At twilight these crab apples glow like tiny lanterns against the darkening sky. And that’s when the blackbird comes to feed. Or at least this is the time when I most often spot her silhouette bobbing amongst the fruit. You will have to imagine her. It is a piece of English winter magic. A gift.
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Tish Farrell 
This reminds me Tish – I am not squashing crab apples under my feet in the side garden this year – the tree produced very little bloom in the spring. I am hoping it is temporary. Our neighbour said sometimes they take a year off – true or false I wonder. Fabulous colours in your photo.
Ornamental crab apples are my favourite garden trees. I’m surprised about yours though because last year was supposed to be a really good apple year. On the other hand, I do notice that the wild crab apples around Wenlock can be a bit temperamental, and some years have hardly a fruit on them. I should keep an eye on your tree though. Graham does plant diseases if you think you have one.
There is a nearby leylandii hedge and an elder which has sprouted from nowhere – I don’t think either is helping. I hack at the elder but it keeps coming back and is in a very difficult place to get at/remove 😦
“W” for “Writer on the edge…”
I haven’t seen crab apples since leaving England, and when doing a bit of research about plants that are dangerous to pets, crab apple came up.
Hm. Never heard that, Ark. They are a bit sour admittedly, or perhaps a dog could choke on one, though that seems a bit unlikely. Over here they go squishy in the winter, which is when the birds start tucking in.
When I began researching which garden plants are harmful ( and potentially lethal in some cases) to cats and dogs I nearly had a fit! One might as well rip up and concrete the lot!
We had lost a couple of our cats to liver failure and plant poisoning came up on an internet search.
However, a few chats with our vet and common sense prevailed.
Nice picture of a rich branch
Thank you, Sanjeet. I like your description – a rich branch indeed.
A precious gift, Tish, and very lovely. Thank you! 🙂
Beautiful
🙂