Daffodils are Still Blooming. 4.15.2021

It's nice to see that some of the daffodils are still blooming.

 

Daffodils. 3.21.2021

 Each fall I plant bags of daffodils and other bulb seeds.  Most bloom the first year, then a lot of them disappear.  Some persist for many years.

And some hyacinths, which are looking nice this year.

Flowers. 4.2.19

Daffodils.  4.2.19

 Some nice flowers blooming now.  I love this season.

Last fall I planted most of the daffodils in rows.  Rows are easier to manage, and I can't be Martha Stewart or some kind of HGTV gardener.  These are just for me to enjoy, anyway.  I like this double one a lot.

I was about to give up on the helleborus, but now it's a blooming machine.

I've been trying to naturalize violets from my old yard, in the Battleground yard.  Despite a reputation for being invasive, they've been slow to settle in.

This is one of the larger patches of violets here, now.  These are in full sun.  Nothing seems to bother them, not rabbits, or deer, or slugs.

Ornamental Quince.  4.2.19

Local Violets.  4.2.19

Daffodils in Bloom. 3.29.19

Flowers. 4.4.17

Charlotte Peach.  4.4.17

Daffodils in flower border.  4.4.17

 Lots of flowers blooming.  If the peaches and plums didn't bear fruit, they would still be worth growing for their flowers.  Most of the daffodils were ones that I recovered from the old yard.  They established and are flourishing.  Some are from random acts of daffodil bulb planting that I do each fall.

Daffodils in tree area.  4.4.17

More daffodils in flower border.  4.4.17

Hollywood plum grafted onto Toka.  4.4.17

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

What's Blooming. 3.4.16

Anemones.  3.4.16

 It's  been cooler and rainy, but now there are lots of flowers  blooming.  Anemones, many of the narcissus, especially Dutch Master and Jetfire, and some others.  An apricot, grown from seeds, is blooming.  Forsythias are coming into their own.  Flowers are fully open on Crimson Spire plum, starting to open on Hollywood plum, Methley plum, and Toka plum.  Charlotte peach flowers are open.

Daffodils.  3.6.16

Unknown, modern forsythia.  3.4.16

Daffodils, mainly Jetfire.  3.6.16

Prunus Sweet Treat.  3.4.16

Ning with front yard flower bed.  3.4.16

Forsythia, 3 years after transplant.  3/4/16

Some Images from Vintage Printable.com. 11.11.14

Vintage images of Daffodils.  source: vintageprintable.com

Browsing vintageprintable.com, online source of vintage, public domain images that are free to use.

I enjoy these old images.  They involve much more effort, artistry, skills of observation, talent, than any photo.

These images relate to recent plantings.  They demonstrate the continuity of gardening through the ages.

Fritillaria rubrum "Crown Imperial"  source vintageprintable.com

Puttering. Leaves, bulbs, moving perennials. 11.1.14

No pics this time.

I raked leaves from big maple.  It's about half done dropping leaves.  I used them for mulch for a dozen trees and shrubs. Good timing.  The grass clipping mulch had many small seedlings sprouted.  Now those are buried under leaves.

I did a 3-way move in front bed.  Buddleia Blue Chip should only be about 3 feet tall, but I did not account for 3 foot spread.  I moved that to a different bed with more room.  Next to it was a small Stella D'Oro daylily.  There are several yellow daylilies in the front bed.  I moved it to the location where I had a brick red Chicago Apache daylily, moved Chicago Apache to the location where the Buddleia was, and planted Spring bulbs in the spot where the Stella D'Oro daylily was.  It's nice to plant things that I was growing elsewhere.  Kind of like a gift from friend or relative, but it was from me.  I like the Chicago Apache, the flowers are big and showy, but it was in a spot where it was difficult to see.  It will show up better in front of the sunroom.  The bright yellow of the Stella D'Oro will show up better there. 

Finally, I planted more bulbs.  Sale at Fred Meyer and Lowes. 

Daffodil / Narcissus King Alfred 8 bulbs planted as one cluster
Daffodil / Narcissus Jetfire 18 bulbs planted as 2 clusters
Daffodil / Narcissus Ice Follies 18 bulbs, planted as 2 clusters
Allium Purple Sensation 6 bulbs, planted as 1 cluster. 

Total = 50 bulbs, so fall 2014 total is 214.  It's not as difficult as it sounds.  Digging with a shovel for planting clusters, instead of individual bulb digger or trowel for each bulb, is much easier.  Plus this was extended over more than a month, and largely as breaks from homework.

In the Spring, if I am able, I want to move a couple dozen clumps of Hyacinthoides and maybe a dozen clumps of Narcissus, from Vancouver house to Battleground.   Both are not liked by deer, rabbits, or voles.   Moving the clumps when they are about 3 to 6 inches tall, digging deep and taking the clumps intact, they move nicely and bloom the same Spring like nothing changed.  Plus they look established like they were there a long time.

Mirabilis jalapa (Four O'Clocks). Progress Report. 4.25.14

Mirabilis among other plants.  4.25.14

 I planted 4 of the Mirabilis plants into front flowerbeds.  I don't know if it's too early.  I have about a dozen plants so if these don't make it, it's OK.

This is continued work on deer-resistant, rabbit-resistant flower bed.  The Hyacinthoides, violets, and daffodils, were not eaten. They bloomed nicely.  There is a nice progression, with the Hyacinthoides blooming now.

My hope is that by having a lot of plants that deer and rabbits don't like, the more susceptible plants, like daylilies, will be left alone.  That might be totally wrong.

I read that Mirabilis are deer and rabbit resistant , so maybe they will be a good summer blooming choice.

Mirabilis among other plants.  4.25.14

The Spring bulb foliage will die off as the Mirabilis grows and fills in, so it won't look empty.  That's the plan.

Puttering. Pollenizing. Phenology. 3.23.14

Didn't do much.  Mostly did homework.

Noted one of the bearded irises has a rot disease.  Didn't want to look too close at the others.  Pacific NW rainy chilly weather.

Planted a 2nd batch of Four O'clocks seeds.  The first batch has not germinated yet. I don't know how fast they are.  First batch is at the battleground house.  Coming home tonight, I forgot and left them outside.  I don't know what the chilly nights will do.  The first batch was from a Baker Creek packet.  The batch I planted today was from a Burpee packet.  Soaked for several hours, with a few changes of water.  Soaking softens hard seed coat and for some plants removes natural germination inhibitors from the seed.  Placed the containers on a seed starting heating mat.

Pollinated using paintbrush, plums, peaches, apricots.

Bloom order so far.

1.  Prunus cerasifera "Crimson spire".  About 2 weeks, now dropping petals.
2.  Hybrid plum "Methley".  About 2 weeks, now dropping petals.
3.  Peach "Oregon Curl-Free".  About one week.
4.  Peach "Charlotte".  About one week.
3.  Hybrid plum "Satsuma".  A few days.
4.  Unknown Asian plum variety.  Started yesterday.
5.  Apricot trees, grown from seeds.  Started yesterday.

At the Vancouver place, Shiro and Hollywood plums, genetic dwarf peaches, and peach-plum hybrid Trilite are in full bloom.  Vancouver is a little warmer, maybe a week ahead of Battleground.

Toka plum is on the verge of blooming.  The new peach tree, Q-1-8, is yet to show signs of life.  The peach, Indian Free, may have one or two flowers.  I think the others must have been freeze killed.  There are leaves sprouting so I know it's alive.

The sweet cherry and Duke cherry buds are much bigger, compared to the tart cherry buds.
The gage plum buds are rounding up.  The Stanley plum buds don't look like flower buds, but neither did those of the unknown Asian plum.

These bloom times correspond to what is blooming now:  Jetfire daffodil, Dutch Master daffodil, dandelions' first flowers, Anemone blanda, some unknown narcissus varieties.

Other phenology, the lilac buds are size of mouse paws, like tiny clusters of grapes.  The earliest of the pear flower bud clusters are apparent, but probably a few weeks from opening.  Sourwood buds are barely visible.  Linden buds are swelling.

from this, I'm thinking Crimson spire and Methley can pollinate each other and maybe Satsuma.  The unknown plum and Toka can likely pollinate each other.  There is some overlap between those and Satsuma.  I don't know if plums, peaches, apricots can help one another when it comes to pollenizing - there are some artificial hybrids, but that may be very rare.  Maybe.

Raintree gives Shiro blooming before Hollywood, but in my yard Hollywood was a few days ahead of Shiro.  It does give Methley as the first, also my experience.  They don't mention prunus cerasifera, which is sold as an ornamental.  It's not just the climate.  Rootstock may also be a factor.  They also list Hollywood as self fertile, and Shiro as partially self fertile.

In one old research paper, mixed pollen from diverse prunus species was more effective at producing pollination than that from a pure pollenizer, even if the chromosome number was different.  Here is the table from their paper:

Pollen mixture	Number of hybrids of type:			Total
	Sand cherry x myr. plum	Sand cherry x blackthorn	Sand cherry x dom. plum
Myrobalan plum + blackthorn	71	8	-	79
Myrobalan plum + dom. plum	37	-	1	38
Blackthorn + dom. plum	-	2	0	2
Myrobalan plum + blackthorn + dom. plum	2	63	1	66

Spring Flowers. Yellow Season. 3.15.14

Jetfire Daffodil.  3.15.14

Forsythia.  3.15.14

 This is the season of yellow flowers.  Especially, daffodils and forsythia.

The Jetfire  clump started as, I think, 3 bulbs about 12 years ago.  This year they are asking to be divided and replanted.  Always one of the first to bloom.

The forsythia is settled in now.  It is about 16 months ? from moving the large bush to the Battleground place.  Variety unknown.  I grew from cutting.  Might fill in and give more color as it establishes.  I happy with this result.

Front beds at the Battleground place.  Almost done cleaning them up.  A few square feet at a time.  Happy with how it's turning out.   Shows that bulbs can be moved in late winter and give flowers that Spring, if careful to move them as a generous clump with as much undisturbed soil as possible.

Front beds.  Almost cleaned up.  3.15.14

Moving established bulb clumps. 3.1.14

Moving established clumps of bulbs.

I dug a few clumps of Hyacinthoides hispanica and a clump of daffodils from the lawn at the Vancouver place and planted at the Battleground place.  They are big enough to readily identify them, and small enough that they are not too floppy to move.  I take a big soil mass so as not to disturb them too much.  I did this last year and the bulbs that I moved grew and bloomed without missing a beat, and are growing again this year.

Transplanted and Established Bulbs

Deer and rabbits eat all of the tulips and all of the muscari.  The seem to leave daffodils alone, for the most part.  They also seem to leave the Hyacinthoides alone.  There might be an animal digging up some of the Hyacinthoides bulbs.  Or a mole that pushed them out of the ground by accident. But most of them seem intact.

Moving big clusters of bulbs, the result looks like they have been growing in place for a while.  Planting individual bulbs in the fall, they look less robust, and take a few years to make nice clumps.

Bearded Irises. Progress Report. 2.22.14

Selected Irises 2.22.14

Selected Irises 2.22.14

There is a clear difference in the bearded irises.  They have progressed from winter decline into sturdy early growth.  All have made progress.  Some have growth from underground, unexpected.  I thought Flavescens was nearly died out, but there are some new leaves. 

Daffodils are also growing with flower buds showing.  They are there partly as an animal deterrent, and also as the earliest of spring flowers.

I wondered of the Los Angeles rhizome would survive.  It appears to be making more growth now  The Pallida Dalmatica has more growth than I expected.

So far, so good.

I gave them all some organic slug bait.  Slugs start to make damage, this time of year.

Planted a few more bulbs

Daffodils and Fritillaria

I've tried in the past to grow Fritillaria.  No success.  This time, I planted it on its side.  According to the instructions, that will reduce the risk for water collection in the bulb's folds.

I planted the 15 Daffodils in groups, 3 clusters.

More color for spring.  If the Fritillaria does not grow, there should still be the Daffodils.

Fall planting bulbs for Spring flowers.

Daffodil hill.  via Commons.wikimedia.org

Today it's raining and raining and raining.  Pacific Northwet.  I love rainy season.  Fire in the heating stove.  Dogs napping in front of the fire.

I planted 100 generic daffodils in Ning's border, clusters of 4,5,6.  Plus big Allium gigantum which I grew last year in the onion bed.  Moved catnip and 2 small raspberry starts out of bearded iris bed#3, and into the bee garden.   Both grow too large to remain among the bearded irises.   Tidied up a little more of that raised bed, and planted grape hyacinth and smaller types of narcissus.  Planted some bunches of daffodils in the bee garden.

That's about all.  Too wet, and I'm tired.   It sounds like a lot, but was only about 2 hours, split into slow 1 hour sessions, one in am and one in pm.

Daffodils - and possibly all narcissus - are considered deer resistant and rabbit resistant.  Last year something ate a few, but left most alone.  Must taste bad.  Grape hyacinths / Muscari are also considered deer and rabbit resistant,  but most were eaten down to the ground. 

Alliums are also considered animal resistant.  Some varieties did well last year, some were sparse.  I planted a few more purple alliums.

A few more small bags and half of a big bag of bulbs, left to plant.

Gardening for the Winter. Multiplier onions, Flower Bulbs, Tree Protection.

Multiplier Onions about to be planted.

More Daffodils for the yard.

 The Yellow Potato Onions are now planted for their winter "incubation".  The roots and tops grow during the remainder of fall, then settle in for winter.  Most were the very big size this year, leaving fewer small starts to plant.   I planted about 25 sets, with half being large - to make multiple small sets, and half being small - to make large onion bulbs.  They grew very well last year, with the September - planted ones growing better than later - planted.

One also made topsets.  I planted those as well.

The Egyptian Walking Onions are growing roots and tops.  Fast start.

This Daffodil mix brings the # of bulbs planted this fall to about a hundred.  There are about 150 more to plant.  It sounds like a lot, but they are quite easy to plant.

I made 5 tree - guards so far.  This year I am experimenting with hardware cloth.  These are /12 inch mesh.  I think I'll buy 1/4 inch mesh once I've used up this roll.  Based on the web sites I've read, 1/4 is superior for vole exclusion. 

The ginkgo may not need protection.  Ginkgo trees are considered deer and rabbit resistant.  But no harm in a little protection.

I also have tree wrap saved from last year.  Tree wrap may seal in moisture, which could encourage fungal infection.  So I am not as enthusiastic about that.  On the other hand, tree wrap is easier to apply, compared to hardware cloth.

Varmint Screening for Crabapple Tree

Varmint Screening for Ginkgo Tree

The websites often state the hardware cloth should be partly buried.  However, that would mean damage to shallow roots.  So far, animals have not under-mined trunk protection.  If they do, I'll have to consider more secure options.

Brief update

No pics today. Today we had 3 figs from the Sal's fig tree that I moved this summer to Battleground. The figs were slightly different from Hardy Chicago. A little "richer" however that is defined. More juicy. Skin was not as dark, but flesh had more red coloration. It's not a fair comparison - different location. I'm glad it survived the move even in the Summer and provided some figs. I planted some plum seeds, Hollywood plum, among the shallot rows. They are labeled. This way they can stratify over the winter. Just for fun. I planted some chinese chive seeds among the plants. That should help fill in the gaps, if they grow. Fall planting has the risk of not growing at all, or growing but the tiny plants not surviving the winter. If so, not much loss. I saved lots of seeds this year. I stuck daffodil bulbs in molehills. I read that moles don't like daffodils. I did that only where the mole(s) dug too close to my little fruit trees. Rain is postponed another week. Maybe it's going to become a desert here? Watered all of the new tree and shrub transplants, and the raised beds.

Spring Bulbs, time to plant.

With so much demanding my time, I'm not planting as many Spring bulbs this year. More than that, I'm not ordering via mail order. I did pick up some packages at a big box store. There was a big bag with 75 daffodil bulbs (standard yellow "Dutch Master" and the ones below. Doubtless I'll add some more this fall. Not wanting to overdo it. Plus, there are hundreds in the ground from previous years, and some have probably multiplied.

The price is lower than last year. These don't seem to make it. I have about 25% or 50% survival, then it takes a couple of years to reach blooming size. Not sure why. They are usually quite dried out by the time I get them, which I think stresses the plant significantly. I planted this one in a slightly raised area, to avoid rot during the rains already happening and soon to increase.

Irises are a challenge even when established. The rhizomes need to be at soil surface. It's difficult to weed under and around them, so the tend to be very weedy. I plan to reduce the number somewhat this winter, keeping groups of each variety but not letting them roam all over the garden beds.

I've given up on bulb planters, and instead use a shovel, dig a hole about 1 foot diameter and 6 inches deep, and plant 5 or 6 at a time. That way there are nice bunches the following spring, instead of one bulb here and one bulb there.

According to my study program, I should take a 5 min break per hour. I'm taking about 10 min, enough to plant a few bulbs.

Narcissus blossoms

Last fall, I planted a bunch of new Narcissus varieties. Now is the reward. These were mail order, so no way to know ahead how they'll look. Catalog photos here. There are always differences in color on computer monitors, and on paper, but the appearance on my monitor matches the catalog photos, and the colors in the photos that I took do look like the flowers in my garden.

This is Vanilla Peach, from Dutchbulbs.com. Really quite pretty.




Ice King from Biltmore Estates. This is my favorite of the new ones.
Replete, from Dutchbulbs.com. I was surprised at myself for ordering a so-called "pink" narcissus. Especially since they almost never seem to look pink. This variety is a beautiful tangerine color, even though the catalog photo clearly shows pink. I like this much better. This is my other favorite of the new ones.

This one is "Sunnyside Up", also from Dutchbulbs.com. Again, the colors aren't true to the catalog, but I like this variety as well.

More Sunnyside Up.




Ice King again - not much like the catalog photo, actually much nicer. The catalog photo has darker yellow centers.

The older Daffodil patch, at lower level. Dutch Master. The upper level is Ice Follies and Bella Estrella.

Strange, I don't know which one this is. I like it. The coloration is subtle, with yellow fringe on off-white trumpet. It doesnt match any in the catalog. A mystery.

We hove lots of others in bloom as well, photographs taken in previous years. Many are multiplying, especially jetfire and Dapple Dandy (I think).

Jetfire. These stated as, I'm guessing, 3 bulbs about 7 years ago. They've multiplied into a nice cluster.

Professor Einstein. These were in the lawn when we bout the house. We've lived here 10 years. This cluster also started as one rescued bulb, so is multiplying nicely in this location. It's not the most fluffy but it's an old variety, so I like it.