New flowers in bloom. 7.5.14

Daylily I moved to the Battleground place, 2 months ago.  7.5.14

Crocosmia in bloom.  7.5.14

Four O'clock "Marvel of Peru".  7.5.14

 Some flowers in bloom around the Battleground 2 acres.  These are the first flowers here for the daylilies, Buddliea "Honeycomb", and the Four O'clocks.  The latter have barely begun.  The container plants are ahead of the in-ground plants.

Buddleia X weyeriana  "Honeycomb" 

Hummingbird on crocosmia "Lucifer".  7.5.14.  Photo by Ning Wang.

Bees forage the clover lawn. Hummingbirds in the Crocosmia. 7.4.14

I've been planting clover seeds in the lawn, for the past 2 years.  This is a chemical-free, fertilizer-free lawn.    Now, as the hot days of sumer are here, the grass stops growing.  The clover is in full bloom.  When white clover is intermixed with grasses, the clover supports nitrogen-fixing bacteria, pulling nitrogen out of the air and into the soil in forms plants can use.  The grass grows better, and so does the clover.  White clover is also one of the best bee forages.  They are actively foraging the clover lawn now.  Walking through the lawn, I can hear them hum.  It looks prettier in person than in the photo.  The clover lawn benefits the grass, the soil, the bees, and the environment.

Clover lawn.  7.2.14

Humingbird on Crocosmia.  Photo by Ning Wang.  7.4.14  

I

Hummingbird on Crocosmia.  Photo by Ning Wang.  7.4.14

Hummingbird.  Photo by Ning Wang.  7.4.14

Honeybee on Clover.  Photo by Ning Wang.  7.4.14

Honeybee on Clover.  Photo by Ning Wang.  7.4.14

Buddleia review

Buddleia "Miss Ruby"

Buddleia "Peach Cobbler"

Buddleia "Peach cobbler"

 I might have a love/hate thing going with Buddleia.  This winter/spring I bought and planted several. It took some effort to find the "legal", "horticulturally politically correct" varieties.  By that I mean, legal to buy and grow, noninvasive, non-see bearing intergeneric hybrids.  These are patented so can't be grown from cuttings.

My goal was to have a fast growing shrub with nectar bearing flowers for insects and hummingbirds.  Especially honeybees.

Online photos of buddleia flowers are usually cropped or pruned to show the pretty, but not the ugly.  There is a lot of pretty but also a lot of ugly.

As the flowers fade, they turn brown.  They brown from the start to the end, over what seems to be a few weeks.  That leaves a choice:  Deadhead, which removes a lot of 'fresh' flower too, or leave the flower on the plant until it's totally brown, which is not attractive.

These photos show the "pretty", except for the bottom photo that shows the "ugly" too.

I will deadhead them.  There should be lots of new flowers following deadheading.

In my garden, the "Cobbler" type buddleias ("Peach Cobbler" and "Blueberry Cobbler") seem to grow much faster and look more weedy, compared to the "Miss" type buddleias (Miss Molly and Miss Ruby).  The flowers on the "Miss" buddleias are more compact and richer in color.

Buddleia "Blueberry Cobbler"

Bumblebees often visit the buddleias.  I haven't seen honeybees on them at all.

Buddleia "Peach Cobbler"

Hummingbirds also visit them.

More Spring Activity.

Will need to post pictures later this week - work beckons.

Today was a rare event, the 3rd day of a 3day weekend. Spent about 9 hours on homework, but was rested for a change. Mid 70s outside - very nice. Took the laptop outside and worked in the shade.

Took a couple of breaks. Planted some sugar snap peas. Left the tomato seed pots out in the warm weather through the day. Fed more weeds to the hens. They do like their greens. There are only 2 now. They lay 1 or 2 eggs daily, between the two. Watered the overwintered plants, took most outside over the past week. Set out a hummingbird feeder, hung from tree in front yard. Probably 30 minutes of effort in the yard, the rest was working the laptop. Still, not bad.

Orchard Mason Bees are active now, I thought that they might have frozen to death this winter. With cherries, apples, pears almost open, and peaches almost at the finishing part of their blooming, they are just in time. Saw a couple of bumblebees too. Beneficial insects are our organic gardening friends.

Strawberry rhubarb smoothie: 1/2 pkg soft tofu, about 1/2 cup frozen rhubarb, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries, 1 cup OJ, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and about 1 tsp salt. Blend to smooth. Yum. tart/sweet/rhubarbie.

Huimingbird fun

The hummers are visiting regularly. Sometimes there are several.
My hand isn't steady enough for a perfect shot.
They are fun to watch. The especially like the crocosmia.

Seed planting, hummingbird feeder, weeds.

Today there was enough time off that I sat outside and studied for 3 hours. Nice. Charlie sat by my side, pausing occasionally to bark at bees.

I set up the hummingbird feeders. One has a metal base and rusted out. So, I won't by any with metal bases, again. The type with stopper in the bottom that gravity feeds, always leak, so none of those either. I bought a new one, so there are 2. They are filled with sugar water (1/3 cup sugar in 1 cup hot water, then cooled). No humming birds at them yet, although I heard some recently. Humming birds ar enot just cool to look at, they also eat insects. I think I'll put one up at my window at work, see if they visit.

I pulled more weeds to feed Ning's chickens.

It's 68 according to weather channel. Feels warmer. Soil feels warm, too.

The tulips are in bloom all over the place. Some have been in the same spot since we bought this house, so at least 7 years. Those are multiplying, so they are now clusters instead of single blooms. Interesting, since they often seem like annuals. These are either 'perennial' tulips or the situation is ideal.


Planted Romano Bush Beans. Haven't tried these before. After watering them in, I got out the books that I studied. On return, there were doggie footprints in the newly planted bed. I wonder who did that? No harm done, at least they didn't dig. The photo is a volunteer bean, probably one of Ning's "ChangChun" beans.

The daffodil flowers are done.
The Tulips are at their height.
The hyacinths are done.


The muscari are at THEIR height.

The North Pole apple and the Liberty apple are blooming, but not the Jonagold.
The pear is blooming.
Most of the violets are done.



The fig breba 'embryos' are the size of beebees. Actually a little bigger, but I don't have a good comparison. Capers?

The 'lazy man's cuttings' from apples, ginkgos, and forsythia, figs (push dormant prunings into the ground, shady moist area with lots of organic matter) are growing. I know from past experience that this doesn't prove roots are growing, just that they are viable.



Dandelion-eating hen. The hens are up to 2 eggs per day (for 4 hens)

After a hiatus

It's been a difficult summer. Work hours are long and the work is the most intense ever. Coming home, I'm often too exhausted to do more than water 'essentials' about every other night on hot days, less often if cooler. No time for more significant garden projects. I have also tried to get the bathroom project finished, but only about 1 day every other weekend.

What has happened in the garden?

1. Most of the plants continue to survive. The grapes (Venus here) are producing like crazy now. I've about finished off Interlaken and Venus, and Price is done. Price didnt have many anyway, but they are the most 'grapy', most flavorful and largest. They do have seeds, but I think I even like that.

2. Of course, the hummingbirds dont take much attention, and they have been the big treat of the summer. I read that they eat the nectar for energy, but get all of their protein from insects. No wonder this yard is doing so well wtihout insecticides.

3. Tomatoes are producing well now. I eat at least one large tomato daily, sometimes more. Principe Borghese makes for great 'tomato raisons' - slice in have and leave in the dehydrator for about 24 hours.

4. Figs have not done much yet. The containerized figs are barely limping by. Vancouver / Brunswick has lots of large figs and Petite Negri has many many small ones. Hardy Chicage has a few, I ate one yesterday - these are small, but so is the tree. next year?

5. Raspberries are bearing well. I think I do like the Fallgold better, and my just ust that one next year.

6. Roses are surviving, not much disease, and most bloom a little all summer. Nothing dramatic.

7. Brugmansia has had a few flowers but not as much as last year. Maybe the container is too small. It gets daily waterings.

8. Ning's Changchun beans actually did quite well. we are still getting more than we can eat.

9. Garlic did very well. It's almost time to plant again.

10. Cacti did well this year. A few blossoms as noted earlier. Most have grown guite a lot.

All for now. I dont know how to move back closer to work/life balance (I've NEVER been in balance) but seriously need to strive for it, lose the 20 "stress pounds" that piled on, and figure out how to find time and energy to bike again. Can I do it?

Lilies

Unknown variety.
Unknown variety.
Citronella
Henryii - it;s over 7 feet tall. Elegant combination of orange with olive green nectar. As I was taking this photo, a hummingbird visited and sipped nectar for several minutes. I was about 4 feet away, standing quietly.

hummer

They like the crocosmia more than any other flower in the yard.

Ziplock Fig Cuttings. Lively Bees. Geranium Revival.

Here is the result so far, of the ziplock fig cutting experiment. basically, fig cuttings were wrapped in moist paper towels, left on high shelf, in ziplock bag. I opened them when I remembered. About a month later, here they are. A bit moldy. Now to transition them to soil & a brighter location. The roots are fragile but it is interesting how easily they rooted. No rooting hormone. This method is popular in the fig forum on the gardenweb.

The Orchard Mason Bees are active and lively. They are using their new nesting box as well as the prior ones. They seem to like sitting in the sun.I will need to make another next weekend. Excellent reference on Orchard Mason Bees: "The Orchard Mason Bee" by Brian L. Griffin (creative title, too).

Daffodils are starting to wilt now. I removed some, to prevent seed heads from forming. Maybe I'll leave a couple as an experiment.

Cherries are in full bloom. Peaches are almost done. Apples have'nt oepened yet.

I saw my first hummingbird of the year, actually heard it first. It was sippin the nectar from flowering quince.

I cut all of the dead leaved from the oeverwintered geraniums, gave them new soil, repotted a couple, pruned off lanky growth that occurred in the dark garage. They ar eoutside now. I gave them some organic bloom food (slow release) and a little fish emulsion for a boost.