Maybe not the black that you were expecting. We have a few nice black berries around this month and some people might be wondering what these ones are.
Scrambling around amidst the Elderberries and the Blackberries these are Dogberries, the fruits of the Common Dogwood, Cornus sanguinea.
Another valuable wildlife plant, the birds are said to prefer these berries to the ones that we like and it is sometimes planted by organic gardeners to deflect unwanted attention, whilst still attracting the birds that will feed caterpillars to their young.
The name Dogwood comes from an old word, “Dag” meaning skewer. The straight twigs were traditionally used by butchers to make skewers. The name Dog is usually used to imply some inferiority, for instance Dog Violet has no scent as opposed to Sweet Violet which does but this time it is just a “Dag.”
A Tramp in the Woods 
Yes, I planted these between birch trees after pulling out every imported conifer in my old garden. I love the colours.
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Imagine having such surroundings.
I’ m basically in city suburbia, only ruly gardens.Gid forbid you have a patch of wild, your neighbors take exception. Thanks for sharing.
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I like learning about the origins of names, so interesting. Here in NE US, we have Viburnum dentatum, commonly named Arrowwood because the natives used its straight stems for making arrows.
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Interesting word dag- in Dutch it means day, in Oz it is something like a Wally.
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Presumably “daggy” is linked to the sweet violet and dog violet thing?
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