Yup, I've got a couple of mature ones and a couple more on the way. The fruit ripens here in early to mid August. It's about the size of a small tart cherry, but is more of a football or teardrop shape than round. It has a single, small pit in the middle, which is it's only drawback -- tedious to pit them. The flavor is excellent cooked, IMO -- it tastes like a mix of tart cherry and cranberry. It makes a wonderful cranberry type sauce if cooked the same way. It also makes a very nice jam, syrup, or preserves. I also like to put them in with apples to make pie or crisp. They also can be dried into a product that is virtually indistinguishable in flavor from the "Craisins" sold in the grocery store, although mine are not as soft, since the commercial ones are treated with something (I think vegetable oil and glycerine) to keep them soft. The bush is hardy, attractive, and easy to grow. It is one of the very first things to bloom, actually before the forsythia blooms by a few days. The foliage is somewhat glossy, and it does get a little bit of fall color, although not the most brilliant fall show by any means. The flower buds that form in the late summer add interest in the winter. Mine are too astringent to eat raw unless they are dead ripe and very soft. Birds don't seem to eat them. I think that there may be some named clones that have fruit that is more palatable out of hand. Mine are just from seed -- I started with one, and the rest are it's progeny. I think this is another fruit with a lot of potential. The only down side is the somewhat tedious pit. The method I found to do this easily is to pick over and wash the fruit, then put it in a large kettle with just a little bit of water, and boil/steam for about 10 minutes. This makes the fruit mushy-soft. I then put the fruit into a colander with small holes, and mush the pulp through the holes with the back of a spoon, leaving the pits behind. This yields a pretty large volume of bright burgundy-red pulp and a relatively small volume of pit -- at least they're not virtually all pit or seed like some wild types of true Prunus cherries.

Thanks everybody :-) Yes Brenda your right that purple flower is Canterbury bells campanula medium i beleive. Sara im so glad you liked it. I have wanted some for years and every time i buy them they die! Sooo i decided i would try to grow them from seed and it took a couple of years but i was so proud when they bloomed this year :-) They will probably die now! Hope not but i expect it. They seem really fragile. Thank you Jean! I just loved watching it zoom around and don't have a clue what it was eating but i hope it was mosquitoes :-) Do they eat mosquitoes? I was so worried for her because she was hanging out on the deck under the gutters that the blue jays love to dig around in and i was worried they would spot her and have a nice juicy bug dinner. She sure looked fat to me. Maybe full of eggs? She seemed to be guarding the birdbath fountain. I just havent ever seen one that big before. Usually they are skinny with lots of wings zooming by but she kept hanging around and i was so excited to see her little plump self. I beleive dragonflies are carnivorous aren't they? My son was so excited too. I love nature. I will definitely keep my eyes out for the lovely jewelwings Jean. Thank you :-) Brenda so glad you liked Herman! He/she has me trained. After breakfast or dinner i always carry the scrapes out with some bread and dog food to feed what ever comes by for a visit. Hermon is always sitting in the tree waiting and will "CAW" for me to hurry up. LOL...I hurry up too :-) The Bluejays have fits when Hermon is around but i love him/her anyway even if she eats the other birds babies its only to feed his own. Herman keeps ALL hawks and owls in their place too. I have seen him chase and attack a redtail hawk before. DO NOT mess with Herman! LOL...I feel really touched that he has made a connection with me and the food too. Hermon just had some babies come by for a visit but they wouldn't come down to eat. They just tried to hang on to the branches they were on and flopped and squawked a lot :-) Some didnt hang on to good and fell off so it was kinda funny to watch. Hope they come back for some more nibbles soon. They are always welcome. I will know they are here when the little Bluejay alarms go off. Life is good :-) Bonnie

Thanks for the nice compliments. I love to share my pond, as I am sure we all do. I wish that you all could come on over and see it up close and personal. I have gotten so much inspiration from all the wonderful postings on the garden web. Yes the yellow flower is a marsh marigold. It truly is at it's best right now. I have to cut it down by the end of June, by then it looks terrible.

I think it's an Achillea ptarmica. I have Achillea ptarmica 'Angel's Breath' with leaves like that. My blooms are fully double, though.