On the edge of Hertingfordbury are several footpaths -- we explored one that led to Hertford. It wasn't an inspiring one, but the birdsong was wonderful. Just before the footpath, I spied a conker, not as richly burnished as last autumn but still a little shiny. I don't know how but it was still intact and lay on the middle of the path, from its side I saw a fat healthy shoot growing down and into the layer of last autumn's now rotting leaves. Obviously it would never be successful, I felt it was lucky to have lived this long given the situation it was trying to grow in, hard man made path under the layer of leaves that cushioned it and I marveled that it hadn't been stepped upon or collected by some inquisitive child, who may never have seen a conker with its shoot extended before.
We collected it and took it with us until a more suitable growing place was found, and here we planted it. Hopefully it will settle down, grow strongly and one day children will play around it and gather its own conkers.
We enjoyed overhanging shrubs such as forsythia, and found a larch cone dropped onto the bare branches of a shrub, although alone, it looked so pretty.
The most eye catching of all was a shrub on a nearby roadside -- it was covered in bright yellow flowers and such a picture. It was a winter flowering shrub called Cornus mas, a dogwood, and I thought how every garden should have one, it was so bright and cheerful.
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