Hi all,

I've been renting a house since October and suddenly a vine in the garden has sprung into life. I'd love to know what it is, and my suspicion is that it's a grape vine.

If it is, could anyone tell me what variety of grape and if it should grow ripe fruit in england?

I've attached a few photos...

Many thanks in advance,

Bryony

I've been renting a house since October and suddenly a vine in the
garden has sprung into life. I'd love to know what it is, and my
suspicion is that it's a grape vine.

If it is, could anyone tell me what variety of grape and if it should
grow ripe fruit in england?

Yes its a grape vine, and you can certainly grow ripe fruit in a
greenhouse (unheated) in England, you can also grow outside , with
mixed results as far north as Lincoln!

www.lincolnfuchsiasociety.info

Derek wrote:
If it is, could anyone tell me what variety of grape and if it should
grow ripe fruit in england?
Yes its a grape vine, and you can certainly grow ripe fruit in a
greenhouse (unheated) in England, you can also grow outside , with
mixed results as far north as Lincoln!

Our outdoor grapes (Essex) tend to be tasty, but annoyingly small and a high
seed-fruit ratio

If you want them for eating, aren't you supposed to selectively trim out fruits with a pair of nail scissors so the rest can grow larger?

There are so many kinds of grape, that identifying varieties is very difficult. Wait and see would be one answer to that, though if we have a poor summer you'll remain ignorant. Another trick would be to cut a leaf off, walk around a nursery with a range of grapes, and see if it looks like any of those!

There are grapes that do grow reliably ripe fruit in Britain. I'd draw particular attention to two varieties Phoenix (white) and Regent (red) which have been specially bred to be reliable in British-type conditions, and have the important advantage of being mildew resistant. Growing them against a south-facing wall will improve your chances considerably.

Unfortunately a lot of the grapes that have found their way into British gardens are varieties that were intended for wine-making, and they tend to have small sour fruit with a lot of pip.