Flowers and Some Honeybees. 7.28.2020

This is kind of prime season for a lot of summer flowers. Some are volunteers or perennials, some are grown from seeds and a couple from transplants.

Volunteer Cosmos.  Very pretty white.  7.28.2020

Tigridia, survived the winter and now blooming. m 7.28.2020

Dahlia.  I think this was a tuber in a box at Winco this winter.  7.28.2020

Shirley Poppies.  These seeds were a couple of years old.   First time growing them.  Honeybees love them.  7.28.2020

I grew these Echinacea from seeds a few years ago.  I didn't know if they would survive.  They did.  7.28.2020

I grew this rose from a cutting about 15 years ago.  I forget the name.  7.20.2020

These gladiolus were from a box at Winco.  They should survive the winter, so I"ll leave them there.  7.28.2020

Yellow Cosmos, a volunteer among the squashes.  7.28.2020

Another Dahlia from a grocery store box.   7.28.2020

Zinnia from a 6-pack.  I had trouble getting the seedlings to grow this year and something ate them.  6.28.2020

Another zinnia from that six pack.  6.28.2020

Another Shirley poppy full of honeybees.  6.28.2020

French marigolds from an old seed packet.  7.28.2020

African Marigolds from an old seed packet.  So far they don't look great.  7.28.2020

Another rose I grew from a cutting about 15 years ago.  7.28.2020

Walking Around. 7.8.16

Daylily "Chicago Apache".   7.8.16

 This daylily was labeled only with the fertilizer name, "Vigaro".  Bought in 2015.

Daylily, no label.  7.8.16

 I kept thinking there was something odd about this daylily.  It has an extra petal. 

Daylily labeled as "Frans Hals".  7.8.16

Daylily "Ice Carnival".  7.8.16

 

 

Pumpkins.  7.8.16

 These tigridias were in a container.  I planted them into the ground to see if they survive the climate here.

Tigridia.  7.8.16

Blueberries.  7.8.16

 Apparently chickens don't eat chamomile.  That, and grass, are all that survive in the chicken yard.

Chamomile forest.  7.8.16

 This daylily was labeled as "Daring Deception".  It's nice, but it's not true to the name.

Daylily labeled as "Daring Deception".  7.8.16

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.

Saving Seeds and Making Hybrids. 7.18.15

Many flowers are setting seeds now.  For ornamentals, there is a choice between, letting them do their own thing, or deadheading to stimulate bloom and allow photosynthetic energy to go to root and stem storage, or let the seeds ripen and save the seeds.

For some plants, it takes intentional pollination.

My plan is to save the following seeds.

Ornamental Alliums - already discussed.  Cutting off dried seed-heads and shaking/rubbing the seeds into a bowl, then save in envelope.

Chives - same as Ornamental Alliums.

Dried El Dorado Peach Seeds.  7.21.15

Peaches - saving seeds from genetic dwarf tree to play with and experiment.  Those are dry in an envelope.  I need to crack them open and stratify some, plant others for nature to do its own stratification.

Peaches - from locally grown RedHaven, also dry in a bowl.  I want to grow one for a peach tree, maybe.  The others are for rootstock.

Apricots - see if I can sprout a couple to use as scion on a plum tree.

 Peacotum - ditto as for apricots.

Marigolds - save yellow and rust red varieties.  They are open pollinated so doubtless have mixed.  I'm not crazy about the more common orange ones, so I won't save those.   If orange dominates yellow or brick red, I could wind up with mostly orange again.

Tigridia Early Seed Pod.  7.21.15

Seed Pods Among Flower Buds on Daylily "Fooled Me"  7.21.15

Tigridia - I've been pollinating each, either self or with other color blooming at the same time.  no rhyme or reason.  I like the yellow/red mix the best.  I should cut off the seed pods for the others, why grow the ones I'm not crazy about.

Chicago Apache Early Seed Pod.  7.21.15

Dayilies.  Cross pollinating Chicago Apache (triploid) with Fooled Me (triploid).  Each gets the pollen from the other.  I am not emasculating them, so there could well be some self pollinating going on.

Also pollinated mystery variety "Vigoro" which has a triploid look, with pollen from Chicago Apache and Fooled me.

Also some others among the diploids.  Pardon Me with Stella De Oro, and with Luxury Lace.  Luxury Lace with Pardon Me.  Selfed the pale yellows.    I don't know if the one sold as Daring Deception is a mutant of that variety, or if in tissue culture it lost its polyploidy and became diploid, or was mislabeled, or is a seedling of Daring Deception that was mistaken as the real thing.  Still, it's the only lavender daylily in the bunch, so I used pollen from both diploids and triploids to see what sets.

No real strategy.  Only one currently with a contrasting eye color, which would be nice to pass on to progeny.

That's a lot of seeds.  It's all experimentation, doesn't matter if they don't grow, or if there is nothing worth while.  I bet some will grow, and there will be something worthwhile.

Varbascum. 7.5.15

Varbasscum.  7.5.15

Daylily "Fooled Me".  7.5.15

 Too hot to do anything.  Mostly watered, then stayed indoors.

This verbascum is elegant.  Silver-blue furry leaves, strong distinctive stature, and yellow flowers that poke out from the top.   This plant was a volunteer that I rescued from the orchard.

Another photo of Daylily "Fooled Me".  I will need that to look back on, come winter.

A pink version of the Tigridias.  The mix really is a mix.  Again, I pollinated with its own pollen.

Pink Tigridia.  7.5.15

Tigridia. 7.2.15

Tigridia.  7.2.15

 I don't know why Tigridias are not as popular as cannas and gladiolas.  They are striking to look at and have about the same growth requirements.  These are Tigridia pavonia.

I bought these corms at Fred Meyer or Home Depot in one of those mixed bulb packs.   The corms were small so I planted 2 packs in a large container in regular organic potting soil.  I don't remember how many per pack, maybe about a dozen.  That was late winter.  I kept the container, unwatered, in the unheated garage until warmer weather  then started watering.

There are various color combinations, variations on a theme.

The flowers last one day, like a daylily.  There are several per stem.

I think these were smaller than previous corms I have bought, so some may need a year to bloom, and the rest may bloom better in a year.

The colors are the same orange / yellow / cinnamon to red that are seen in marigolds, nasturtiums, and some daylilies.

I cut off the first flower after blooming, thinking that would encourage future blooming.  After reading the seed info below, I think I will encourage seed formation.  For the flower today, I cut off a stamen and used it to paint pollen onto the pistols.

According to this web site, fast to grow from seed, and grown by Aztecs 1000 years ago.  According to Wikipedia, native from Mexico to Argentina, and"its roots are edible and were eaten by the Aztecs of Mexico who called it cacomitl and its flower ocēlōxōchitl "Jaguar flower".  I can see the Jaguar name better than the Tiger name.  According to gardenguides.com, "native to Central and South America, and there is evidence that the plants were cultivated by Aztecs around 1,000 years ago. Mexican tribes have roasted and eaten its corms for centuries, which taste a bit like chestnuts. The plant was relatively unknown to Europeans, until its arrival in 1796. Aztecs called the plant cacomitl, and the flower was called oceloxochitl."    For future reference, the same sigte describes growing tigridia from seeds as follows:   seeds... are quite large and may require soaking at first. Sow indoors under a bell cap or in a propagator... [or] in a seed tray, which has a lid to preserve moisture. When seedlings are about two to three inches high, they can be moved to larger pots and put in a cold frame to harden. The plants can remain until May, when they should be transplanted into the garden soil."    From a PBS forum, "The ancient name in Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs and other indigenous Mexicans) for Tigridia pavonia is : "Ocelotlxochitl". This name means "ocelot-flower". ("Xochitl" is the generic term for flower, and is pronounced, "zo-sheel".) ...the plant gets its name from ocelots (spotted) and not tigers (striped). ".  In Dave's Garden website, it is stated the seeds can be planted outdoors in fall.  Maybe in California, I guess not here.  According to Pacific Bulb Society, Tigridia pavonia need a dry winter dormancy, but survive in British Columbia in a rainy winter - here too but not thriving.   Some have flowered 2 years after starting from seeds.  And, actively growing plants benefit from fertilizers. 

Tigridia.  7.2.15

Tigridia.  6.28.15

Tigridia 2nd year. Ginkgo seedlings.

Tigridia and Ginkgo biloba

I read that Tigridia won't survive a wet winter, so I treated these as annuals last year.  They were planted in a barrel among ginkgo trees Ning was growing - seedlings I started several years back.

Ning moved the ginkgos to Battleground, and planted in his perennial garden.  Intent is to keep them pruned as small trees.  Interesting, the tigridia came back, blooming among the ginkgos.

TLC plants in bloom

Lavatera "Barnsley"

Tigridia

Lavatera "Barnsley".   Purchased 2 weeks ago, wilted and leaves curled.  Repotted, gave some TLC.  Still on deck.  Starting to bloom.  Should have a lot of flowers. 

With the heat, I'm watering these and the young fig trees daily.   A couple of months of that, and probably that's done.

This fall I can plant this one at the Batttleground place.  That will give it winter to establish roots, and will be mostly care-free next year.  Good plan to reduce effort.

The first of the Tigridias to bloom.  Dramatic.

Tigridia

Next year I'll have to be on the lookout for more tigridia. These are fun. No effort at all, stuck them in with other plants. The leaves here are not the tigridia - their leaves look like gladiolas. Unplanned color math - cool.

each flower lasts about one day. I've read that saving the corms for the next year can be a challenge. Might be better to treat them as annuals. Won't hurt to try and save them for next year, when fall arrives.

I had stuck the corms in the deck planters with no plan in mind. Just curious about what would happen. Now every once in a while see another one is blooming. Like daylilies, the flowers only last one day, but there are several consecutive flowers per stalk.