Tulips. 4.16.17

Container Grown Tulips Second Bloom Season.  4.16.17

 These containers contain tulip bulbs, planted deep, and daylilies planted more shallowly.  Last year, deer ate the tulips.  So far this year they have missed them.  So we get to enjoy the tulips.

Container Grown Tulips Second Bloom Season.  4.16.17

What's Blooming. 3.31.16

I love this time of year. Many flowers are blooming. They show the efforts of fall and winter were worthwhile.

Hyacinths.  3.31.16

Tulips.  3.31.16

Hosui Asian Pear.  3.31.16

Daffodils.  3.31.16

Tulips

Tulips. Spring is nice.

Front Yard

Tulips and sweet cherry.More tulips and another sweet cherry.Erythronium.

Bulbs, Deer ResistantT

These were labeled as deer resistant. A wild tulip. I read that deer like tulips, but maybe not the wild one? More allium. Two varieties of grape hyacinth. If the deer don't get them, will the moles? I planted some around each of the new shade trees.

Planted some Tulips

I planted big bunches of tulips in the back yard, from big bags from a big box store. Each bag stated there were 60 mulbs, so 120 tulips. I plant them in bunches of 5 or 6. Instead of using a bulb planter, I dig with a shovel, it's faster and gives me a chance to till the soil a little. Also planted some bunches of these in the front yard:

Most of the tulips were "standard" varieties, but I like adding some more elaborate types as well. There were from a big box store.

These might be nice for some cut flowers. These were from a local nursery. I think the blends usually have a predominance of a few types, but it's like that box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.

Most tulips seems to "peter out" here. A few varieties persist and proliferate. Unclear why, but I tend to look at them as a type of annual, just to cheer me up by shouting "It's Spring, it's Spring". Daffodils seem to persist better and multiply, although some bunches of those sometimes die out as well. Both have their place, and I feel like I'm doing something for myself when I plant them in the fall.

There are so many bulbs under the ground here now, I can't dig without finding a few. No problem, I just replant them

November 1 2009

Will plan on amending with some pics later.

One week ago I returned from 10 days in Southern China. I was about as far as it's possible to get from internet connection to work, and blogging sites were also blocked. There, I did get to see, first hand, a vanilla orchid farm (where vanilla beans are grown), and rice fields, tea, and coffee. Ning still has the camera, so I hope that photos will posted on his return in 3 weeks.

Meanwhile, here I've completed my home office / guest bedroom / pseudosolarium. Again, photos (maybe tonight). With an added West window, in addition to the current South window, the winter light will be as bright as I can make it. A bird feeder outside the window gives me something interesting to look at between computer entries. The orchids and holiday cacti are in the windows now, too.




The schlumbergera (holiday cacti) are heavily budded. I hope that putting them into a different room doesn't cause bud drop. They look like they'll have the heaviest bloom since I started growing epiphytic cacti, about 6 years ago. The summer ouside did them good.

Last weekend I raked up leaves from my yard and my neighbor, whose house is for sale and he has moved out. Small leaves (dogwood, birch) which made for a good mulch over the bulb plantings. I had also planted another batch of Narcissus (Jetfire) and a red tulip mix. So this year I'm making up for not planting bulbs last winter.

October. Bulbs, new plant room, late harvests

As noted earlier, it's been difficult doing gardening, keeping up with the house, working working working, and looking after others. So here we are.

Currently, figs are ripening. During September, Hardy Chicago was very productive, with a few dozen figs. Now it's Petite Negri. Vancouver has a few, but they are getting moldy before they ripen. That did not happen before. Lattarula has a few - the first year ever! They are sweet, also seem to mold slightly on the outside when ripe, but not enough to matter.

I dried some figs, as well as some grapes. They taste so much better when grown at home and dried in a food dehydrator! I had no idea.

Many grapes remain, after eating many pounds of grapes. This has been a productive year for grapes as well.

Lots of apples now. They are pretty much all ripening.

A bedroom (actually junk-room) on the southwest corner of the house will become my home office and plant room. And guest bedroom. It will have a futon/sofa, a desk, and some plant stands in the windows. I added a western window; there is already a large south facing window. I took some photos but the current computer room is too cluttered for me work with them, so they'll have to be added later. I tore out the carpet last year. The floor was badly damaged and had a large plywood patch. I replaced the patch with oak flooring taken from a closet (that is being cannabilized for a bathroom), so it is authentic to the house. I sanded off the remaining finish from the floor, and now have given it 2 coats of polyurethane. It may need a third coat. Then new baseboard, paint the walls. It has a new light fixture already.

Then I can have the cacti and other plants in the south window. I'm trying some orchids, they can go in the shaded west window.

I planted about 100 daffodils and about 100 tulips. They'll help cheer up the winter, when they start poking through the ground in Feb and March.

Most of the tulips were an unspecified tulip mix, but one package, planted under an old cherry tree, looks like this.

Daffodils included:
Bella Estrella (Biltmore collection)

Vanilla Peach (Dutchbulbs.com)

Sunnyside Up (Dutchbulbs.com)

Replete (Dutchbulbs.com) - How did I end up with this one? I don't like "pink" daffodils!

Ice Follies (Dutchbulbs.com)

Ice King (Biltmore Estates)



I also decided to try, once again, to grow some Lycoris.
Lycoris squamigera, photo from wikipedia. In the past, I've made several tries to grow Lycoris squamigera. These were traditional in my family, passed down through generations in the midwest. There, they were called "surprise lilies", and since I've heard them called "naked ladies" and "resurrection lilies". The leaaves grow in the Spring, then die off. In late Summer, the flower stems grow and bloom within a few days. I would love to have some. I've tried growing them here in the Northwest, without success. Internet research suggests that I'm planting them too deep. Most instructions state they should be 6 inches deep, but those seem to be based on the 'generic' bulb size. I found other instructions stating that they should only be covered up to their shoulders. So I'll give it a try. I also added a red variety, not the traditional family variety, Lycoris radiata, and a yellow one, Lycoris aurea.

Lycoris aurea, photo from wikipedia.

These have a different growth pattern, I think but the labels are contradictory.
Lycoris Radiata, photo from wikipedia. The L. radiata already has small leaves. We'll see what they do this fall and winter.

That's about all for now. I hope to get this blog going better once the home office is completed.

Back home.

Returned last night.

Tulips are in full bloom. Many have been multiplying, more than I realized. Amazing, extravagant color.

Apples are in full bloom.

First irises (miniature) in bloom.

Weeds are becoming more plentiful.

Ning moved seedling zucchinis into his garden plot. The roots were growing through the paper cups.

We had the first of the Chinese Chives in dumplings last night.

The straberries and raspberries are blooming.

In Bloom: Tulips. Lilacs. Violets.

The title says it all. These tulips are in about their 4th year, and are not only persisting but actually multiplying. That's unusual for tulips in this yard. The main challenge seems to be a leaf blight, which I suspect saps their energy after blooming. Maybe these are resistant? OR maybe they are just in a tulip-friendly location.

The lilacs are about 4 years old. Last year there were a couple of flowers, but this year they are making many more. So it appears that lilacs take about 4 years to start blooming significantly.

The violet is from my parents' yard in Quincy Illinois. There, the leaves are bigger and greener, and the flowers are darker blue. So climate, or local conditions, make a difference. That has also been true for sempervivum - the plants in Illinois are bigger and greener; here they have a reddish tinge.