The 'Beauty' was very lovely, if short-lived. Is there anything more evocative of the fleeting joy of Spring than plum blossom?
The 'Beast' is the tree bearing this blossom. I had such good intentions when I planted a dwarf rootstock plum several years ago, but the whole pruning and training regime has been too much for the limited time I have to spend on it. On the positive side I do manage to prune in summer, which I gather avoids the tree bleeding to death. The training regime however has been feeble. What we should have done was to fix wires into the wall before planting the tree. The mish-mash of bamboo canes which we used instead was no match for the will power of this dwarf.
Now it goes its own sweet way. I'm waiting to see where it goes next. This year's blossom has been the most profuse yet, which is encouraging. A few more plums would be welcome - last year a total of 2 made it through to ripening, and the wasps got those before we did.
.jpg)
