ARE OUR ASH TREES DOOMED?

Cannot mow the lawn before the knee op as waited for a dry day and when I got up it was thick mist wrapping everything in water droplets. 

One of the nine feet high cardoon stems came down in the wind and rain - RIP one stem.

 So, from splendour on the left to the compost heap on the right - too big and stem too woody really but it will break down in time.

The Japanese anemones on the left are one of R's favourites - she does not much like the pink ones.

The wall of vegetation by the new paved area - michaelmas daisies, teasels, cardoons, stipa gigantic, crambe, buddleia, miscanthus makes for a sort of garden room with the rest beyond.

So, how are we doing on the produce side - apart from only one mouldy greengage ok - we are a bit far north for greengages?

The asparagus promises well for next year and the rhubarb has loved the wet weather - this is the second crop if you remember - we pulled all the leaves off the first lot when they got a bit draggy in the hot weather (what was that?)

Then there are the other fruit trees like the Bramley apples on the left and damsons, despite the attack of pocket plum disease, on the right. The problem is, can I, when crutch bound, pick them?

The Conference pears look great with branches weighed down with fruit.

This is time of the Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia goldsturm in full glory.

 And now to a more worrying item - the young ash trees between us and the horse paddock have no leaves on the top 3 to 4 feet of branches and I suspect that the dreaded ash dieback has come. Will our magnificent 70 to 80 feet high trees survive one of which is white ancient for an ash?

The next time you hear from me I shall, to quote Beyond the Fringe, have stolen to the alien crutch - well a very approximate quote and anyway two crutches.