This summer, the library’s reading challenge is “Story Garden” — and we’ll be sharing a series of posts about local green spaces: some tucked out of sight, others hiding their secrets in plain view.
We begin just behind the library itself, in what’s sometimes called the Robin Garden, named for the painted robin perched on a wooden stump. This space is cared for by the Fruit & Nut Village, who’ve transformed it into a vibrant patchwork of fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, and other useful plants.
This tucked-away green space is full of surprises. While many come for the strawberries or to spot the ripening plums, there’s more to these plants than meets the eye.
Some are old favourites from cottage gardens — like sweet cicely, with its delicate anise scent, once used to sweeten stewed fruits and herbal remedies. Others, like red-veined sorrel or Turkish rocket, might be less familiar but bring colour and flavour to salads, soups, and stories alike. Garlic cress pops up along the paths, its leaves sharp and peppery, while lavender and oregano release their scent on warm days.
Several of these plants have been used for more than food. Red-veined sorrel can lend a pinkish tinge to fabric, lavender and mint have been used in herbal dyes and potpourri, and hazel bark and leaves yield earthy browns when used in natural dyeing. For centuries, gardens like this were not only for growing meals but also colour, comfort, and cures.
As part of our Story Garden activity, children explored this space with curiosity and imagination — learning not just plant names, but imagining the kinds of tales they might tell. Some plants were seen as shy, others as mischievous.
What’s in the Robin Garden?
Can you find these, and more, in the Robin Garden?
The Curious Case of the Medlar
One of the strangest and most wonderful plants in the garden is the medlar tree.
It looks like a small apple tree, but the fruits — brown, puckered, and open at the end — are something else entirely. You can’t eat them fresh; they have to be left to soften and “blet” (a kind of controlled decay), at which point they taste like spicy apple toffee.
The medlar has been grown in Britain for centuries and was once considered a symbol of mystery, change, and hidden sweetness. It’s the kind of plant that makes you pause and ask questions — and that’s exactly the kind of story we love to grow.
Sweet Cicely: A Gentle Herb
Sweet cicely is a fragrant herb with feathery leaves and delicate, lacy flowers. Once used to sweeten meadows and kitchen dishes before sugar was common, it carries an old-world charm. Its aniseed scent and sweet taste invite memories of simpler times and woodland magic. In folklore, sweet cicely was sometimes called the “herb of kindness,” said to bring calm and gentle courage to those who carried it. It’s a subtle but powerful presence in the garden’s story.
The Elder: A Garden Favourite
The elder is a familiar sight in many gardens and hedgerows, with its clusters of small white flowers brightening late spring and dark berries ripening in autumn. Elderflowers are often used to make refreshing cordials, while the berries, when cooked, can be turned into jams and syrups. The tree’s leaves and flowers have long been valued for their traditional uses in natural remedies, and its presence adds a lovely seasonal rhythm to the garden.
The Bladdernut: A Subtle Garden Treasure
The bladdernut is a small, graceful shrub that often goes unnoticed but adds charm with its delicate, inflated seed pods that look like tiny lanterns hanging among its leaves. Its pale greenish-white flowers appear in early spring, offering a quiet welcome to pollinators. Though not widely known, bladdernut’s unique shape and gentle presence bring a touch of subtle beauty and curiosity to gardens and woodland edges.
The Hazel: A Woodland Friend
Hazel is a familiar tree with smooth, twisting branches and soft catkins that appear early in the year. Its nuts have been enjoyed by people and wildlife alike for centuries, and the flexible wood was once used for making simple tools and fences. Hazel’s gentle presence offers a peaceful, natural feel to gardens and hedgerows, hinting at the rhythms of the changing seasons.
The Bramble: Nature’s Tangle
Bramble, or blackberry, is a common plant with thick, thorny branches and juicy, dark berries that are a real treat at the end of summer. It provides important shelter and food for wildlife, while its fruit has been gathered for centuries to make pies, jams, and desserts. Though it can be a bit wild and unruly, bramble adds a natural, untamed beauty to any garden space.
Nanking Cherry: A Bright and Hardy Shrub
Nanking cherry is a small, bushy shrub with pretty white flowers in spring and bright red cherries in early summer. The fruit has a sharp, tangy flavour and can be used in jams and preserves. This shrub is valued for its hardiness and its ability to add a splash of colour and fresh fruit to gardens and green spaces.