Geranium (Pelargonium) shrubs. 5.31.15

Overwintered Geraniums.  5.31.15

These are the geraniums (Pelargoniums) that I overwintered for the 2nd or 3rd winter.  The front (right) box was overwintered in sun-room, and stayed green much of winter with blooming.  The back (left) box, less visible, was overwintered dry, in the garage.  Those geraniums have filled in and starting to bloom.  Nice big, full, Pelargonium shrubs.

The center box contains new plants.  Two are purchases, and one is a cutting from the back box, rooted in water after I cleaned up and pruned the plants when brought outside from their winter dormancy.

Overwintered Geraniums.  5.31.15

Starting up overwintered plants. 3.8.15

Overwintered geraniums - dry.   3.8.15

Geraniums cleaned up.  3.8.15

 I took the planter box of geraniums, out of the garage.  These were overwintered without water since about early November.  There is some lanky growth. 

I pruned off the dead leaves and some of the lanky stems.  Watered.  It's now on the deck next to the house.  They should make a comeback in a dew weeks.


Meanwhile, the geraniums I overwintered in the sunroom bloomed for most of the winter. 

The advantages of overwintering geraniums are:
*After the first purchase, subsequent years are free.
*There are usually some stems for cuttings.   Geraniums are easy to start cuttings in a glass of water.
*The resultant plants are much bigger than bedding plants at the big box store.  They can be a sizable shrub in a few years.  Very colorful.

The disadvantages:
*They don't look good, for a few weeks.
*Sometimes they don't survive.  But they usually do.
*You need a place that is dry and frost free to store them dry.  Or, a sunny place to keep them growing.

Geraniums overwintered in sunroom.  3.8.15

Overwintering a chili pepper. 11.29.14

Red Portugal Chili Pepper.  11.29.14

This is a chili pepper plant I started from seed late December 2013.  I kept it on the front deck.  Others of the same variety, at the same time, went into a raised bed.  They bore well, but the container plant bore better.

As an experiment, I moved it into the sunroom for the winter.  It's been there for about one month.  Most of the chilis are ripe and can be used now, fresh chilis in November.

It looks a bit puny.  Some hobbyists grow their peppers into big shrubs, and keep them year round.  They may get peppers earlier, and later, than in-ground plants.

Peppers are normally grown as annuals, but I think they are tropical shrubs, that happen to bear in their first season.  So if they can be kept alive through the winter, they will be larger and more productive.

The negatives, this one at least looks kind of sad, except for the bright colorful fruits.  They are also aphid magnets.  No aphids on this one yet, possibly due to the fact it never went into the ground.

Fig Row. Final Fall Cleanup. 11.12.14

Fig Row.  11.11.14

Today I took a little time to clean up the row of fig starts.  Most have wire screens.  There has been no rain for  days, so grass was mowable. 

All mowed grass went into mulch.

Plastic covered areas will be used for bee forage next year.  Killing the grass with plastic cover for the winter.  Late winter I can plant the bee plants.  Most likely annual herbs such as I grew this year in other locations.

The end result will be a row.  Then I dont have to mow circles around the trees.  Much easier and faster, low maintenance.

They have all hardened off.  Not as soft as last year.  Most are about knee high to waist high.  Most are multiple trunk.

If there is super-cold predicted, I'll protect better.  Otherwise, the main protection is screening for herbivores.

Containerized fig trees are in shed now.  No need to panic when there is a hard freeze.  That method worked last year down to 8° F.

Prediction for tonight is 27° F.  I also moved containerized figs at home, into the garage.

Figs. 9.20.14

Champagne Fig.  2nd year in container.  9.20.14

Carini Fig.  9.20.14

 The first-year Carini fig has produced a few figs.  Burgundy-red.  Big juicy figs, pronounced fig flavor.  Last year this variety also produced same-year from cutting, but I lost the tree due to freeze.  This fall I will store the new trees in a shed, which worked well for the ones I treated that way last winter.

This Champagne fig is 2nd year from cutting, stored in container in shed last winter.  The figs are smaller, glowing yellow, and very very sweet.  I like them a lot.

1st Tomatoes. Brugmansia. Gladiolas. 7.6.14

The First Sungolds.  7.6.14

Brugmansia.  First Flowers after Dormant Overwintering.  7.6.14

 Today there were three firsts.

We had the first tomatoes of the season.  That's very good.  Usually I don't get any until later.  they were just cherry tomatoes, but worth the effort.

The Brugmansia had its first flowers.  It is very fragrant.  It overwinters easily, no effort.  Same as geraniums.  Just let it dry out in the fall, move it into the garage for the winter, bring it back out in Spring and start watering again.

The first of the heritage gladiolas bloomed.  I didn't know what to do with them, so planted all into one container. 

Heritage Gladiolas.   7.6.14

Deck Flowers. 7.2.14

Overwintered Dianthus.  7.2.14

Many of the deck plants resulted from overwintering deck plants from the past 2 or 3 years.  I simply let them dry out an keep them in the atached garage.  The dianthus overwintered on the covered porch, outside but out of the rain and next to the house.

Four O'clock "Marbles".  7.2.14

Overwintered geraniums.  7.2.14

 The four o'clocks will likely be  treated the same way.  It's 8pm and they are in bloom.  Today was in the 80s.

The geraniums overwinter very well.  The red is about 3 or 4 years old.  The smallest pink one was planted this summer.  The others are 2 or 3 years old.  Once they start blooming, they are impressive.

Four O'clock "Marvel of Peru".  7.2.14

Container Plants. Flowers and Kitchen Garden. 4.29.14

Dianthus in container

Overwintered geraniums.

 Today was warm, into the 80s.  Nights are still in the 40s.  Prediction for tomorrow is 90.  Wow.

Of the container plants, I cleaned up the dianthus that overwintered outside in a sheltered location.  I sheared it to a compact shape.  There was an agapanthus that did not survive the big freeze.

Of the geraniums that I overwintered in the garage, all appear to have survived.  They have been sitting on the deck a couple weeks.  I cleaned them up, just using scissors to remove dead parts.  I did not attempt to make them into compact looking garden department plants.  I'm going for the "these are old geraniums like grandma had" look.

I planted some of the Mirabilis seedlings into another container.  They are a little floppy.  Sunday I planted several at Battleground, and there was a hailstorm that tore holes in some leaves.  Still, they look ok today - 2 days later.

Overwintered geraniums.  After cleanup.

Mirabilis starts in container.

 I've been shuttling peppers and Mirabilis inside/outside.  Now they are outside to stay.  Now I am moving them into more full sun.

Tomato and okra seedlings are still under lights.  Except the 2 Sungold plants I bought.  They are in containers and in the sun.

The two largest, oldest okra plants are now in a larger container, along with a seedling.  There are early pods on the two oldest plants.  Okra here is a total experiment, there is almost nothing saying they can be grown this way and a fair amount of info saying they cannot be grown this way.  All I want is a few pods now and then for soups or fry.  If I'm getting the starts of pods now, then maybe this summer there will be a lot more.  The two larger plants are Burgundy and Baby Bubba Hybrid.  The smaller one is "Dwarf Green Long Pod".  It may be a stretch to have 3 plants in one container.

Starts of tomatoes, Mirabilis, peppers.  First day in full sun.

At Battleground, I uncovered the peppers that were in the poly tunnel.  I replaced the polyethylene sheeting with deer mesh.  They look good, nice and green and ready to grow.

More plant starts in the sun.

Okra plants moved into larger container.

Fig trees after the freeze.

Brunswick fig after the freeze

 After the freeze to 8°F or 9°F, depending on what site you believe, I wanted to to a welfare check on the fig trees.  It would not surprise me if all of the buds were frozen and twigs dessicated.

Hard to say, but so far, so good.  Many of the terminal buds are frozen and dessicated, but lateral buds seem less affected.

Brunswick, so far, looks good.  I don't see any chewing damage, either.  On this or the other trees.

Champagne is a hybrid of Celeste, which is considered cold tolerant, and an unknown variety.  Developed at Louisiana State University.  Again the terminal buds look dessicated.

Champagne fig

 Give the rapid growth, it would not surprise me if this tree was unprepared for winter.  First year trees are often the most affected.  But so far, it looks OK.

Similar situation for Atreano.  Atreano is more well established for Pacific NW.  But again, this tree grew rapidly and the growth was not hardened off before winter.

Carini is completely untested for Pacific NW, being a family heirloom variety from Pennsylvania / New Jersey.  Those states get some cold.  Growth for Carini was not as rank as Champagne and Atreano, so it may be better lignified.  Looking OK, there are still lateral buds.

Smith, a Louisiana bayou heritage variety, is also untested in the NW.  One site speculated Smith was brought to the US from Yugoslavian immigrants, centuries ago.  So it may have more cold hardiness than one would guess.  Also grew rapidly, maybe a little better lignified than the two in the former chicken yard (Champagne, Atgeano) .  The twigs are an interesting light brown. 

Atreano fig

 LSU Tiger, similar to Champagne in origin, and also untested here.   Also, with growth not as rank as the former chicken yard trees.  South of the house - as are Carini, Sal's, Smith, Petite negri - so maybe a degree warmer. 

Carini Sicilian fig

Smith Louisiana fig

 Sal's fig has come through winters here in adverse conditions - in cotainers, frozen solid.   It should be more established now.  I have it wrapped for rodent protection, and sprayed with hot pepper wax - as with all of the other trees.  It looks OK.  Next year I want to train Sal's into a more vertical, less bushy shape. Easier to manage.

Louisiana Tiger fig

Sal's Sicillian fig

 So in summary, with high probability of future freezes ahead, and a historic, 40 year freeze behind us, so far, so good.  Better than expected.

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

More Spring Activity.

Will need to post pictures later this week - work beckons.

Today was a rare event, the 3rd day of a 3day weekend. Spent about 9 hours on homework, but was rested for a change. Mid 70s outside - very nice. Took the laptop outside and worked in the shade.

Took a couple of breaks. Planted some sugar snap peas. Left the tomato seed pots out in the warm weather through the day. Fed more weeds to the hens. They do like their greens. There are only 2 now. They lay 1 or 2 eggs daily, between the two. Watered the overwintered plants, took most outside over the past week. Set out a hummingbird feeder, hung from tree in front yard. Probably 30 minutes of effort in the yard, the rest was working the laptop. Still, not bad.

Orchard Mason Bees are active now, I thought that they might have frozen to death this winter. With cherries, apples, pears almost open, and peaches almost at the finishing part of their blooming, they are just in time. Saw a couple of bumblebees too. Beneficial insects are our organic gardening friends.

Strawberry rhubarb smoothie: 1/2 pkg soft tofu, about 1/2 cup frozen rhubarb, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries, 1 cup OJ, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and about 1 tsp salt. Blend to smooth. Yum. tart/sweet/rhubarbie.

Deck Plants Progress Notes

Today is the day for progress notes.

I have been diligent about keeping the deck plants watered. They are on the North side of the house, although some receive either full sun or morning and evening sun.

Most of these were overwintered by "cheap+easy" methods - click on labels below for that history.

Epiphyllum bud - looks like this will be the only bud. It's growing rapidly. It looks like buds form on secondary branches. Since it grew substantially, but most growth involved production of primary stems, the promise is for next year. Behind the epiphyllum is a clivia in bud. They have been blooming nicely this summer, too.

There are also 2 hybrid epiphyllums. They were bought last year as rooted cuttings. They are growing, but I doubt that they will bloom this year.

I suspected that this Euphorbia "Burgundy Wine" was dead. It was overwintered dry, in the garage.

Cannas, now blooming. They seem to like container growth, and overwintering inside. This is the best that they have grown and bloomed.

More cannas.

Euphorbia splendens. I've always thought of this as a house plant. It's doing nicely outside, with more flowers than it has had before.

There have been occasional brugmansia blossoms. I think that the best is yet to come, wtih more buds forming now. Very fragrant in the evening.

Brugmansia "status report"

This no-name brugmansia was taken out of the garage, cleaned up, and repotted 10 weeks ago. Not too promising then. I'll post again when it starts to bloom.

Click on the "brugmansia" tag below, to see what it looked like 10 weeks ago.

This brugmansia was a cutting, and I thought it might not survive the cheap+lazy method of drying out in the garage, so I kept in in a sunny window. It doubled in size during the winter. Now it's repotted and on the deck. The yellow leaves are a response to too much sun on the older leaves, but they'll soon be replaced by the newer, greener leaves.

Overwintered and other Geranium (Pelargonium)

Here are some of the overwintered geraniums (Pelargonium). The most successful and easiest approach was to have them in containers and just leave the containers dry out in the garage for the winter. This is the "cheap+lazy" method since it really doesnt entail much effort, and results in nice good-sized plants by early summer.

The variegated pelargonium was overwintered. It is just coming back into its own. The finely cut leaf pelargonium was just added. It is scented, citrus. The smaller flowers are sweet alyssum, probably coming up from seeds from ones that bloomed in the container last year.

So tell me, please - why do I need a peppermint scented pelargonium when I have peppermint-scented peppermint growing all over the place? Anyway, it does smell, strongly, like peppermint. This one is new, so is not an overwinter example.

This wals also overwintered as above. This one is pine scented and it smells very much like pine. The scent is stong. Cool. Each time that I walk past it, I pinch off some more and smell it. The dark purple leaves are part of a Tradescantia pallida. This did well in other containers, using the dry-for-the-winter system. I was also surprised to see one poking up in the strawberry border, surviving the winter in ground. That is probably a fluke, this is really a tender tropical plant.

This is another scented one. I forget the variety. It did not survive the totally dry method 2 winters ago - this was kept as a cutting over that winter. So this winter I kept it almost-dry in a cool sunny room. Also took a cutting, using the lazy-gardener's method of cut off a piece and stick into some potting soil and water like any other house plant. That worked too. I cleaned it up a bit, and stuck some cuttings in the ground or with other plants. If they grow, that's good. If not, nothing lost.

Just regular run-of-the-mill geraniums. The prior over-winter entries show how they looked coming out of the garage. 6 weeks ago the leaves were dry and crispy, and the stems didnt look much better. All that I did was clean them up and set them in a semi sunny location. Again, the lazy gardener's method of overwintering, and the cheap gardener's method of having some large geraniums for the deck. They'll be blooming soon.

Brugmansia, getting ready for Spring.

This brugmansia was also stored in the garage. I did give it water 2 or 3 times during the winter - about a couple of pints each time. Some branches died, but most remained greenish and appeared plump and viable.


Bruggie looking crispy, but most of the stems look healthy. It has more dehydration damage than it did in storage last year (see photo link via labels) so maybe i needed to water it more.

This year it will be in a larger container, a wooden container that last held a fig tree. The root mass isn't overly tangled. I think that bruggies don't make the mass of roots that would be seen for a fig of the same size.

Now it's pruned, with only the dead material removed. I don't think that it needs additional shaping at this time.


Now repotted, and thoroughly watered. Like the cannas, it's now on the south facing sun deck. It's a cloudy day, with more to come, so I don't think that there is much risk of sunburn.