Foliage now- October 2009

[Lesley Cox]

I don't know Gales, Mark so can't say but for my taste, manuka honey isn't very nice at all. It is extremely strong to start with and has a sort of chemical flavour underlying the sweetness.

It is so expensive because it has antibiotic properties and the processing to stabilise these is quite complicated and long-winded. Many brands which SAY they are antibiotic are nothing at all really and nowadays it is truly a case of buyer beware. But if you get the genuine thing, it really is a great healer for all kinds of things from burns, ulcers on the leg (local doctors are treating the ulcers on elderly people with honey instead of regular antibiotics, and very successfully), stomach lesions, all kinds of things. One of our German Forum members swears by it for discomfort following major stomach surgery some years ago.

Roger sometimes has it on his toast but I prefer good old (and resonably priced) clover honey.

[Lesley Cox]

Here for Cliff - with apologies for reverting to type - the fake Potentilla nitida rubra and the reason why those poor, disappointed folk have left my aeriel garden in disgust.


I believe this form is called 'Lipstick'and I shall certainly be licking my own lips when the fruit start.

[Gerdk]

Photographed yesterday

Gingko biloba - planted as a young tree about 1970!

Gerd

[Lesley Cox]

A beautiful tree Gerd, one that is popular here. I read somewhere that the fruit on the female tree have a horrid smell but I didn't notice this on trees last year at christchurch Botanic Garden, and covered with fruit.

[cohan]

A beautiful tree Gwerd, one that is popular here. I read somewhere that the fruit on the female tree have a horrid smell but I didn't notice this on trees last year at christchurch Botanic Garden, and covered with fruit.

i used to pass by a rare female in toronto which dropped its fruit on the sidewalk, so it was all mashed about--and when you'd get near, you'd start looking for the puddles of vomit to avoid!

[Lesley Cox]

Well I guess that says all that needs to be said Cohan. A female thing? Gosh, I hope not.

[cohan]

interestingly enough, i think those stinky fruits are edible or medicinal, i forget the details....

[Regelian]

Cohan,

the nuts are considered a delicacy in China, where they are roasted after cleaning.  I've never had the oportunity to try them.

jamie

[cohan]

Cohan,

the nuts are considered a delicacy in China, where they are roasted after cleaning.  I've never had the oportunity to try them.

jamie

thats about what i thought
i'd like to try it here, prob from seed, its probably marginally hardy, but i think some people in alberta have succeeded--my place gets very cold, but is quite sheltered from wind...i have a tilia cordata doing well, which i guess is marginal here

[johnw]

Gerd / Cohan / Lesley

There a a few very old Ginkgos in Halifax but I have never seen flowers on them. Maybe we're too summer cool.

I not so fondly recall going to Maymount Park in Richmond, Virginia to collect seeds in the 70's   We had baskets and would collect for a few minutes then one of us would invariably have to run off and gag for awhile and then return to collect again.  The female trees were indiscrimantely planted as street trees in the eastern USA back in the early 1900's and there are famous shots of all the females being sawed down overnight by local residents, I think one in Donald Wyman's book.  The smell like large dog droppings and yet the nuts are indeed quite tasty.

In old age the tree sends down aerial roots;

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/ginkgo.dm/images/Ornementation/nigatake2b1p.jpg


A fabulous tree:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Jingu_Gaien_Ginkgo_Street_Tokyo.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/107/314938626_bd7235b9ed.jpg


The cultivar Chi Chi 'Tubiforme' is a great practical joker, there are a few around here and a bit of a shocker when it's misty.

A glorious day here and mild.

johnw

[cohan]

Gerd / Cohan / Lesley

There a a few very old Ginkgos in Halifax but I have never seen flowers on them. Maybe we're too summer cool.

I not so fondly recall going to Maymount Park in Richmond, Virginia to collect seeds in the 70's   We had baskets and would collect for a few minutes then one of us would invariably have to run off and gag for awhile and then return to collect again.  
The female trees were indiscrimantely planted as street trees in the eastern USA back in the early 1900's and there are famous shots of all the females being sawed down overnight by local residents, I think one in Donald Wyman's book.  The smell like large dog droppings and yet the nuts are indeed quite tasty.

In old age the tree sends down aerial roots, scroll down.

johnw

maybe your trees are all male... i only recall seeing the one female(maybe one other?) in dwntwn toronto..it wasnt terribly old..
the aerial roots are interesting... 1000 yrs!

[Onion]

A beautiful tree Gerd, one that is popular here. I read somewhere that the fruit on the female tree have a horrid smell but I didn't notice this on trees last year at christchurch Botanic Garden, and covered with fruit.

The horrid smell of the fruits can only be recognized when the fall to the ground, late in autumn to early winter. The smell like rancid butter.
Here in Germany (but I think, the same in other countries) the gardeners graft a female branch in the male trees.

[Gerdk]

The horrid smell of the fruits can only be recognized when the fall to the ground, late in autumn to early winter. The smell like rancid butter.
Here in Germany (but I think, the same in other countries) the gardeners graft a female branch in the male trees.

Uli, I never found a fruiting Gingko in my region - is it true that nurseries here are
selling only male plants ? Are you able to tell me a place with a female tree?
Interesting story concerning the grafted female branch!

Gerd

[cohan]

A beautiful tree Gerd, one that is popular here. I read somewhere that the fruit on the female tree have a horrid smell but I didn't notice this on trees last year at christchurch Botanic Garden, and covered with fruit.

The horrid smell of the fruits can only be recognized when the fall to the ground, late in autumn to early winter. The smell like rancid butter.
Here in Germany (but I think, the same in other countries) the gardeners graft a female branch in the male trees.

rancid butter seems polite to me, its exactly vomit!

[ruweiss]

Gerd,I know about female Ginkgo trees in the Stuttgart Wilhelma gardens,but am not sure if they still exist.
The distinct smell of the the fallen fruits competed with the perfume of the goats beneath them.
Some towns in Germany use these beside the roads,because they are almost immune against the usual
air pollution.They prefer male trees(you surely know the reason)and columnar growing forms.
 Special nurseries offer many special cultivars and dwarf forms,which are suitable for small gardens.
The Dutch cultivar Marejken is widely available in garden centres,a very good form in my opinion
for us rockgardeners