Three "C"s

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My 3 “C”s today are Calendula, Cornus and Cucamelon.

My Calendulas are ones grown from seed kindly sent to me a couple of years ago by Mike Rogers of “Flighty’s Plot”. Mike has generously sent Calendula seeds to loads of lucky people. Since he is so enamoured of this flower, they are known to all as Flighty’s Favourites. The ones I like best are the more unusual “biscuit-coloured” ones, which are less brash than the more common bright orange ones.

I’m mentioning the Cornus (aka Dogwood) today, because it has been under attack from some dastardly pest that has chewed off most of its growing points. I say “it’s”, but I mean all of my several bushes. This is what has happened:

The pest chews through the “succulent” stem just below the newest set of leaves, effectively pinching-out the branch. Fortunately, the clever Cornus responds by putting its energy into producing TWO more shoots, emanating near the next pair of leaves.

I don’t know whether it is the same pest that does this, but lots of the leaves have been attacked too. You can see here that there are rips in the leaf, near the central vein.

If anyone knows what it is that creates this damage, please let me know!

Here’s my third “C” – the Cucamelon, aka Mouse Melon.

Yep, my two plants definitely have flowers on them, microscopic though they may be!

It would be nice if they could give me a decent crop, because it doesn’t look as if the Cucumbers will. The cold, wet, windy weather has not suited them at all. So far, the only fruit to have been produced is this rather strangely-shaped specimen:

I have put a stone under its tip to keep it out of contact with the damp soil.

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