΄σΟσ΄«Γ½

The twins keep asking β€œis it Christmas yet?” as they stare at the snowy covering outside.

I can understand their confusion, only last week autumn raspberries were still cropping, half-ripe strawberries were under cloches and sweet grapes still hung in the old greenhouse. Now it’s deepest winter. The white coating on every bare branch is so clichΓ© yet reveals so clearly the shape and form of each.

It’s great skill to recognise the trees in a garden, but much more so without their flowers, fruits or leaves. Each is so distinct.

The pears with their vertical growth so different from most apples which tend to arch and the plums which droop. The flowering cherries vary from the shuttlecock silhouette of Kanzan to the tall bundle of faggots of Amanogawa and the twiggy sparseness of winter flowering .

My huge creates a canopy of toasting forks at the tips and in the distance I can see similar on another older huger specimen.

Walnuts do well here with our East Anglian summers, as do and though mulberries find this village too dry. Mind you, peaches have not proved long lived, productive yes, but dying after two decades. I’m now trying some , believed naturally resistant to , a troublesome infection puckering and debilitating their leaves. So far they’ve shown fewer infections than older trees nearby so we shall see.

Apricots have had a lot of improvement recently and I rate them amongst the tastiest of fruits. I strongly recommend anyone with a sheltered warm spot tries one of the newer varieties such as Tomcot, Perlecot, Goldcot and so on as these are much better than ubiquitous old Moorpark. Even in a riskier spot it may be worth hazarding apricots as but a few ripening one year in several are still worth having.

Forget olives - after a quarter century my two originals still soldier barrenly on. They endure everything nature has thrown yet consistently failing to crop. My newer ones certainly look more hopeful, with bigger wider leaves and masses of flowers they promise, then fail likewise. Of course I could take them under cover in tubs but the space there’s limited and needed by worthier crops, my citrus in particular which have masses of fruit ripening well and looking good despite the chill. Indeed if they’re kept too warm they do not colour well anyway. (In the tropics oranges often stay green when ripe.)

Conveniently citrus can be hard pruned and thus kept compact and easier to move under cover. I was impressed on last week’s Gardeners’ Question Time from Hulme in Manchester where a lady had grown a tree to nine feet in a tub. This beautiful flowered tropical tree must be kept frost free over winter - and nine feet is quite a height to house I know!

If you’re dreaming of ever growing bananas it’s also the minimum roof height required for the tasty edible dwarf , so plan accordingly.Μύ

Bob Flowerdew is an organic gardener and panellist on ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time.