Right Steps & Poui Trees

The Pragmatic Privet Hedge: A Closer Look

by 4 Comments

You can hardly get more mundane and pragmatic than a privet hedge. Dull green, prickly plants forming boundary hedges for many homes. Neatly trimmed or a bit scraggly and thinning.

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Step a little closer. The hedge is in bloom and bearing fruit.

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Closer still. The knobbly buds. The delicate fairy hair blossoms.

The pods and fruit and seeds.

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As a child, I used to cook them in mud soups and stews. They looked delicious, but I was  warned not to eat them, for they will poison you, I was told.

 

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Come close. But don’t touch.

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Author: rightpouitree

Navigating the real and virtual worlds and sometimes writing about what I observe...

4 thoughts on “The Pragmatic Privet Hedge: A Closer Look”

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  1. Gwyneth
    March 13, 2016 at 1:58 pm

    What an excellent plant for a hedge in our environment. Drought and disease resistant, the thorns keep out strays and intruders, it provides food and shelter for wild birds. It also looks really good when shaped.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. petchary
    March 13, 2016 at 6:13 pm

    Lovely, Susan. It is always the same with nature – the closer you go, the more you see. We have a big tall hedge now which our gardener loves to trim, very neatly but he never “hacks”! It has been filled with small migratory birds (mostly unidentifiable warblers!!) since last October. The jasmine flowers have bloomed and bees and butterflies love them. Hedges are very important, and they beat walls, any day.

    Liked by 1 person