What a Difference a Day Makes / myLot

Norwich, England

July 15, 2019 6:30am CST

Our fig tree was getting a bit large so last night, armed with a saw and some secateurs I began cutting it back a bit. The growth at the bottom of the tree was shooting out a little bit too rapidly and, as we need height rather than breadth in order for the fruit to catch the sun and ripen, I hacked back the lower branches. I hadn't cut back at the base for several years and had completely forgotten that I'd planted a day lily (Hemerocallis) at the back of that particular border. The poor thing had been hidden behind the fig for several years so I was amazed to discover that I'd actually revealed it on it's one and only day of blooming (hence the common name of Day Lily) I'm definitely going to have to keep the lower fig branches trimmed to give my poor day lily a chance. If it gets enough light it should spread which means that I may get a few more blooms over the summer.

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6 responses

Just an Ordinary Owl?

@owlwings (43897)

• Cambridge, England

15 Jul 19

Poor little Day Lily! I'm sure that it will be grateful to you for revealing it! It looks like you also have some Opium Poppies and a Bay Tree lurking there (as well as a Sow Thistle)! Now you can say that you 'give a fig' for them! (Or 'gave', to be strictly correct!). Fig trees are very hungry beasts. They grow wild along the banks of the river Avon in Bristol, reportedly because the seeds survive the sewage system and because Bristol, being a seaport, was a place where figs arrived and were much consumed!

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Jackie Money

@olliesmum (828)

• Norwich, England

15 Jul 19

Yes, there was an opium poppy in there and we do have a bay tree tucked up the corner. My sister gave it to me as a 40th birthday present almost 20 years ago! At the end of the summer we give it a trim and leave bunches of bay leaves at the front of our house so that passers by can grab a handful.

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