Miniature Roses Update. 25 Jun 24.

 These are the grocery store roses that I bought, after Valentines Day, on sale, and gave lots of TLC.

The yellow one, I think is "¿SunMaid?", doesn't seem "miniature" now.  More like "small".  Beautiful rose with beautiful flowers.

Planted singly, one in a container -

The other four from the container, planted together in a much larger container -

It's a very nice rose, and seems ideal for a medium - size container situation.  

All I do now is prune back a bit after blooms are spent, and give a dilute bloom fertilizer.

Here is second red rose, I think is "Daniela".  This is its first re bloom after repotting and adapting to home life.  This is one plant in a pot by itself.  It grew two vigorous new stems.  This one remains much smaller than "SunMaid" but is a bit larger than the other red rose, "¿Danika?.  The flowers are like miniature versions of classic, deep red, hybrid tea roses.  Beautiful clusters of buds surrounding the first open flower.  The foliage is a rich, deep green.  The thorns are red, very attractive on green stems.  This mini rose bush responded very well to potting into good potting soil, and ongoing TLC.  Mostly I keep it outdoors in a sunny place, but now aiming for a bit less sun in blistering hot weather.   The other plants from the same original pot, are in a group container and a bit behind the single plant.

The first red rose, "¿Daniella?", is also nice, more delicate looking, and has rebloomed twice so far.  It can't handle heat or bright sun, which chars the flower edges.  Still, in some shade, it can be quite pretty.  So far, this rose remains the most compact of the grocery store miniature roses that I have bought.   Post bloom, mostly, I've pruned it back,  set it in a less sunny location and treating like other smaller potted plants, keeping it watered, and giving low doses of general balanced plant food.

Finally, the pink miniature grocery store rose (¿"Light Pink Felicitas Kordana?") that I bought on sale after Mother's day.  It did suffer a bit off a set back after I repotted it.  I think the weather was too hot and roots not established enough.  After removing the flowers, pruning back a bit, and fertilizing with a balanced general houseplant food, it's begun to make a come back.   Lots of new leaves are growing now.  These little rose bushes seem much healthier after they shed their original, plant-factory leaves, and grow new home - outdoor leaves as well as growing thick new roots in their new potting soil.

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I think the new growth is an encouraging sign and shows promise for nice flowers in a month or two.

Day Lilies. 24 Jun 24.

 The day lilies are beginning to bloom.

I don't have a name for this one.  I moved it to Battle Ground, years ago.  It was dug out when the sidewalk went in, and wound up drying out in a pile of dirt.

I potted it up and gave TLC.  Now it's started to bloom.  Very nice flower.

I think this is Stella De Oro, old classic everywhere.  I had it last year in a different container.  Lots of buds!

Also the Betty Len daylily.  It doesn't look much like the web photos and package, maybe once it establishes? Also, the color doesn't show correctly in digital photos.  It's more lavender.  It got a difficult start, but is beginning to show some life.

Moving Container Garden To Less Intense Sun. 24 Jun 24.

 With mire intense summer heat and sun coming, the container garden will suffer. I've had them on tbe South / East deck.  Things dry out too fast, wilt, and leaves sunburn.

Now is time to move them to the East side of the house.  There is some southern exposure but not as much.

It's also a shorter distance to carry water.  Less effort.  Plants do well here.

The annual seedlings in large containers remain in full sun.  They aren't big enough to dry out as fast i  large containers. 

Geranium Cutting Update. 24 Jun 24.

This is the geranium that I rooted in water as a cutting, this Spring.  I think it's doing very well.  Lots of roots.  So I up-potted it.

I cut off two flower buds to let it grow more before blooming.

Cosmos Seedlings 24 Jun 24.

 The cosmos seedlings are taking off now.

I have some cilantro in there too.

I have been giving these some growth fertilizer (higher nitrogen).  Maybe it's time to hold off and see how they do.

Marigold Seedlings (and Scallions). 24 Jun 24.

 The marigold seedlings that I planted in larger containers have taken off.

I just planted the remainder.  They are small, in comparison.

There were some scallions left over from thinning.  They sat out for a while and dried out, but the bulbs look viable.  I trimmed them up and  interplanted with the marigolds.  We'll see how they do.

Sweet Cherry Harvest and Canning. 24 Jun 24.

 Cleaning up the Vancouver place for sale.  This will be my final crop from the trees there.  Bing (red), Ranier (yellow) and tart cherries (North Star?) similar to Montmorency.

I canned the sweet cherries, seven pints each.

At Battle Ground, the Montmorency Cherry tree is loaded, almost ripe.

I set up the Gumby man to deter birds and deer.

I will need to pick them in a few days, so he can help with the blueberries.

Tomato Leaf Problem - Black Flea Beetles? 13 Jun 24

Most of the tomato plants look pretty vigorous, but there is something eating holes and chunks out of the lower leaves.  Most of the plants have at least some damage.  There are tiny black insects, almost ground pepper in size and appearance.  They are difficult to see, but the damage is real and concerning for worse to come.

The damage looks like this:

There are lots of tiny insects, mostly on the cardboard mulch but also some on the leaves.  IT's difficult to take a photo of them because they jump around a lot.  Also, I thought that some of the damage might be caused by slugs, so applied slug bait.  Now I think it's really all flea beetle.

  I'm guessing these are black flea beetles.  

About a week ago, I applied this brand of neem oil spray.

After a week, there were still lots of the tiny insects visible on the cardboard mulch, so I bought this neem oil concentrate and mixed per label instructions.

I applied that three days ago.  Unfortunately, two hours later there was a big thunderstorm, so I imagine that most of the neem oil treatment washed off.  This morning I applied another treatment.  I also added about a teaspoon of peppermint extract per 32 ounce of neem mixture.

I don't know if it will help.  I can add another treatment in a week, or maybe switch to pyrethrin.  I want to stay with organic methods.

 

Alstroemeria Update. Seedlings and Transplants. 15 Jun 24.

 Here are the hybrid Alstroemeria seedlings that I started mid winter.  They were badly damaged by slugs or jays, or both.  They sent new shoots from the roots.

The new shoots seem to be doing better.  I will just let them mature in this container, which has drip irrigation, and plant them in the deer garden this fall.

Here are is the Alstroemeria that I transplanted to the deer border last fall.  The tubers and roots were delicate.  I wondered if they would survive.  They are doing great.

Deer Garden Border Update. Geraniums, Fig Trees, and More. 15 June 24.

 Here is the birder so far.  Lots more work to do.

The fig trees help with privacy.  I want to air layer more forsythias to fill in the back privacy hedge.  The geraniums seem happy there.  It's within easy reach of the water source.  Difficult to see, the four o'clocks are doing well, with a bit of slug damage.  The dwarf  dahlias are more damaged.  I applied slug bait.

Planting the Water-Rooted Tomato Cutting. 15 Jun 24.

 Here is the un-potted Supersweet-100 tomato cutting that I started in water.  Original post 14 May.  So, it was about 30 days from cutting to plantable plant.

I planted it in the garden yesterday.

Miniature Rose Update. 13 Jun 24.

 The first yellow one, that was a Valentines Day grocery store mini rose, probably Sun Maid, is vigorous enough now that I don't think I can call it miniature now.

I just up-potted the one that I had solitary.  It was drying out too fast, the plant being too large for such a small container.

The others, that had been in the same original pot and now in a much larger group container, are starting to bloom again.

It's much larger than I expected, unlike the first red one ¿Danika?  but it's OK.  It's a very nice rose, and has been fun learning and experimenting.

The pink one that I added recently, didn't much like the treatment I gave it.  My theory is, the weather now is too warm and sunny for a mini rose with such small roots to go directly outside.  There was lots of wilting.  The flowers looked sad  so I cut them off.  It looks like I forgot to post on it, so here it is.  I identified it as ¿Light Pink Felicitas Kordana?  I bought this plant 1 June, slightly past its prime.

I repotted it the next day.  This is the root mass - not a lot of roots.

After the wilting and crispy leaf episodes, with the flowers cut off and the dead leaves removed, it looks like this.

This doesn't look like much, but I take it as a new beginning.  I am leaving it outdoors 24/7 now, and there is no further wilting.  I think it will catch its breath and start growing again pretty quickly.

David Austin Roses. Bring Me Sunshine and Darcy Bussell. 13 Jun 24.

 Bring Me Sunshine opened its first flowers.  They are very nice.  The myrrh  scent is incredible, my favorite.  The current flowers are low on the plant, but new buds are on the top of new growth.

Given the vigor, I don't know what will be the long term situation, container vs. in-ground.  I prefer container.

Darcy Bussell is looking good too.  Lots of flowers.  Unfortunately, I barely detect a scent.