Esther loves figs.
Specifically, black mission figs. I've actually never seen someone get so excited about figs. Its extremely cute how much energy flows from her eyes, when someone mentions figs. Fresh figs, specifically, but she'll happily take the dried version at the drop of a hat, too. So, you can imagine her excitement when we found last fall that my dad had received a fig tree from someone who was moving away, and wanted to find a good home for it. Someone, like my pop, to give Mr. Fig Tree that good home it deserved so it could continue to produce its figgy goodness.
While Esther was in Connecticut to do some test hair + makeup runs, I went to my hometown to check on a number of things, not the least of which was whether or not Mr. F. Tree has, like the majority of soggy New Englanders at this time, the affliction known Seasonal Affective Disorder, or if it is deciding to look on the sunnier side of photosynthesis, and started to push out some baby figs.
Good news, all.
It has!
..see?
You can make out the wee little green bumps emerging from the base of the stems, near the leaves. In the soon-to-be-here summer heat, these little nubs will mature to plump purpley/black fruits with the sweet creamy pinkish seedy flesh that is on Esther's 'if I could only take one kind of food with me to a desert island' list.
So, this is a very long winded way of saying, 1. you can, in fact, grow the California favored fig tree in Acushnet, Massachusetts, and 2. be on the lookout for figs in the fare lovingly prepared by Gourmet Galley, even if just served fresh during the cocktail hour.
Of course, I took advantage of the trip home today to check on how the hydrangea were dealing with the weather, too. They seem to be a touch 'leggy', meaning that they look just a little stretched out, like they are searching, eagerly stretching for a peak at the sun.
But today, yeah, they are digging days like today. ~80F, a nice breeze, the roots still tucked away in the spring-like cool and moist soil. Though the nearby oak-leaf hydrangea have bees buzzing through their full glory, the flower buds on the PeeGees haven't even been set, but, don't worry they are just biding their time. I can tell. This is actually quite fortunate for us, as that means that they'll be fresher, cleaner and brighter for the late summer cutting for our day on 09.06.09
The mass grouping that me and my pop created last spring from the 5 yr old (or is it 6 years now?) rooted cuttings I started are looking great. I'm feeing very confident that we'll have more than enough for the planned flower arrangements.
Take a look:
...and for no other reason than to cheer up your day, another picture of some bright gloriosa daisies that happily reseed themselves every year in my parents' garden.
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