Where are the Blackberries?

Between our hedges the Blackberries are hopeless, they just seem to be shrivelling into dried mummies before they even form. Even at the top of the garden a large Blackberry we have growing has gone the same.

So we walked around the field and found much to our relief, blackberries growing in the hedge where the sun really hits it. So can only come to the conclusion that it is the poor weather we have had during August that has stopped many from developing properly.

Just out from the hedges a few Blackberries have ripened, but are outweighed by small undeveloped ones along with withered specimens. The smaller will ripen eventually, but much later and will not have the rich flavour.

   The difference can be seen where they are growing in the sunny part of the hedge.

We was not alone while in the field.

We finally ended with a nice few succulent berries to have that evening.

A surprise has grown into the trees of the bottom hedge to the garden, we knew we had  planted it some years ago, but it had never before flowered.

This is an old Hop variety (Humulus lupulus) that I found growing in a hedge between two gardens and I dug up a few roots to grow in our garden. The house below the garden I was in where the hop grew, was once an old inn. Traditionally before the advent of large breweries, Inn keepers grew their own Hops to flavour their own beers brewed on the premises. That is why very often hop plants can be found growing within hedgerows around Britain.

A Hop plant may travel quite a long way through a hedge over the years, far away from the original position that it first grew in. But if the hedge is followed either way, the site of an old inn or pub may be found where the hop was originally grown.

Another good giveaway that it was grown for brewing is if there is only a female plant present, only females produce the hop or cones. For brewing purposes male plants are not bothered with as they would fertilise the female and seeds would be produced which is not desirable in brewing.

The female hop will easily reproduce vegetatively, travelling in good soil for long distances underground by way of long white roots. They make lovely twining climbers that effectively cover fences, trellis or pergolas. Each year they will die right down to ground level, then in Spring shoot up at a fantastic rate to twine over whatever they are positioned by.

If the plain green varieties are too ordinary the golden form Aurea makes a gorgeous plant with bright gold leaves and golden hops!