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The Orchard 

Behind the Judas Tree is a small orchard which also suffered badly from the storm of 1987. It contains some rare apple varieties such as "Sussex Duck Bill", "Crawley Beauty" and "Ribston Pippin". The apple "Alfriston" lives here too. (The original seedling still stands in the village). Towards the back of the orchard is a small Mulberry tree planted to replace a casualty of the 1987 storm. After15 years it has grown infuriatingly slowly and is still only 5' high. Until recently the orchard also contained a walnut tree that I had grown from seed and planted to celebrate my thirtieth birthday. Just as it was beginning to crop regularly and reliably some 15 years later, it succumbed to Honey Fungus and had to be removed.

The orchard lost all but three of its twenty-six mature apple trees during the "Hurricane" of 1987.

Crocus are quite happy naturalising in the coarser grasses of the orchard. In the background, the main trunk of the "pre-hurricane" Judas Tree is clearly visible. (C) With climate change, Snowdrops now come into flower just after Christmas and are normally over by the middle of February. (R) Daffodils are allowed to increase by seed and some interesting hybrids have arisen. ( I had not noticed the raiding sparrow hawk until after I had clicked the shutter.)

  (L) The curious fruits of a Medlar. Eaten when nearly rotten or "bletted" they are an acquired taste. (C) Quinces make up the bulk of a boundary hedge. The perfume from a single fruit will fill a room for weeks. (R) Mrs. Prop from Croydon plants an "Egremont Russet" apple in memory of her late father. 

The orchard is bounded on one side by a young, mixed, native, hedge of Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Dog rose, Ash and Holly. It is laid on a fairly ad hoc basis when time permits and is continually supplemented with tree seedlings that appear as if by magic in the main flower borders. This hedge provides food, shelter and nesting sites for a wide variety of birds. Several of the larger trees have recently been fitted with nest boxes in the hope of attracting more tits and bats to the area. Alongside the stream to the South there is another hedge made up principally of quinces and  various species of willow. The bitter, orange fruit of the quince is mixed with an adjacent medlar (Var. "Nottingham") to provide a wonderful crimson jelly as an alternative to cranberry sauce at Christmas. The willows are coppiced every year to provide "pea sticks" as plant supports throughout the garden .

 Grape Hyacinths have been planted in what purports to be a "natural" environment. 

(L) A small, but expanding colony of snakes head fritillaries has appeared in the wettest corner of the orchard. (C) A close up reveals the chequered markings. Every individual plant has flowers subtly different to the next. (R) Even the white ones have subtle variations on a theme.  

(L) The orchard is cut as soon as the wild flowers have set ripe seed. The sight of brown, "dead" grass after the greens, whites and yellows of Spring can be quite dramatic. (C) This blackbird is not in trouble, merely using the heat from the sun to rid itself of parasites. (R) Another sunbather needs the warmth provided by decomposing hay to get going in the mornings.

 The orchard is cut as a hay meadow in early June and is home to a continually expanding variety of wild flowers. A small colony of Snakes-head Fritillaries has appeared in the bottom corner of the orchard alongside primroses and wild sweet violets. These must have been planted deliberately at some point as they do not appear in the adjacent churchyard or next door meadow. They increase slowly but surely, but at present are still confined to the wettest corner. I allow them to set seed naturally but also propagate hand collected seed as an insurance policy. Ladies Smock and buttercup also betray the orchard's wetland origins. The driest part of the orchard is home to the very invasive, winter heliotrope, which has to be strimmed at regular intervals to prevent it colonising the entire orchard. Snowdrops and daffodils carpet the ground in spring, despite being almost continually under flood water for up to two months during the winter. They are allowed to set seed and new hybrids turn up regularly. As if to emphasise the fact that the orchard has been planted up instead of occurring naturally, various clumps of "oddities" appear from time to time. There are stray tulips and grape hyacinths to be seen in spring and drifts of Star of Bethlehem fighting to be seen in the long grass come the summer.

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