This Phalaenopsis or hid was a gift in September. It has never been without a flower.
As the original blooms started to fall off, it grew two new blooming stems from that stalk. They are still blooming. Now it's growing another one.
I just water it when I remember, an drain off any that pours through the inner pot. Once in a while I give it the same houseplant fertilizer as everything else.
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These are all in containers. They overwintered in place.
The big bunch of red tulips have been there a couple of years. They get no care at all, beyond weed removal and some mulch. And removing dead tops in Summer. The container height works for accessibility. It's the same size as a half whiskey barrel.
The other red tulips share a container with strawberry plants. The only care they get is for the strawberries. Those started to bear last year. We'll see this year.
Yesterday I tied up the climbing roses that flank the gate. Originally, I was going to build or buy a trellis, and have them meet over the gate. So far I have not done that.
This variety is Tropical Lightening. It's a beautiful rose and strong scent. Growth is vigorous. This will be its second year. For the time being, I've tied it to a tall post.
This is a red climbing rose. I grew it from a cutting, I think 3 years ago. I don't know the name. There was one flower last year. With so much growth, I bet there will be a lot this year. I tied it vertically to the espalier trellis post, to prevent sprawling and drooping. It must be over ten feet tall now.
I also pruned skinny or non vigorous looking growth from both rose plants.
Potato soup gets eaten a lot here. The Egyptian Walking Onions are a nice addition from the garden.
I don't use an actual recipe. My mother made this often. It's simple. About 2 cups of peeled, sliced red, white, or yellow potatoes. One medium onion, diced. One tbsp margarine. Two big cloves of garlic, crushed. One teaspoon onion powder. One tsp salt. 1/2 cup of milk. Enough water to cover and then an inch deeper. Finely chopped scallion, one per bowl. Pepper.
I sauté the onion in the margarine until clear, in a large pan. Add about a cup of water, the potatoes, salt, milk, garlic, onion powder, then enough water to cover about an inch above the potatoes. Bring to boil. Simmer 15 minutes.
After cooking, I add the pepper to taste, and one finely sliced scallion. The scallion will be tender (green parts) and tender-crunchy (white parts).
I use an induction burner set on power lever 5 for the sauté and cooking. It has a self-limited power boost to get up to temperature. Once the soup is lightly boiling, I reduce to a simmer, power level 2, for 15 min.
To reheat, it depends on how much soup there is. Usually power level 3 or 4.
I've never been successful growing Lycoris here. Last fall I bought sone bulbs and planted in containers. I stored those in the garage. About a week ago, I saw they were growing. I set them outside and started watering them. Here they are now.
I don't really know what to expect. I guess, so far, so good. They might benefit from some fertilizer, maybe mix bone meal into the top inch of the soil.
Two days ago, when I checked the tomato seedlings in the morning, there was no growth. In the evening, they had all germinated. The hybrids were too leggy. The dwarf open-pollinated ones were fine.
I put them under the LEDs. I think they will all be fine with sone TLC.
The peppers are looking pretty good. I wonder if it's too cool to have peppers outside even during the day (mostly 60s F) but I think the sunshine and fresh air are good for them
They've been getting the same Liquid Schulz house plant food as other plants. I'm considering switching to a higher nitrogen but diluted Miracle Grow to boost them some more. I usually use 1/4 teaspoon per 2 quart watering can. My water is rain water, so salts are not an issue.
I'm impressed that the Eucalyptus seedlings are easier than I expected.
First, the Silver Dollar" Eucalyptus cinerea, which were the second ones I planted.
These are all in their 4" pots now, in regular potting soil. They are on the "plantmobile ", inside at night and outside during day. I topped three for bushiness. I might see if one or two will survive outside and grow into trees, so did not top those.
Second, the lemon bush Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus citriodora (AKA Corymbia citriodora). These are a mixed situation.
The ones in 4" pots look pretty good. I topped them a while back, and branches are forming.
The ones in the silicone six-packs don't look so great.
The leaf spots & leaves dying appeared shortly after transplanting them. I don't know why. Soil, light, temperature was the same. Maybe it's because I divided some of those, so they had more root trauma. Some seem to be growing again, so I'll keep taking care of them as I already am.
I finished regrafting the Redlove Espaliers with replacement varieties that I know I like, and I know perform here. Mainly Jonagold and Akane, a Japanese heirloom with Jonathan and other ancestry.
I tried matching scion / stock diameters but some were not in good places. For a couple, I used a side graft. For that, the scion is cut as a wedge, same as a wedge graft. Then a slice is made into the cambium of a much larger branch, making sort of an ear. The scion wedge is inserted and then wrapped as usual for tightness / cambium bond, and protection from dehydration.
Sorry about the bad photo.
I think this has as good a chance to take as any other. The main things are timing, sap is flowing in under stock to feed callous / cambium growth and fusing, the scion is dormant so some fusing happens before it starts growing, warm weather for good growth but not too warm, and a good clean cut with as much cambium contact, firmly held together. And protection from dehydration.
Farmers and gardeners have been grafting for thousands of years. Such as, ancient Rome, ancient China. It's a doable garden art.
I grafted the Redlove Odyssey with Akane. I was aggressive at shortening growth, leaving shorter spurs and removing wayward branches.
The top tier is "Freedom" apple, which I'm leaving in place. When (if) the grafts take and start making vigorous growth, I will cut off most of the long arms (or at least vigorous growth on those) of the tiers to foster most growth on the new grafts.
It's not all loss. The top tier of Redlove Era is the ancient heirloom Blue Pearmain, which looks to bloom and bear for the first time this year. The top tier of Redlove Odysso is Freedom, ditto. Plus there are the two espaliers that are not red flesh apples.
Lower half HoneyCrisp, top half Gala (not pictured) and lower half Zestar, top half Rubinette.
I pruned those too, removing wayward growth and shortening spurs - especially if they don't have flower buds. The Gala will have one more tier, on top. I bent tall growing branches into position while they are suppple, and added bamboo extensions to the trellis posts. Next it'll need a horizontal arm.
The rose I identified as "Sunmaid Kordana") - yellow mini-rose impresses me. Here's the first flower bud.
They are all thriving. This is the first time I've ever been able to grow them beyond the "new" stage. Currently, they are spending all of their days outside in full sun. Admittedly a fair amount of that is rainy. Temp ranging 50s to 60s. Sometimes I bring them in at night.
Of the reds, here is the first ("Bi-Mart Rescue Rose" ). I tentatively identified it as "Danika Kordana" but I'm not certain. It seems to be more compact and redder growth. Same treatment right now. Also thriving. It's worked hard and endured quite a lot. Now it's time to recover and thrive.
Both are getting Schulz liquid house plant fertilizer with most waterings. It's designed to be dilute so can be used each time, sort of like "fertigation".
The other, redder, red is still in its original soil. I'm waiting for the blooms to fade, which is starting now. I went through the patent list on the container. The only one among those, that is a rich red, is named "Daniela". It's complicated and there's probably no way to know for certain. (such as, I also thought the yellow one might be "Aloha".)
These are meant to be sold as commodities. Like, if you buy a red grocery store potato, it could be Red Pontiac" or " Red Norland" or "Red Something Else". It's just sold as red. I think, similar for these roses.
Here is the Kordana website. It looks like it's intended for vendors, not gardeners. Not much info, only a few of their many varieties. It's interesting to read.
I made another batch of bone meal. It's easy but takes a little effort. And some bones.
Even though I am vegetarian, I make all of Rufus's dog food. The main source of meat is chicken thigh or legs, both of which are high-taurine which some dogs require to prevent heart disease.
I slow cook the thighs and legs overnight. The meat just slips off the bones easily. This is probably easier than other bones.
Bird bones are light and more fragile than mammal bones. This would not work for cow or pig or sheep.
The bones need to be thoroughly dry. During the summer, I dry them in the sun room, which becomes very hot. Sometimes I use the oven after baking something, and it is cooling off. The temp doesn't matter. I don't leave them sit around damp. They would become moldy or attract creatures. If it's a while before they can be dried, they can be frozen in a freezer bag. This time, I was also making chicken heart jerky. I cut the hearts lengthwise, and dry in food dehydrator 145 F for 12-hours. Rufus likes them and they are 100% meat. At the same time, I spread the chicken bones on one of the trays and they dried just fine.
Then I pick a nice afternoon to sit on the deck with an audiobook and a granite mortar and pestle to smash and grind the bones into bone meal.
It's difficult to find a good analysis of trace chemical composition specifically of chicken bone, on line. Also, analyses may be for bone without marrow. Bone meal in general is an excellent source of calcium and phosphorus. I saw some suggestions they also contain magnesium in trace amounts. The brown color is from the marrow, which I imagine contains iron and protein (nitrogen) and some fat. The N-P-K is about 3-15-0 (Wikipedia) and calcium is about 12%.
As for use, bone meal needs to be mixed with soil, not on top. It breaks down over about four months, so now is a good time. It's best used in acid soil (Pacific NW, west of the Cascades for example). In Steve Solomon's book about gardening in the NW, he states the rains leach calcium from the soil, so soils here benefit from nitrogen supplement (no reference, just my memory).
Various sources recommend about a quarter cup of bone meal mixed with the soil when planting rose bushes. I did that. Also in garden bed preparation, I add about a cup per bed (40 square feet) or 1/4 cup per 4 foot row then mix in before planting.
Im putting together a quilt kit for a repeat of this quilt. The original pattern and instructions were by Lynne Goldsworthy in a supplement of Today's Quilter Magazine a few years ago. Mine strayed quite bit from the published instructions, and so will this one will even more. Lynne called this quilt "Pythagorus Theorem" because of the triangle calculations.
One challenge is that the instructions make use of fat quarters and newly bought fabric. I am using what I have. Some is new, some is yardage, some scraps, some left over from jelly roll sets.
This instructions called for 72 diamonds, 2 1/2 inches wide. I added more, so now it's 88 (I think). Coincidentally, the first quilt book that I bought, years ago, had a diamond template exactly that size. That made it go quickly. Also, jelly roll fabric is 2 1/2 inches wide.
Jelly Roll Strip With Diamond Template. Perfect size!
This pattern calls for 288 half square triangles. I'm not certain if the exact size is in the instructions. They are 2 1/2 inches square when trimmed. I looked several times. But there is a lot of text, so who knows? Probably there. The instruction calls for starting with larger pieces than I have, but I can adapt.
One way I can stream line a bit is to start with two six (6) inch squares. Lay facing each other, draw lines corner to corner. Then sew 1/4 inch both sides of each line. Small template is 2.5 inches which is what I want in the end Here I should have put the line on the seam instead of the line. These are scrap fabric. It took me several tries to figure this out.
Then, cut so there are four three-inch squares, then cut on the lines to make eight triangles.
Open up, press seams open, and there are 8 half-square triangles. They need a slight trimming, but not much. It's less sewing, cutting, measuring, than individual half square triangles. I misaligned some but these are scrap anyway.
I have a lot of 2 1/2 inch strips that will become half square triangles too. Those need individual measuring, cutting, and sewing.
Especially for triangles and stars - which is this entire quilt - a lot happens on the bias. Which means things can be more stretchy, distort easily, be uneven, and not match up. Starching stiffens the fabric and stabilizes it. I use starch concentrate. It's cheaper and soaks into the fabric thoroughly, giving a nice stiffness. I use the dilution for medium or medium-heavy. I soak the fabric in the starch solution, then lay it out and press down to remove excess liquid. I don't wring or squeeze.
Casserole pans work nicely. Then I lay it out on towels to dry in a warm place. It takes about a day. I steam iron to flatten the fabric. I'm not pre-washing, That doesn't work for strips. They unravel. Plus, I want the final quilt to shrink a little when finally washed, for a textured, crinkly, sort of antique-y look.
I started pruning the fig trees, south of the house.
These are my main-producing and favorite fig varieties. I'm cutting about half of the top portions back to 5 or 6 feet. That is to keep them within reach. Depending on the variety, those are fall crop (main crop).
The other growth is left in place, or just the growth tip cut. Those are for summer (breba ) crop. Again, depending on variety.
Of course, I remove crossing branches, center congestion, branches in the way or dead.
These are the two Trachycarpus palms. I don't like taking off too many leaves. I removed the bottom leaves to facilitate mowing, using a riding mower.
One winter (roughly 2014 maybe?) a hard freeze killed most of the growing point of the tree on the right. I thought it was dead, so planted the other. Sometimes life finds a way. A new growing point emerged. Crooked and one-sides at first. Then it grew back to normal.
All it takes is a little breeze, and the fronds quiver and dance. Same idea as quaking aspen, but these remind me of egrets dancing.
These are two of the Redlove that I trained as Espaliers. They have healthy, mature root systems and trunks. So far in my garden, the apples have deep red flesh as promoted, but are hard, lemon-sour, and inedible.
My space is limited, and I'm not getting any younger. I decided to replace the Redlove tiers with proven varieties that I love, Jonagold and Akane.
Since these are going onto low tiers, I think they need to be vigorous varieties, which is true for both selections. With mature rootstocks and vigorous varieties, maybe I'll see fruit in three years.
I'm serious about safety. I think whip-and-tongue makes a sturdy, beautiful graft. When well done, there is little or no wood exposure to the elements. It's always been my go- to method. My success rate approaches 100%. But. There is a lot of cutting and maneuvering, and the cut can give way to injury easily.
So this time, I chose cleft grafting. All of the scion work can be (was) done on a cutting board, with blade facing down (wearing mandolin gloves).
The tree work can be done with blade facing away from the worker and his hands. In addition, it's only one cut, and it faces the tree.
Assembling the graft is not quite so elegant. Apples take grafts easily, and cleft grafting has been used for eons, so I think they will take.
By the way, here is the whip-and-tongue graft, same tree and variety, that I gave a blood sacrifice last year.
Fully healed. I had never unwrapped it, so the growth was restricted. Now it is free to grow. It did heal fine. In another year or two, growth will make the graft invisible.
The tree now. I cut about 90% of the spur and new growth from the branches. I will let a few apples form, but I want most nutrients to go to those grafts to push growth. The top tier is Blue Pearmain, which I'm keeping.
The completed work. The new grafts are circled in yellow. For the challenged gardener, all of the grafting and a lot of the pruning were done sitting on the gardening bench. The espalier can be as short as convenient for accessible gardening.
The replacement glazed pots came. I selected the most well branched, vigorous looking from the yellow miniature roses, and up potted it.
Here's the result.
They are all growing very nicely. I wanted one that I can bring indoors. I might plant three pf the others together in a larger pot, and the fifth in the garden.
My theory is that the group makes a nice, sort of living bouquet to sell, with lots of flowers on short plants. They get intense, wavelength - specific LED designed to keep the internodes short, specially formulated fertilizer and hormones.
At home, they need home growing conditions. More room, completely different soil, pruning etc. They might grow a bit taller, with longer internodes. I'm just theorizing there. Ad the plant matures, I think it could be bushier (with good pruning too) and more floriferous.
When wind catches those tall containers I planted them in, sometimes they fall over. This one is heavier and not top heavy
Not root bound at all.
When I potted these a month or so ago, no roots reached the bottom. I think they're quite healthy looking.
I did searches on all of the rose varieties on the original container. Two were not found. The only yellow one was KORpot055. A little searching on that came up with Sunmaid Kordana. I think the images confirm that. I'm surmising, this is not Sunmaid Floribunda or Sunmaid Grande.
It doesn't matter. I'm not going to propagate or sell. It's just nicer to say "Sunmaid Kordana" than "that yellow minuature rose that i bought at Fred Meyer" or "KORpot055"
I grew this Forsythia from a cutting, maybe 12 years ago. Now it's also the source of many more cuttings which I started to make a privacy hedge.
If you want a forsythia bush, ask a neighbor or friend for cuttings from their's. It's so easy and rewarding.
Thirty years ago, I planted some gingko seeds that my Dad had collected. He died about ten years ago. One of the trees stands grandly, maybe feet tall, in my old back yard in Vancouver. It's a male, so no stinky seed pods. Just majesty. The other, much smaller, is in my front yard now in Battle Ground.
I wanted to preserve the beautiful tree in Vancouver. Obviously it's way too big to think about moving. Maybe ten years ago, I grafted some scion from that tree onto seedlings that I grew, from seeds I collected in Vancouver. One didn't take, and one did. The one that took, doesn't grow vertically. It grows flat horizontally, no matter how often I try to straighten it.
I don't know why it does that. It's weird. Could it be that I grafted it upside down? Would that take? Would it grow like that? Or is it some kind of weird bud sport?
Last fall, I collected some scion from this tree. There are several suckers growing from under the ground. The plan was to graft freshly onto some of those suckers. If one takes, and if it grows vertically, I can cut the others off and let it take over.
I decided to use my favorite graft, a whip and tongue graft. I used a single edge razor blade for cutting, and a piece of wood as a cutting board. I don't recommend this, for safety reasons, but it is what I did.
First, here's how it looks when out together.
Here's how the cutting looks, slicing into the wood to make the tongue. This is before putting it together as above.
Wood resists cutting, then has a "give" point where it rapidly decompensates. Thats where my injury happened. It cut a nerve, and took a year to resume about 90% normal sensation on the back of my thumb.
All I can say is that today I was extra extra careful. I think the mandolin glove helped avoid an injury, and as much as possible I cut towards the cutting board, away from me.
It will be fun if one of the three that I did today grows. If none take, I'll cut the tree back to one sucker and let that take over as a straight upright tree.
Here are the piles of quilt pieces. There are 8 fabrics for the 9 inch squares. They will be cut cirner to corner to make two triangles each. There should be one trapezoid per triangle. don't know how many strips. If I counted correctly, there are 128 trapezoids to go with what will be 128 triangles. The strips turn into smaller diamonds to make star points. I'm not certain if I have enough strips.
The trapezois is usually the same fabric as the triangle. Mine are chosen to be somewhat similar in weight or color saturation, but not identical.
The trapezoids will be sewn to diamonds to make larger trapezoids. Those are sewn to the triangles to make larger triangles. Something like this.
Just gloomy, chilly, and rainy. Mostly low 50s. There was lightening and thunder, rare for here.
Today I cut off the top tuft of leaves from the pepper plants.
After
Before
The top leaf tuft produces hormones that inhibit branching. When you remove that tuft, then the lower buds leave dormancy and make branches. Bushy, well branched plants, make for higher productivity.
Some people call it "pinching". I use a sharp small scissors which I think is less traumatic to the cut tissues.
I planted the rest of the Patterson hybrid onion seedlings.
Also planted the first of the Wethersfield onion seedlings.
The process is the same as before. Dig a shallow trench. Lay the seedlings in the trench. Then move soil inwards to cover roots.
Every scoop of soil seems to bring up earthworms. This soil is becoming more rich each year,
