On Thu, 7 May 2009 Sacha wrote:

Another plant that seems to be temperamental is Japanese Wineberry.
It will grow anywhere I put it in England but I cannot get it to take
in Normandy despite several attempts. And I particularly like the
Wineberry, not because of its beauty but because it is a kind of
family heirloom. What I've got at the moment is descended from a layer
taken from an uncle's garden back in the 1920s.

I'd never heard of this but it looks - and sounds - lovely:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening...-to-grow-Japan
ese-wineberry.html

Yes, I've seen that article before. I remember it because the picture is
wrong! What they've illustrated is not Rubus phoenicolasius but looks
more like redcurrant! And I would say that it is more akin to the
blackberry than the raspberry in that one propagates by layering. Yes,
it's dead easy to grow - but only if it likes your soil. I've kept it
going over 44 years and five houses in Britain but the one place I can't
get it going is in Normandy.

It is lovely to look at. The berries are pleasant but without much
character. They look nice in a fruit salad. But they don't cook well.
And they don't even make a decent wine!

I've left it to its own devices for some years now and it just keeps
going here in Reading but I think I'll have to do some more layering.
I'll let you have one if I'm successful.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://www.mesnil.demon.co.uk