What's blooming?

Daffodils
These have grown undisturbed for 8 years.

Quince

Forsythia. This is the forsythia that I grew from a discarded stick, picked up while walking the dogs. Turned out nice. The location is shaded, NOrth of the house, but it is coming into its own.

Closeup of Sunny Delight peach.

Sunny Delight peach

Chinese Mormon Apricot.

Hollywood plum. this is the second year of growth - I wonder if the blossoms will set?

Honeybabe Peach

Trilite peach.

None of the peach trees appear harmed at all by the plastic wrapping method. I haven't sprayed a second time. I have a 6 inch tall peach seedling, slearly offspring from one of the genetic dwarf peaches, that has been growing for 2 years. It has not been treated wtih leaf curl prevention, and it does have leaf curl. So far, the other peach trees appear free of the disease. It is too early to say for certain.

Other developments:
The wild cherry seeds that I planted last summer are grown into 2 inch tall plants. I removed 3 to flower pots. The long term goal is super-pruning them like the other trees, in the style of "Backyard Orchard Culture". Can it be done? I don't know. Everything is a gamble.

The pear buds have opened into clusters of flower buds, but the flowers themselves are not yet open.

Last sunday I also went around with a little paintbrush, taking pollen from flower to flower among the peaches, then between the twp apricot trees, then between the plum trees. The Shiro plum has just 4 flowers, so who knows if it will fruit. The Hollywood plum is said to be self fruitful, and has many more flowers. It would be cool to have a crop of plums, second year after planting the tree. The peaches are also said to be self fruitful, but playing the bee shouldn't hurt anything. A few apricot flowers fell off while I was pollinating. That may mean it't too late to make a difference. We'll see.

Unseasonably early growth: Rhubarb

A few perennial vegetables are making themselves known in the winter garden. I have one small chive-like onion that I gave up on a few years ago, but keeps coming up. The leaves are now about 6 inches long. Last week I used them as flavor in a savory crepe. Rhubarb is showing signs of life. No where near eating, of course. Then there are the onions, garlic, and shallots that I planted and commented on earlier.



I like this about living in the Pacific Northwest. Even though it's Winter, some signs of life remain. In addition to the edibles, some daffodils also have about 3 inches of growth.

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.

More daffodils. Rhubarb. Candytuft.

More daffodils

Peach Blossoms. Bees. Chilly Nights. Ginkgo buds.

Lots going on in the yard.

The little peach "trees" are in full bloom

The cherries are in almost-full bloom.

The daffodils continue to bloom.

A frost was predicted last night, but the low was 39. I brought in everything tender and left them all inside today.

Article in the Oregonian about honey bee problems, disappearing bees. It describes how dependent our fruit orchards are, on honey bees. I hope that the orchard mason bees can make an impact. Even more, I hope that the honey bees resurge, but it doesnt look like it will happen this year. The orchard mason bees in the "growing greener yard" were active all afternoon on sunday, using their older bee-house as well as the new one that I "built".

The ginkgo tree has green buds. also tru for the cuttings that I stuck into the ground in the tomato patch. I don't know if they have taken root, or are expending their "last effort" on some buds.

Spring here in leaps and bounds

This variety is "Ice Follies". The bunch was ONE bulb, 3 years ago.
Are the "volunteers" or weeds? I ca't decide. Sometimes I pull them up. Most of the time, when they are in an inconvenient place, I move them, otherwise I leave them be.
The grape buds are quickly swelling.
I planted seeds today. These are 3 oz paper cups. They are in seed starting mix. I think that I listed the tomato seed varieties previously. This flat also contains cucumbers, zucchinis, peppers, and cilantro.

More Daffodils. Leucojum vernum.

Another rescued daffodil. I don't know the name of this one either. They are multiplying nicely among the strawberries. When the leavs get messy, the strawberries take over.
Yet another unknown variety. I might have planted this one a few years ago.
These are in a warm location. I dug up and divided two bunches from the lawn 3 years ago. Most are not blooming yet. This buch is next to the house. The nearby leaves are Alstroemeria.

Saturday Projects

Neem Oil. I sprayed the Anigozanthos again. The Kanga Red-Green is looking very sad with inky black spot disease. It might die. The yellow "nameless" is more perky, but I may be risking it by having it outside now. It's raining, but they are in a protected area under the eaves. Since I had some neem mixed up, I re-sprayed the back yard roses and the peach leaf tips. There is frost damage on some of the rose leaves, but most are looking sturdy. The new rose bush (Fair Bianca) is growing a number of shoots. The new bare-root rose (Pascali) is further behind but buds are starting to swell. I suspect that leaf curl will be a problem this year again. The strawberries got another spray of neem as well.
This daffodil was 'rescued' when it appeared in the lawn. There is also a larger bunch. The flowers tend to nod, so it can be difficult to see. It would be nice as a cut flower.
I made another bee house for the Orchard Mason Bees. That's the one on the left. The one on the right was purchased last year. The holes are all drilled out. I hope that they return. I'll leave some mud for them as well. The cherries are starting to bloom. so it's time for the bees to do their thing.

Garden Log March 17 2007

Geranium Overwintering Experiment. These are scented leaf geraniums. The brown sticks were kept "dormant" in the garage. The smaller, but leafy plants were cuttings taken from the plants behind them, last fall, and kept in the bathroom windowsill with minimal watering. Unless the "dormant" ones start to do something, I think I know which method "wins" for these varieties.
Back Yard, Strawberry bed and Chinese Chive Barrel. The Chinese chives were fertilized wtih granular "Alaska fish" fertilizer, then about 1/2 inch leaf compost added. The strawberries were thinned to about 1 plant every 18 inches or so. The thinnings were planted elsewhere. The daffodils add character and in the summer, the strawberries fill in when the daffodil leaves die down. There are some iris bucheriana. Slugs love it. The white spots are Sluggo which claims to be safe and organic, and works very well. I added some overwintered Tradescantia pallida for color, and some variegated "society garlic" Tulbaghia violacia for color and in hopes of deterring pests (even in the truck that plant is stinky! like garlic only more so)
Some overwintered Chinese Celery among the heirloom potato onions. I think there are finally enough potato onions to start eating them in large amounts at harvest this year, instead of saving all of them. I though they were dead - only a few grew last fall. Now it looks like they are all alive.
Even more daffodils, These are in about their 3rd year. Next to them is a daphne - barely seen flowers, but they make the entire yard smell like fabric softener. Yum.

Spring Daffodils

No such thing as too many daffodils to tell us Spring is here.

Spring Flowers

Daffodils are starting to bloom.

The amaryllus might seem out of place, but it chose the time more than I did. This is its second or third year.

Harbingers of Spring. Chinese chives. Asparagus. Anigozanthos #3

These were planted about 3 years ago. Each cluster was one bulb. I keep thinking of the old Carly Simon song, "Anticipation".
The Chines chives are one of the first plants to start growing. They are also one of the first to produce an edible crop in the Spring. I did have some scallions today from a multiplier onion.
Despite the problem of not enough space, I planted some asparagus today. This was a tomato patch this year, but the tomatoes did not do well in this location. The asparagus should at least provide some wispy greenery, and maybe some vegetables in 2 or 3 years.
It's a good thing that I dont drink or gamble. Here is another anigozanthos. The purpose of the trip to Lowe's was to buy new light fixtures for the bathroom project. That led to a stroll into the garden section. This (variety "Kanga red") and a Chinese apricot (for Ning, it was planted in a too-small location but with pruning might do OK) were the result.