Saving Seeds. 9.18.2020

 From late summer, about mid August, until now, I've been collecting seed heads and seed pods etc. to save for next year.  Part of that will be for wildflower meadow, and part for vegetables or other flowers.

I saved flower and chive seeds buy cutting the seed pods or tops off, and putting them into brown paper bags, upside down, so the fried seeds would fall into the bag.   Others, such as cucumbers, I let the pulp ferment in water for 2 days, then let them dry on newspaper, the same as is done for tomato seeds.

These were the "bush" pickle cucumber seeds.  I was hospitalized when they were at their peak, so no pickles this year.  I let some of the fruits fully ripen to a tan/yellow color, with a husk that seemed a bit papery.  Then I cut three open, scooped out the seeds, let them ferment, and dried for a week on newspaper.   I thought they would stick together, but they did not.  This is enough to start a pickle farm.  Now they are in a paper envelope for the winter.

These were Oregon Sugar snow peas.  The holes indicate that a weevil has tunneled into them and hollowed them out.  So these are not viable.  I wasn't as crazy about Oregon Sugar as I was about Taiwan Sugar anyway.  Oregon Spring grew too tall, produced too late, and the snow-peas were not as good as Taiwan Sugar.  A similar thing happened to Taiwan Sugar but not as many.  I put them into a jar in the freezer, which is meant to kill the weevil.  If I can find them again.

Shirley Poppy seeds.  For these, I just cut off the pods when the stems turned brown.  After they are fully dried out, shake out the seeds like a pepper shaker.

Four O'clock seeds.  I saved, separately, red, yellow, and pink flowered types.  They come up volunteer anyway, but I thought I might add them to the fig tree area.

Marigold seeds.  These are messy.  I didn't realize that it's easy to pinch the pod, pull off the dry petals, then tear open the pod to release the seeds.  So these are seeds mixed with petals.  They have a nice herbal - floral scent.  I think the petals are OK.  There are enough seeds here to start a marigold ranch.  They will go into the wildflower meadow.  This is a yellow French variety that the honeybees liked.

When the seeds are dry, I transfer them into paper envelopes.  I'm not getting outtoo stores because of the coronavirus and stupid, stubborn people out there who want to be modern typhoid Marys, so these are home made using a paper tablet and painters tape.  They are just as good and basically free.  I use paper because it dries out, while plastic retains moisture that can cause mold..

Yellow Four O'Clock. 9.6.2020

This is the same yellow Four O'clock. It just continues blooming and blooming and blooming. It's in a West / Southwest exposure, poor soil, and I have not watered it once this summer. I have been saving seeds from the red Four O'Clock. The plan is to save lots of seeds from this one too. It started blooming a little later, so I image the seeds will ripen later too.

 

Four O'Clocks. 8.20.2020

 When I first started growing Four O'Clocks, I thought they might be difficult to grow.  I planted the seeds inside, coddled them, transplanted, gave them TLC.  Now, having grown them for many years, I usually just plant the seeds directly in the garden.  This year I didn't even try.  Within the vegetable garden are volunteers that grew from volunteers that grew from  volunteers.  I transplanted some, left some where they were.  They turned out very nice.

I don't think I ever bought or planted pink 4 O'clocks, but here they are.  

These red ones are a very rich color, quite lovely.

I think I planted this yellow one in front of the house a few years ago.  It comes up every year.

Honeybees generally stay away from 4 O'clocks, but there can be exceptions.  It's possible that the flowers bloom before the bees are active, and close up too early.

This year I want to save seeds separately for each color.  They are all nice, and have an antique feel to them.

Some Flowers. 8.11.2020

 The Four O'Clocks are all volunteer. I moved a few seedlings this Spring and left the rest where they were.  I think they are a few generations past the original seed packet now.  There were only two yellow flowered plants.  I want to save those seeds, so I labeled them.  They are open-pollinated so who knows what the seedlings will be.  Honeybees don't seem to like them.  Despite being Four O'Clocks, they seem to bloom best in the am so should be "Nine Am O'Clocks".  :-)

This dark one is especially brilliant.  It's not a pure red.  I think the marble types interbred with the pure color types.

These are wild petunias.  The flowers are the same size as the Four O'Clocks, but the leaves are very different.  Also, they stay open in the afternoon, when the Four O'Clock flowers are closed.

I just like taking photos of flowers with bees.

I didn't think the honeybees were into dahlias, but this time there were a few.

Walking Around. 8.18.16

Single French marigold selected for seed saving.  8.18.16

Walking around,  but not a lot.  Temps above 100 F by afternoon.  I can handle the am cooler temps, but not the afternoon.
Photos are via I-pad, I didn't have camera card for the better camera today.

Some of the marigold seeds, saved from last year's double flowers, grew out with single flowers.  I've decided I like these better, and want to save them as my own little landrace.  These have a rich, brick-red appearance, with yellow edges.  I don't think they are the same as the Burpee "Cottage Red" variety, which is much redder in photos.  I do have seeds of that variety to grow next year, and signet marigolds, both of which will be kept separate from these singles. There are doubles and oranges nearby, so it may take another year or two to isolate these as my own strain.

Four O'clocks are holding up well to the summer heat.  Some came up from the same roots, for the 3rd year.  They have not been invasive.  My intention is to save seeds from the traditional reds and yelows.

Yellow and red Four O'clocks selected for seed saving.  8.18.16

Seedling rows, Evergreen Bunching Onion and species Echinacea.  8.18.16

 Corn turned out to protect sunflowers from deer, once they grew too big for rabbit tastes.

I planted echinacea seeds a few weeks ago.  These are not a modern hybrid, just bought seed packet labeled "Echinacea Purple Coneflower".  They have germinated.  Rudbeckia seeds have not germinated yet.  Rudbeckia, grown from seeds this Spring, did grow nicely and are blooming.  There are annual and perennial Rudbeckia, and I don't trust the labeling, but maybe these will come back next year.

Sunflower.  8.18.16

Missouri  primrose, Oenothera missouriensis.  8.18.16

Missouri primrose, growing wild.  Very dry tolerant,  and grows in soil that supports almost nothing else.  Maybe I will dig a plant for the perennial border.  Bees don't seem interested in them.

Evergreen bunching onions are doing OK with the heat.  They look delicate but I think they are tough.   They are just a few weeks from planting the seeds.

Rudbeckia, first year from seeds.  8.18.16

Walking Around. 7.26.15

Front Border.  7.16.15

Agapanthus.  7.26.15

Joe Pye Weed at about 4 months.  7.26.15

 Random updates.

Front borders are getting close to where I want them.   There are plenty of Spring blooming bulbs, foliage now dead and waiting for another turn of the year.  They are the first wave.

For the second wave, there are lots of Daylilies and annuals.  I know better what annuals will do well.  The nasturtiums that have a big early display, then die, I will not save seeds from those.  I will save seeds from the ones that bloom for another month or more.  The marigolds, heritage French type, have been excellent and continue to bloom like crazy.

Daylilies take the heat and just continue to bloom.  The new daylily plants continue to grow, slowly.  Now that there are plenty of seed pods, I am dead-heading some of the just-bloomed flowers to keep them looking neater.

When I took the overwintered, dried-out Agapanthus out of the garage this Spring, it didn't look like much.  So I planted nasturtiums in the container around the Agapanthus.  They had their burst of bloom, then burnt out.  Now the Agapanthus is blooming generously. 

Geraniums need dead heading.  The 90s to 100 temp, and blazing sun, burns out the petals.  The leaves look good.

The borage died out, but now a second wave of volunteers is blooming, and a 3rd wave of seedlings has germinated.

The Joe Pye Weed is settled in and growing robust leaves.  At the top - there may be some early flower buds.  That would be nice.

Four O'clocks, Nasturtiums, Geraniums.  7.26.15

Tigridia.  7.26.15

Tigridia continues to bloom.  Even though each flower lasts one day, each stem has a succession of bloom.  Planting them in a cluster, in container, works well.

Four O'clocks are blooming nicely too.  The plants that survived the winter are larger and more robust than the new seedlings, but they all look good.  The more I grow Four O'clocks, the more I like them.  They don't mind a little shade, but they grow better in full sun.  They do make a lot of volunteers, but those are easy to pull out if not wanted.

Sedums grew robust new mounds, with lots of flower buds.  They will be the 3rd wave of flowers in the front borders.  Bees really love sedum flowers, so that is an additional benefit.

Of all of the main flowers, borage is about the only one that really feeds the bees.  I have bunches of oregano plants throughout.  The bumblebees and honeybees also forage heavily on oregano flowers, in full bloom now.

Walking Around. 6.19.15

Ladybug  Browsing Aphids on Apple Leaf.  6.19.15

"Black" calla lily. 6.19.15

 Walking around.  I thought I heard teeny tiny  screams coming from an apple leaf  - looked down and saw a lady bug munching through a field of aphids like a Tyranosaurus rex munching through a field of bunny rabbits.

The "black" calla is kind of elegant.  This one is 3 years old.  Got the usual winter treatment, dry out in fall, store in garage, then move back outside in Spring and water / fertilize.

Butterfly on Tiger Lily.  Nice.  Lilies don't seem to survive at the Battleground place.  But this one did.

Squashes have flower buds.  Corn just might be knee high by the 4th of July.

Sal's Fig seems to be the best adapted to the Battleground place.  I don't know yet about the best adapted at Vancouver - Chicago Hardy, King, and Lattarula are in their first in-ground summer at Battleground.

Good demonstration of how much faster Four O'clocks grow from last year's roots, as opposed to this year's seedlings.   Today I noticed another plant coming up from last year.  Long dormancy - they must need a lot of warmth to awaken.

Tiger Lily with  Butterful.  6.19.15

Squash and Sweet Corn Garden.   6.19.15

Main Crop Fig Buds.  Sa'ls Fig.   6.19.15

Left:  Four O'clock from 2014 root.  Right:  Four O'clock from seed.   6.19.15

Walking Around. Flowers. 6.7.15

Tuberous begonias.  6.7.15

 Walking around.  A lot of plants that I started much earlier are showing progress.  We are past the Spring bloom, and not quite into the summer bloom.  Since I usually don't buy flowers already in bloom, there is a wait while they are growing.  I like it that way.  By growing plants from seeds, or starts, or tubers, or bulbs, or  divisions, I feel like I am more of a gardener.  I can follow their life cycle, and see them either flourish, or remain or dwindle.

I planted the tuberous begonias about 2 months ago.  Some are just beginning to grow, others a few weeks.  I thought some were dead but they all came up.  Today they got a little flower plant food.

I planted a historic daylily into the front border.  This area by default is becoming a bed for rescued daylilies.  I don't have the names for most of them.

Rescued Daylily Bed.  6.7.15

Small Yellow Daylily.  6.7.15

First nasturtium.  6.7.15

Second Year Growth, Four O'Clock.  6.7.15

Four O'clock Seedlings.  6.7.15

In Ning's Meadow.  6.7.15

Milkweed Seedlings.  Asclepias syriaca.  6.7.15

Zantedeschia.  6.7.5

Most of the daylilies are just starting to bloom

The nasturtiums have opened their first flowers.  The leaves are nice and succulent.  The leaves have a delicious peppery flavor.

Four O'clock seedlings are starting to grow.  There are also volunteer seedlings.

Four O'clocks that were close to the house, survived the winter.  Re-growth started late, but they are very stout and vigorous, and quickly passed the new seedlings in size and vigor.

Zantedeschia are in a shady area.  Most are in their first year.  I have one container of Zantedeschias that I've grown for about 25 years.  That older one is not blooming yet.

Milkweed / Asclepias syriaca are growing slower than I expected.  Maybe as summer heats up they will take off.  I don't expect them to bloom this year.

Ning's meadow is looking beautiful, full of flowers and pollinating insects.

Learnings. What went well, what didn't. What I obsessed over. 2014. 12.30.14

Transplant Methley Plum.  Jan 2014

 This is Jan to June.  It turned out to be too much to review the whole year.

Transplanted Methley plum tree in January.  It did fine, but no plums this year.  January is a good time to transplant around here, if the roots are good and the weather is mild.

Lilacs are really easy to propagate by digging up suckers, pruning them off, and replanting.  All survived.  Again, dug them in January.  All of the starts grew moderately and developed good root systems.

Covering the raised beds with plastic increased the temp, allowing for cold season vegetables to grow in February.

Embossable labels work better than any other type of label.

Pepper plants started about Jan were the first to bear.  They do not have to be started that early, but it was nice to get early peppers.

Whip and tongue grafting is easy and awesome.  That was the end of Feb.  All of the pears, and all of the apples, took.  Few or none of the lilacs took.  Lilacs are more challenging to graft.  I still don't have a foolproof method for them.

It was easy to dig up and transplant daffodils and Hyacinthoides right after they  started to grow in March.  All survived and bloomed.  It was a great way to have some instant spring blooming bulbs, not planted the fall before.  Not really instant but seemed that way.  Waiting until the foliage dies is probably better, but there is so much going on then, I forget.

The indoor plant growing light was easy, cheap, and worked very well.  I have it set up again for this winter's seedlings. 

Learnings for the little orchard:  Deer were the most destructive and frustrating challenge.  They ate cherry trees, to the point of almost killing the trees.  I already had the plum trees fenced, so they were OK.  They ate a few peach branches, not a lot.  Similar for persimmons. Something - maybe a rabbit - ate off one pawpaw sapling, so all got caged.  As of now, all cherries are caged, all pears, apples, plums, pawpaws, persimmons.  Two trees died - Satsuma plum and Korean Dogwood.  I think that's because I did not get the roots unwound from the containers.  Another thought, is voles, but on the tree autopsy I did not see eaten roots.  Lesson learned - get those root systems spread out.  I already knew that but did not practice it in those cases.  Hollywood plum was very easy to start from cuttings - all grew.  Shiro plum did not grow at all from cuttings.  With hand cross-pollinating, the Asian pears had heavy yields, really productive, for the first time ever.  By grafting pollinating varieties within each pear tree, I hope the pollinating is easier in the future.  But I really didn't mind doing it.  Enjoyable.  I have almost every tree in a fencing circle to reduce or prevent deer browsing next year.  Lesson learned - install the fencing at the time the trees are planted, even before planting.  Then it is done, and you don't wind up saying "I wish I did that".

Lilac Propagation via Suckers.  Jan 2014

Covered Bed.  Feb 2014

Pepper plants, 2.1.14

Asian Pear - Whip and Tongue Graft.  2.25.14

Apple.  Whip and Tongue Graft.  2.25.14

Bulb transplants.  3.2.14

Plant light project.  3.2.14

 For me, the best way to grow 4:00's / Mirabilis jalapa, was to soak seeds for 24 hours, pre- germinate seeds on moist paper  towel, in zipper sandwich bags, on heating mat, then plant into seedling cups.  They did really well that way.  4:00's were great fun and I will grow them again this year, from seeds saved in 2014.  They do stop blooming in Sept, but that's OK. They also grew faster, bloomed sooner, and stopped blooming sooner, in containers.

The bearded irises were very frustrating.  Big, very frustrating, losses from bacterial rot.  Almost every plant had at least some rot.  A few were completely killed.  May have been due to too much nitrogen the fall/winter before.  Lesson learned.  No nitrogen boost this time around.  Also no ground covers, although weeds are challenging for bearded iris.  We'll see if they do better this time around.

Lilacs did great this year.  It's nice to have several types.   Now I have starts from 5 colors, at the Battleground place.  Bud grafting was about 30% successful on lilacs.  Maybe - we'll see if they grow.

Bud grafting is also awesome.  Some of the early bud grafted plums grew rapidly.  The later ones, healed but I will not know if they grow, until Spring.  All of the plum bud grafts look like they took.  About 75% of the cherries look good.  Not sure about the peaches, and the lilacs may have a few.

The buddleias were a mixed bag.  The "Cobbler" varieties - Peach Cobbler and Blueberry Cobbler - grew huge.  That was OK in that location, they will be a bit of a windbreak.  The flower heads are also huge.  They start blooming from the bottom, and work to the top.  That means, most of the time half of the flower is brown and dead, before the rest is done blooming.  The result is an ugly bush.  The "Miss" varieties  - Miss Molly and Miss Ruby - those have smaller flowers, and less of the half dead/half blooming issue.  They are more compact.  Neither the Cobbler varieties, nor the Miss varieties, attracted honeybees, but they were good for bumblebees.  The Honeycomb variety was newer, I'm not sure about that.  The Blue Mist variety stayed more compact, the flower heads were small and much less of the half-dead aspect, looked very nice and the honeybees liked it.

Peecycling was the big lesson this year.  Excellent source of nitrogen.  Our water bill decreased due to not flushing it down the drain.  Tomatoes were the most productive ever.  Peppers did excellent.  Lindens grew their most lush ever.   Negatives, leaves on some buddleias, and laburnum, were curled.  I used moderately on the Bearded Irises, and that may have been the issue with the bacterial rot.  Possibly too much on those.  I would not use on pear trees - they grow too fast, and lush growth is susceptible to fire blight.  Sourwood also had a touch of fireblight, but recovered and grew nicely. I think this concept is mostly a "guy thing".  We have been saving all of the at-home pee for the garden, and it was very lush in 2014, the best ever.

Plant light project.  3.2.14

Orchard.  4.6.14

4:00 seedling.  4.6.14

The persimmons and pawpaws did respond to the nitrogen boost.  I would not do that for mature trees, but it might be good for getting them larger, faster.

I still have a lot to learn about growing okra in this cool maritime climate.  The container okras did much better than last year's in-ground okra.  The varieties, "Burgundy" and "Baby Bubba" did best.  They are hard to grow in sunroom due to attracting aphids.  It helps to soak seeds over night, and pre-sprout on moist paper towel / zipper sandwich bag / on seed sprouting warming mat.  Contrary to info on many websites, okra is easy to start in containers.  You just have to be careful to slide them out of the container without damaging roots, when transplanting.  More to learn, but so far, so good.

This as a lot of learnings in 6 months.  Most of it went well.  I tend to forget the unsuccessful things.  The uncertainties to carry over to next year, mainly working on other herbivore control fencing, seeing if bearded irises will be free of bacterial rot, getting more okra in containers.   I plan to move more bulbs in March after they start growing, as I did last year.  Good to know that works.  Lilac starts are now in their permanent locations.   Much more grafting this year, based on last year's learnings. 

Historic lilac bed.  There were some good flowers despite a bacterial rot epidemic.

It' nice having multiple varieties of lilacs.  The different colors make for a beautiful bouquet.

This was my first try for camassia.  Very nice!

Pepper bed worked out really nice.  The cover kept them growing before the weather warmed up.  Covering also prevented herbivory.

Potato "wells" were OK, not great.  Not sure if I will do that this year.

Freeze killed figs grew back from the roots.

Okra was OK in containers.  Not lush like southern grown okra, but there was enough for some soups.

Peecycling was a big new lesson.  We got excellent results.

This plum bud graft took and grew rapidly.

Four O'Clocks were a new experiment.   They were great!

Buddleia Miss Ruby was good.  Compact and a nice bloomer.