well - there's a surprise!

I was taking the dogs for their regular patrol this week and noticed something strange. On the ground were some red berries. I thought initially they were rose hips, and that the birds had dropped them whilst sitting in the tree above. However, when I looked at them (and the tree!) I realised that one of my American haws has fruited pretty well this year! The fruit had blown off after a bit of a stron in the week.
It's a bit of a surprise as we've had a rubbish summer, so I really didn't expect any fruit at all. These have quite a nice rose hippy sort of tropical flavour to them, although with quite a large central seed cluster, so I'm not sure whether I'll pick them or leave them for the birds!

Have you had a plant surprise you this year?

I can see that my vitex tree/plant has survived a couple of drought years and is about a foot or more tall now.

Ha, always a nice surprise when something fruits without any effort on your part. I had a quince do similar a couple years back, convinced it was never going to amount to anything and then just covered in fruit one autumn. Rubbish summers sometimes seem to push them into it, like the stress tips them over the edge.

I eat mine in mid-winter, after some freeze. Wonderful, tart.

I eat mine in mid-winter, after some freeze. Wonderful, tart.