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.

Starting Morning Glory and Hollyhock Seeds. Also some deck Plants. 6.19.14

Morning Glory Seeds at 2 days.  6.19.14

Hollyhock Seeds Sprouting at 2 days..  6.19.14

 The seeds toweesprouted quickly on the heating mat.  I read it can require weeks.  These were soaked in water for about 12 hours, then placed on moist paper towel in ziplock bags.  The bags are sealed and set on the heating mat.  This morning I saw they were sprouted, so added a little more water.

Now I filled plastic flowerpots most of the way with potting soil.  Watered the soil.  Placed the sprouts on the soil.  If the root was long, I gently made a hole for the root with my finger.  Then barely covered them and gently watered.

The temp outside is 60s night, about 80 day.  They are on the north side of the house so they don't overheat.

I think the black ribbed Japanese eggplant makes a nice decorative plant.

The black calla lily is about 3 years old.  I overwintered it by letting the container dry out, then placed in garage in October before first frost.  Super easy.

Japanese Eggplant.  6.19.14

Black Calla Lily.  6.19.14

The four O'clocks are almost blooming.  They have little hint of color in the flower buds.  Might need another week of warm temps.

Overwintering Pelargonium, Citrus, Brugmansia, Zantedeschia, Opuntia

Time to overwinter containerized plants, or give up on them.

Pelargoniums (zonal geraniums)  are still green and blooming, but some neighborhoods have already experienced frost.  I moved mine into the attached, frost-free but unheated garage.  For most of the winter I don't do anything to them.  I might add a little water late winter.  I think these are just 2 years old.

Braziliopuntia braziliensis, from Wikimedia commons

I have a Opuntia neoargentina also known as Brasioliopuntia braziliensis, which is frost tender.  I've managed to keep it alive for 20 years, by bringing it inside or keeping cuttings.  I think the current plant is about 6 years old.  It will be in a bright cool room at the battleground place.  Last year I kept it in the basement without watering.  It didn't thrive, but it did survive.  I want to repot it into a larger container and would like to see it bloom next year.  Photo from wikimedia commons.  Mine is not nearly that big.

I have an unnamed Zantedeschia that I've grown in containers for 25 years.  I bring it inside for the winter.  It bloomed this year, but not much.  Needs re-potting in fresh growth medium.  It's in the garage now.

The Brugmansias are kept in the garage overwinter.  I try to let them, and the other plants, sit outside in a rain-free location for a few weeks before bringing inside, to start dormancy.  That way they don't grow weak useless growth while in storage.

I also brought Epiphyllum oxypetallum to Battleground to keep in sunny cool room.  I also kept that in the basement last year without water.  It wasn't that healthy looking, but bloomed twice.

The Meyer lemon, Kumquat, and unnamed 15-year-old seed-grown citrus are in cool sunny bedroom window.

That's about all of the overwintering I can handle.  If it doesn't freeze tonight, I have an aloe to bring in. 

Overwintered Deck Plants, in bloom

Brugmansia

 These were the deck plants that i let dry out in late fall, then stored in the garage.  In April, I got them out and watered. The brugmansia also needed a larger container.  Now all blooming nicely.

Agapanthus, Zantadeschia, Dianthus

Geraniums

Overwintered cannas & zantedeschia: ready for Spring

Today I cleaned up and potted the "overwinter dry" tropicals. Those that were in the ground were dug up and stored in open containers, with clinging soil as their only protection. Those in containers were just moved inside. THey were stored in the garage, which is attached but not heated. It's probably in the 40s to 50s in the winter.

Here they are, dry and crispy. I removed the potting soil vs. garden soil from the cannas. Some of the zantedeschias were already bare (oops) but they were plump and healthy looking. One zantedeschia container, that I have grown for about 15 years, was unpotted. It was packed solid with tubers. I did some damage to delicate sprouts but overall I think they should be OK.


Here are some cannas about to be potted. The rhizomes are plump and healthy looking.


Here are a few more. Oops, I didn't label them when I placed them into storage. This may be several varieties.

The plan is to have a tropical looking deck this year. I think that the cannas will do better in containers, where they'll be warmer (for an earlier start) and can be moved around as needed.

Filled with potting soil.

Moved to the south exposure sun deck. It's not really that sunny now but it;s better than the north side.