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.

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

Puttering. Progress Note. 3.25.14

Chinese Chives.  Compare established with 1 year old.

Planted dwarf gladiolus today

 Today "day off" from work.  Mostly homework and rest.  Lot of homework, and needed rest very much.

 I did make "rounds" in the yard and garden.  I planted one type of bulb - really corm.  The Nanus mix is a dwarf type, hardy species of gladiolus.  Some writers describe gladiolus as deer resistant.  Others state deer will eat the flowers.  I'll give them a try.

My success with "Joy of Gardening" brand bulbs from Fred Meyer is mixed.  Their mix of Anenome blanda was all blue, not blue + white + pink as pictured.  They did all grow and they look nice.   Their mix of Hyacinthoides hispanica is growing but not with enthusiasm.  The daffodil variety mix was almost entirely all yellow trumpet, not the various yellow / white / orange cup on the picture.  Still they are interesting to try and I bought on impulse.

The established Chinese chives are much more vigorous compared to the seedlings.  The seedlings are one year old.  The established ones were divisions I planted last year, from plants grown many years ago from seeds.  Division and planting in new soil invigorated them.

Last fall I planted daffodil and hyacinth bulbs in the bearded iris raised beds.  Both are considered deer resistant and toxic to other animals.  They make a cheerful display now, long before irises bloom.  They will be done with the irises bloom.

Iris Bed #1 bulbs blooming

Planting bulbs in Fall is an act of faith, that I'll be around in the Spring.  And I am here so that feels good.

Among the daffodils in my yard, Jetfire is the first to bloom, then Dutch Master, then various.  Minnow is almost blooming.  Triandrus is almost blooming

The raised bed garden is looking green.  The potato wells look like rustic monuments that could have been among the Easter Island figures, or some Mayan tomb.  No potato plants visible yet.

Iris Bed #2 bulbs blooming.

Raised Bed Garden

Iris Bacterial Rot

 A few irises have bacterial rot.  Disappointing.  I've had that happen with a few in the past.  The rhizomes survived but were set back.  This is variety Edith W.  The rain is hard on them.  If a variety dies out, I'll assume natural selection is doing its thing, and not replace that disease susceptible variety.

I have 2 rows of snow peas.  All I needed to do was protect them with chicken wire.

The Quince cuttings have leaves and flowers.  Hardwood cuttings can do that, then die without producing roots.  We'll see.

The quince cuttings border a shallot bed.  There are also plum hardwood cuttings, Hollywood and Shiro.  They are blooming too.  We'll see about them too.

I was about to give up on Four O'clock seedlings.  I see one has germinated.  I brought it home for better light in the CFL light unit.

It feels good to have things growing.

Snow Peas Growing

Quince Cuttings and Shallots.

Four O'clock Germinating Seedling.

Bearded Iris Beds. Progress Report. 3/16/14

Iris bed #1.  

Iris bed #2

Now the irises are growing fast.  Each day they are larger and more sturdy.  I wonder which ones will bloom, and how much.

It might have been a mistake to soak them with neem oil.  The leaves, that were present at the time, look scorched.   On the other hand, there have been frosts since then too.

Otherwise growth is fast.  All survived the winter.  None rotted out.

The additional flowers make the beds more cheerful, before the irises are anywhere near blooming.  The daffodils are Jetfire.  Other varieties lag behind some more.  The first hyacinths, pink ones, are also starting to bloom.

Cherries are starting to bloom.

Hyacinths and daffodils are blooming. These hve been in place for 3 years. The hyacinths are multiplying, which I think is cool. In the past they just died out.

Forsythia. This is 4 years from the original, tiny 4inch cutting. The cutting had been salvaged from a piece that I found on the street while walking the dogs. It's on the north side of the house, so probably not as full as it could be.

First cherries to bloom. Pruned by the extreme "backyard orchard culture" method. If all of the flowers result in cherries, we'll have a lot.

Early March Garden Log

What's growing and blooming?

Daffodils are about 4 inches tall. Many closed flower buds are present. Hyacinths, similar size.
Rhubarb is the first food plant to start growing. I love the crinkled red leaves and knobby buds.

Helleborus is blooming. Since the plant is short and the flowers droop, they are difficult to appreciate.

Garlic is alive and about 5 inches tall. We'll have garlic this year! I was concerned that the extreme cold this winter might have done it in.

Pussy willow is blooming, but not much. It may be too young, or not in enough sun.
Forsythia has green buds. I don't know if it will bloom - no yellow shows - again, it's on the North side of the house, so possibly not enough sun. Last year the flowers were sparse.

I planted cuttings from my Dad's forsythia from Illinois. That shrub is at least 50 years old and maybe 80 years old. Not really special, but if the cuttings grow, I'll have a bit of a keepsake from my past.

Pear blossoms are swelling. Lilac blossoms are swelling. Aprium blossoms starting to show a little pink.

The plum trees that I recently planted are starting to show life, with swelling buds. Can I hope for, maybe, one plum each, so that I know what they taste like? I did spray both with the last bit of lime-sulfur.

Finches are fighting in the feeder now.

Today was a day off. Overcast, not too cold. I did the following in the back yard:

Pruned roses. Most have about 1 inch of growth. Local authorities precaution against pruning too early, since pruning supposedly stinulates growth which can be killed by frost. Since they are growing now anyway, I don't see the difference. I have pruned as early as January, and many neighborhood roses were pruned then as well, but this year I thought I would try to follow the 'experts' advice.

Most were cut back to about 2 feet tall. Tallest was about 7 feet tall before pruning. Removed dead wood. Sprayed these roses with the left-over lime sulfur from the peaches, but to prevent leaf spot.

Still a lot of roses to prune in the front yard. Maybe this weekend.


Uncovered peaches. These are miniature peach trees. Big problem last year was leaf curl, which destroyed the crop and almost killed the trees. Last fall, I sprayed with Micro-cop and covered the trees with plastic (see links). I meant to uncover them last week but was not able. They are actually starting to grow. The tiniest is blooming. Uh-oh. So, I uncovered. I read that micro-cop doesnt work, so I sprayed with Lily Miller PolySul Summer and dormant spray at dilution C, which is for growing season. I used the more dilute spray due to concern for toxicity to new buds. This may not be strong enough for leaf curl (4 teaspoons per gallon instead of 1 cup per gallon) but compromise is necessary. Maybe the unscientific combination will be better than no spray? This is considered organic since it is just lime and sulfur, not petrochemicals. Depends on who you talk to.

What's Blooming?

"White cherry in bloom, with dogs" photo.

These hyacinths not only persist, they multiply here.

These narcissus were rescued from lawn grass 7 years ago. They continue to multiply. Better for part shade -they tend to fade in sunlight.

Not in bloom, but the buds are definitely swelling. This lilac is about 10 feet tall now.

Peaches. Bulb Planting. Puttering.

Wednesday I noted that some peaches had fallen from this miniature tree. I picked them up, and more fell off. There were about 30 peaches. This is Garden Gold miniature peach. The tree is 3 years old. Unlike Honey Babe, it didn't have much problem this year with leaf curl.

These were very tasty. They have prominant fuzz, which is something that I like about them.

I got inspired, and a Raintree Nursery catalog came at the same time. I reserved another genetic dwarf peach, this time El Dorado.

Site for peaches at Raintree Nursery is here.

I also saw the Tri Lite peach/plum hybrid. It will replace a nonproductive apple (golden delicious) in the yard. Not a genetic dwarf. Site for tri-lite is here. Dave Wilson Nursery's photo of Tri Lite is here. After enjoying the Flavor Delight Aprium and various pluots, I feel inspired to try another Zaiger tree. Dave Wilson Nursery's description of the interspecific hybridization ast Zaiger genetics is very interesting and can be found here. They also devoped a 3-way hybrid, peach, plum, apricot, that they have called a "Peacotum™", which apparently is not on the market yet. They report this one as having a 'fruit coctail' flavor. I think that when this one comes onto the market, an existing ornamental or fruit in my yard wil have to give way to it (unless it costs a fortune, which it might).

Today I also planted 64 "Fortune" Daffodils (photo examples from google search here) , One globemaster allium (google search result here), and 6 each "City of Haarlem and Gipsy Queen Hyacinths (here and here). Oh, plus I finished off a 35-bulb bag of "Tete-a-Tete" Narcissus (here).

Bulb planting is an act of faith, suggesting hope that the upcoming Winter will pass and I'll still be here. Also an investment in the future, knowing that when they do come up I'll be watching closely, hoping for releif from the darkness of winter.