some like it hot!

In Nottingham, England we are on the same latitude as Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada . So it may seem odd to try and grow Mediterranean fruits here. But we have a little warm corner that enjoys the afternoon sun and we like a challenge.

Plants often have sentimental attachments for us gardeners and this is true of three of the plants in 'Mediterranean Corner' as we stupidly call it.

In the pot is a Brown Turkey fig with seven figs on! Figs recall a wonderful family holiday to Asturias in Spain where delicious, sweet figs were availabale in the street markets.

Freshly planted is a Fathers Day gift from Sarah - a Black Hamburg dessert grape. A holiday in the baking Languedoc area of France and mile after mile of vines.

And then a nectarine. I'd never eaten nectarines until a holiday to Argelles, France twenty seven years ago. What a revelation! Our poor nectarine suffers with peach leaf curl, but three little nectarines hide beneath the blistered leaves.