What's Looking Good October 2022

We have masses of Chinese lanterns and Mrs Shiney uses them to make Autumn and Christmas wreathes. They get sold for the charity and people are already booking their ones


Although Autumn is here now these Antirrhinum are still going strong


Leaves are changing




The flowers of this Fuchsia (Winston Churchill) grow in pairs and are almost always different colours from each other - but that is because one is more advanced than the other. The blue is younger.

Two different pairs

 

They're looking, well done

Mangoes shouldn't be stringy but there are a few varieties that have that tendency. I have a mango with my breakfast most days but I make sure I get the right variety. When shopping the supermarkets they rarely have the variety on the shelf ticket but there should be a label on the left end of the box that they come in. This time of year the best ones are Kent and Keitt.

 

The most common variety nowadays sold in the supermarkets that can sometimes be stringy is 'Palmer'. It is a longer and thinner mango than 'Kent' or 'Keitt' which are stringless varieties. All three originate from Florida but are now grown around the world. Kent colour up when ripe whereas Keitt can be ripe even when green. To tell if they are ripe you should hold them gently in the palm of your hand and press gently around the whole fruit. Don't try pressing one spot as that will just bruise them and make them feel ripe when they are not. Also look out for the area around the end that was attached to the tree. If it is going black it is over ripe although the immediate area around the stalk can be black without it being a problem.