Spring Blossom

In a blaze of glory the blossom on our mirabelle plum tree has come out this week. It would be even more glorious if we could have some sunshine to set it off and make it look it's best!

Standing teetering on a very wobbly wooden little children's chair with the tripod as high as it would go I managed to reach the lowest of the boughs to take some flower shots. Got to say I did look a bit dodgy pointing a camera through the tree into next door's garden with the builders working outside.

We didn't plant this and didn't know what it was for quite a time. It starts the season with a massive white cloud of blossom and being about 8m tall it looks pretty impressive in the garden. The fruits develop into small, round, deep apple green balls about the size of a large marble. Come July we will have a carpet of the then turned yellowy/orange edible plums on the lawn which are so numerous you can't help but squish some as you walk past. This is the only time we ever see a squirrel in the vicinity as he beavers away frantically trying to carry them to bury.

These are a speciality of France in the region of Lorraine which produces 15,000 tons annually and in the city of Metz in August there is a Mirabelle Festival where they make the fruits into tarts and liquor celebrating with music, parties, parades and fireworks. They even crown a Mirabelle Queen.

In Nancy they have baked the longest ever mirabelle tart which reached a length of 206.31m, in September 2006! The EU has designated it as a high quality regional product.