leaf in early December… which surprised us
Bumblebee, lightly dusted with seasonal glitter (okay, pollen) working hard on winter-flowering honeysuckle
It was nice to see that the Jardin had thought about its insects with large and varied premises just for them.
Whether the bumblebee had booked in for the winter I don’t know (a whole new commercial opportunity for Airbnb perhaps) but I doubt it as they prefer to overwinter in a sheltered hole in a bank or perhaps a crevice in a wall.
There are viewing platforms which enable you to look across the Baie towards le Mont-Saint-Michel rising out of the haze in the distance
We’ve had a lot of rain since our visit and I’d like to see how it looks 3 weeks on – it’s definitely a flood plain (hence the very sensible lack of dwellings) and there’ll be a lot of ‘casual water’ lying around by now.
A few photos of views and a rather nice picnic table which would be lovely and shady in warmer weather.
Lovely pics with ideas for tree planting.
Viv
You mean Air Bee’n’Bee? 😉 XD
Well done for sticking with the blog instead of giving up in light of photobucket’s rubbishness!!
All the best for 2018! XD
❤
I tried Kaki once, donkey’s years ago in Italy – and didn’t like it at all; too slushy a texture. But I see it’s in lots of shops at present so maybe it’s having a resurgence in popularity . . . which might mean there are more tasty varieties now . . . I think I’m talking myself into giving it another try.
Incidentally, I’ve moved from the coast of Dorset to urban West Yorkshire (Halifax) and have started a new blog so the flora of such different places don’t get confused.
It’s Loose and Leafy in Halifax.
https://looseandleafyinhalifax.blogspot.co.uk/
Happy New Year!