Autumn Fruit
This year we are seeing masses of fruit forming on many of the trees and shrubs around the college gardens and Meadow. No doubt, we will be hearing the comment that it is going to be a bad winter because of all the fruit, but as far as I am aware plants cannot predict the future any more than we can. What they can do, however, is react to good conditions when the fruit sets, i.e. warm conditions and plenty of moisture. The enemies of fruit set being frosts and dry conditions, so what it actually means is that we had a good growing spring.
We have seen masses of fruit on all the normal standbys and in the hedgerows around, but what we have also seen is fruit setting on things we would not normally expect to see, such as passion fruit in the Cathedral Garden, palm fruit in the Pococke Garden, and, a definite first for us, pomegranates, again in the Cathedral Garden. It is unlikely that these will actually mature to produce edible fruit, but exciting to see nonetheless.
