Dayliies. 11 Jul 19

Seedling Daylily.  About 3 years old.  7.14.19

Daylily 7.14.19

I have not been watering or doing anything good for most of these daylilies.  I like them, but have not had the time.  Some are doing well regardless.\

Some more of the seedling daylilies have been blooming.  I'm very happy about the top one pictured.  This is a hybrid of the "Vigaro" NOID daylily, with Chicago Apache.  I like the deep color and ruffles.  I will keep it.  I want to name it something like "Tyranosaurus Rex Blood".  Maybe.  I'm not fond of the one labeled "Soon to be compost" and not sure about the lavender one.

I have lost the labels from some of the others.  If I find them, I hope to addend this blog entry with the accurate names.

Ugly Daylily Seedling, 3 years old.  About to become "compost".

Lavender Daylily Seedling, 3 years old.  7.14.19

Daylily "Ice Carnival". 7.14.19

NOID Daylily (labeled "Vigoro"). 7.14.19

Historic Daylily.  7.14.19

Daylily.  7.14.19

Daylily. 6.27.18

I had ordered this daylily from a mail order house about 15 years ago.  It was puny, didn't do well, and I transplanted it various times to spots where it didn't matter.  For some reason, it finally started blooming.  Now I like it.  No idea what name it had.

Daylily Update. 6.28.17

Daylily "Carefree Peach"  6.28.17

Home made Daylily Hybrid, 1st Blossom.  6.28.17

 Dayliliies have started blooming.  The first in my yard is "Luxury Lace", an old variety developed by an amateur in her back yard.  The seccond is "Carefree Peach", which hasn't bloomed much for me before.  I don't recall this varety having green striped tepals (outer petals), but the effect is nice.

Another hybrid daylily, that I made by transferring pollen from one variety, to a flower of a different variety, has bloomed for the first time.  This one is a nice apricot color.  Small plant, somewhat ruffled petals.  Since the labels got messed up last year, I don't know the parents.  Guessing, one mislabeled but floriforous yellow with similar size and shape, crossed with pink Luxury Lace.  Then again, it could be any of them.

The first of my hybrids to bloom, was a very pale pink.  Almost white.  This one is quite different.

I may move this new one into the flower border.  Nice flower, and I'm not as  likely to miss watering them in the border.

Daylily "Luxury Lace".  6.28.17

Update. 9.21.16

Buffalo Grape.  9.21.16

Rock Garden Perennial Border.  9.21.16

 I've been trying to work through some hardware issues, which resulted in decreased posting.  I don't usually carry my good camera around while working in the garden, because I tend to damage delicate equipment.  The Apple equipment is a few years old (I-phone and I-pad) and I've found that Apple equipment does not age well.  In addition, back-compatibility of program updates is poor, and Apple inc is too overbearing with their treatment of users, so I've been de-appling my computer life. 

Things are starting to come together again, on my old Windows-based laptop.  Meanwhile, I've been removing hardscaping from the old place in prep for eventual sale, mainly a koi pond that presented a child hazard.  I'm not a young man any more, so hauling wheel barrows of rocks has taken a month, and it's not done yet.

With cooler weather, I renovated the worst of the house perennial borders at the Battleground house.

Border, with labels.  9.21.16

 That renovation involved - removal of thistles and wild mustard, both of which have been tenacious and invasive.  I laid down newspaper or cardboard, torn such that water can seep through, but hoping that weeds and grasses will mostly be smothered.  I removed most of the bearded irises  - ugly about 90% of the year, and too welcoming to grass weeds.  I planted divided sedums, sempervivums that I had been growing in old iris beds as a ground cover, kept daylilies and divided some, kept helleborus and some sedum in place, planted crocosmia that I divided from the old place, moved poppy roots, with dormant top, and added lambs ears - Stachys byzantina, and echinacea varieties, both of which were on the almost-dead table at Fred Meyer and Home depot, on deep sale.  These were root bound, so I cut off the winding roots, cut slits into the root ball, planted and watered in.  They perked up and look much better now.  I deep-mulched with tree arborist chips.   The border still needs some river-rock for the edge / pathway, but is almost done.

The goal is a bed with very reduced maintenance, mostly drought tolerant plants but that respond to some care, mostly deer and rabbit tolerant plants, at a very low cost.  The only new plants were deep sale with some need for TLC.

Sourdough Pizza with peppers, cayennes, and onions.  9.21.16

Meanwhile, with so many tomatoes and peppers, I've been trying to find ways to eat them.  This sourdough pizza came out pretty good.   The sourdough crust used my usual starter, with just flour, water, and salt, no other additives.  These are Nikita peppers (green) and cayennes (red) - really tasty.

Walking around. 7.13.16

Mulberries "Illinois Everbearing".  7.13.16

Collard Greens "Vates".  7.13.16

 It's been raining more than usual for SW Washington summer.  As a result, there are more weeds and things are looking unkempt.  There is more humidity than usual, so I don't feel up to as much outside time.

Mulberries are looking great.  Great flavor.  I thought deer would eat the tree and birds would strip the berries, but neither has turned out to be the case.  Each day, I can stand under the tree and pull off berries and eat them on the spot.

The collards are growing vigorously.  Since the rain slugs have made their presence known.  I put out some more slug bait today.

The resurrected Chinese beans are growing rapidly.  Last week I put in a trellis system, with strings tied to sticks that are stuck into the soil.  Some of the beans have climbed 3 to 4 feet, others 1 foot.  I may need to add taller trellis, which is already a hybrid of Rube Goldberg and Davy Crockett.

As I clean up the front flower beds, the main flower that I will leave in place will be daylilies.  They are the most rewarding for least effort.

The Johnny Jump-Up (viola) plants, that I grew from seeds this spring, are blooming nicely.  They

Chinese Beans.  7.13.16

 can be expected to self-seed for future years.  This location can use the brightness.

Daylily "Strawberry Candy".  7.13.16

Daylily "Luxury Lace".  7.13.16

 Shasta daisies dominate the wildflower meadows now.

The pumpkins are ranging well beyond their garden beds.  This area of grass can go without mowing until fall.  There should be a good crop of pumpkins and winter squash this year.  Even the spaghetti squash are producing  many squashes - about 2 dozen squashes on 3 vines.

For pollinating cucurbits, I'm following the following rule.   Each is pollinated with its own species, so C. pepo gets C. pepo - that's zucchini, summer yellow squash, and spaghetti squash.  C. maxima gets C. maxima.  That's mostly Pink Spaghetti Squash, French Pumpkins, and Golias Pumpkin.  The only C. moshata is Butternut Squash.  They appear overrun by the bigger maximas, and so far I have not seen any blossoms or developing squashes on those.

Johnny Jump-Up from seed.  7.13.16

Shasta Daisies.  7.13.16

Pumpkin Patch.  7.13.16

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

Daylilies, Buddleias, and Milkweeds. 7.4.16

Daylily "Fooled Me".  7.4.16

Daylily "Daring Deception" - may be atypical.  7.4.16

Daylily "Chicago Apache".  7.4.16

Daylily "Strawberry Candy".  7.4.16

This daylily is very pretty.  I moved it from the Vancouver place a few years ago, divided it, and divided it again.  I don't know the variety name.  It was purchased locally.

Daylily, unknown variety.  7.4.26

Honeybee, Milkweed Asclepias syriaca.  7.4.16

I grew these milkweeds from seeds last year.  They require at least one year to bloom.  Some have not bloomed yet.  They are very fragrant.  Honeybees like them.

Honeybee on milkweed.  7.4.16

Honeybee on milkweed.  7.4.16

Milkweed Asclepias syriaca.  7.4.16

Milkweed Asclepias syriaca.  7.4.16

These Buddleia "Peach Cobbler" are not as compact as marketed.  They are more like a tree than a shrub, about 18 feet tall in their 4th year.  They make a nice windbreak for the orchard.  The "Peaach Cobbler" variety is quite fragrant, as is the "Miss Ruby" Variety.  "Honeycomb" does not seem to have much of a scent.  The Western Swallowtail Butterflies like the fragrant Buddleias, and is about the only place where I see these butterflies.

Swallowtail Butterfly on Buddleia hybrid 'Peach Cobbler".  7.4.16

Buddleia hybrid "Honeycomb"

Some flowers. 6.9.16

Buddleia "Miss Ruby"  6.9.16

Buddleia "Miss Ruby".  6.9.16

Daylily, unknown variety.  6.9.16

Potatoes in bloom.  6.9.16

Roses.  6.9.16

Daylily, unknown variety.  6.9.16