Chinese lanterns

Today's the day ............... for autumn fruits

Grew these Chinese lanterns or Physalis alkekengi for the first time this year. They are easily identifiable by the large, bright orange to red, papery covering over its fruit, which look a bit like lanterns. It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 40-60 cm tall and is a native of southern Europe east across southern Asia to Japan.

What I didn't realise was that if you leave it growing in the garden, the orange lantern is eventually reduced to a fragile papery latticework cage through which you can see the bright orange fruit.

In Japan, its seeds are used as part of the Bon Festival as offerings to guide the souls of the deceased ..........