Harvest swoon
rains after a dry summer have also helped ensure the bounty did not wither on the bough.
Hedgerows are treasure troves at this time of year. The native dog rose, Rosa canina, produces orangey red hips full of vitamin C. Foragers can make a nutritious rose hip syrup – cut the fruit up and make a syrup of it with sugar and water and then strain it through a muslin cloth to remove seeds and hairs. Left on the bush, they will make valuable food for waxwings, tits, thrushes and finches.
The Guelder rose is one of my favourite hedging plants. It’s not a rose, it’s the native viburnum, V. opulus. It is very ornamental, with attractive fresh green sycamore-like leaves in spring that turn red in autumn.
The pretty lace cap white flowers morph into decorative fruit at this time of year with large bunches of glassy-looking red currants dripping from the branches. ‘Xanthocarpum’ is a beautiful variety, with golden-yellow translucent berries.
Hawthorn is the classic hedgerow plant that you see countrywide and is found in the majority of farmland hedges as the thick dense growth is impenetrable to cattle and sheep so it makes the perfect livestock barrier. It supports hundreds of insects and is laden with crimson haws in autumn.
There are some cultivars that look fancier for the garden and are good for small plots. ‘Paul’s Scarlet’ is one, with pretty red double flowers, and ‘Crimson Cloud’ is another, with small, deep pink flowers with a white eye – both lovely in a cottage garden. Cotoneasters produce vivid displays of red berries and my favourite is Cornubia, which can be grown as a large shrub or small tree. It’s a very easy plant, tolerant of drought and coastal exposure. It is semievergreen in sheltered areas but otherwise will develop yellow and red tints before shedding in winter.
The branches have an arching habit that looks especially lovely when laden with masses of bright berries. In addition to their decorative nature, these fruits will be a boon to the birds this winter – a natural storage pantry to keep them going until spring.
Large bunches of glassy red currants dripping off branches