PawPaws. 5.25.19

Developing Fruits on Pawpaw "Sunflower".  5.25.19

After an initial quite hot spell, there has been chill and rain.  The vast majority of incipient pawpaws have fallen off the trees.  Counting, about 6 bunches on Sunflower, and 3 bunches on NC-1, although I didn't try very hard for accurate count.

If these stay and develop, it will still be quite rewarding and none will go to waste.  They are almost at that point where I feel confident that these will give us fruit this fall.  Sunflower is doing better than NC-1.

The First, Ever, of the Pawpaws. 10.8.18

NC-1 Pawpaw.  10.8.18

 Here is the first of the pawpaws.


The outside is similar texture and skin as an avocado. Unlike avocado, there are multiple, Lima bean-sized seeds. Taking them out, the amount of flesh, and the consistency of flesh, was also similar to avocado. There the similarity ends. Super sweet, tropical tasting. Sort of banana-like but not. Interesting.

There will be a few smaller ones, if they ripen soon. This was the first ever, took 6 years from planting, and a very nice fruit adventure!

NC-1 Pawpaw.  10.8.18

NC-1 Pawpaw.  10.8.18

This was the only pawpaw on the tree, so may be larger than it would be if there were lots.  The variety was NC-1.

The other tree, Sunflower, has quite a few, small, fruits.  I'll keep watching for those.

Paw Paw Progress Report. 9.17.18

Paw Paw "NC-1".  9.17.18

Most of the paw paw fruits made it through the hot dry summer without problems.  Some that were exposed to full sun, have blackened areas where the sun was brightest - something to think about next year, if they set fruit again.

This was a very hot dry summer.  My ability to keep things watered, was overwhelmed.  But I did manage to water each paw paw tree with about 10 gallons of water, once weekly, using the "5-gallon bucket with 1/4 inch holes in bottom" method.  They are also mulched with tree leaves from last fall.

I'm guessing they will ripen in October.  No way to know, this being their first year to set fruits for me.  The "NC-1" might be bigger, because that was the only fruit on the tree.  The "Sunflower" set about 2 dozen fruits.  Those are smaller, compared to the one on "NC-1".

Paw Paw "Sunflower".  9.17.18

The apple, there for comparison, is a Rubinette.  This happens to be an average size apple.

Paw Paw Trees. Progress Report. 7.13.18

 These are the 3 largest of the Paw Paw trees.  Sunflower and NC-1 were planted summer 2012.   That year I also planted "Rebecca's Gold", which died for some reason.

Not pictured is "mango" which I think was planted 2013 0r 2014. 

Allegheny has not bloomed yet but looks pretty vigorous.  I think I planted it in 2015 or so.

NC-1 is the most vigorous but Sunflower set by far the most fruit this year, which is the first year any of them have had developing fruit this far along.  I hand pollinated between these trees.    Both Sunflower and NC-1 have several trees a foot or two from the main trunk, which would be the rootstock.  I might leave those in place, since they could be pollinators for the main tree.   Sunflower looked a bit frail last year, but seems to be better this year.

When I planted these trees, I was so concerned about reported fragility of the roots, I did not untangle them.  I don't know if I would take the same approach now.  It might be better to bare root them, gently, using a stream of water.

Paw paws so far this year. 7.12.18

 This is the first year with real chance of ripe pawpaws.  I planted these trees as containerized trees, in summer 2012.  They have been blooming every year for the past 4 years.  Each year, I hand pollinate dozens of flowers.  This year, about a dozen flowers took on the cultivar "Sunflower" and one took on the cultivar "NC-1".  Maybe ripe in September?

Why the ideas of "native" and "invasive" need to be reworked. 12.19.14

These are some of my semi-random thoughts.   I try not to be too contrarian, but I also think we have to think for ourselves.

I saw this was in my unpublished blog from 2014.  No idea why I didn't publish then.   The thoughts are still what I think.

Many websites and authors express strong preference for growing native plants.  The thought is, native plants are best adapted for a particular local area, and plants that originate elsewhere, by definition lack certain properties, such as being adapted to the local provenance, soil, climate, water conditions, temperature, and insect populations.

American Chestnut.  Source Vintageprintable.com

I really love quintessential "American" plants and trees.  It's a reason I like the idea of growing Pawpaws and American persimmons.  And, American linden, some maple species, and some native orchids.  And, if I could, mayapples, morels, chantrelles, tulip poplar, and others.


But what, in most urban suburban, and rural settings, outside of actual wildlands, exists of the original conditions?  Those are the conditions that American plants are best adapted to.  The temperature?   Climate zones have migrated.   Climate change is remodeling the climate condition everywhere.  So once native plants are adapted to a former, often gone, condition.  In general, local climates are warmer than before, but there is also shift in rain patterns.  The soil?  Much is gone.  In the highly modified lands of urban, suburban, farm, former farm, and logged forest, phenomenal amounts of topsoil are gone forever.  Much blew away in the dust bowl, and in farming practices.  Forestry, logging, and farming, resulted in washing away a big fraction, sometimes most, of the original soil.   The remaining soil is populated with trillions of earthworms - highly beneficial to the gardener and farmer, but causing a paradigm shift in the soil structure, nutrition, texture, water holding capacity, and presence of protective layers of undecomposed leaves.

Looking around populated areas here, what remains of original species of trees and plants?  The vast majority seem to be gone.  Instead, the yards and gardens contain plants from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and many hybrids and human-modified plants.  The grasses are foreign.  Many of the trees, if not most, are foreign.

In wild places, there may still be mostly original species but again, the climate itself is different.  The soil is different.  Even the air is different - increased CO2 may change growth of some plants, more than others.  The water is different - the more acidic pH of the water means the soil itself is more acidic.  Plants that are adapted to a local soil pH, texture, nutritional constitution - those may be local, but no longer adapted to transformed environmental conditions.

Dead American Chestnut.  Source:   vintageprintable.com

In addition to changes in soil, climate, some species have been erased - a "cleansing" from the local ecosystems.  The vast forests of chestnut were killed off by Chestnut blight, and no longer exist. The vast forests of Elm were killed off by Dutch Elm disease - they also no longer exist.  Bison, gone.  Passenger pigeon, once present in the billions, gone.  Ash, on the way out.   If each member of a forest or prairie, is an essential part of the fabric, then that fabric is already permanently changed and cannot be regenerated.  Not even if the few members of the erased species can be re-engineered, or re-hybridized, or re-generated, to be resistant to the introduced diseases and changed environment.  Then there are the introduced insects and mammals, which are probably here to stay as well. 

There are indications that the North American forests and prairies have long been more like gardens and farms, than wild forests.  Native Americans transformed them by burning and planting, and their ancestors destroyed the megafauna to the point of extinction.  Megafauna - mastedons, wooly mammoths, sloths, tapirs, bison species, pronghorn, giant beavers, horses - were part of an ecosystem, interacting with and affecting plant growth, keeping some in control, controlling others.  Removal of native predators, means deer have proliferated to the point of being an invasive species, even when native - destroying palatable plants, and leaving unpalatable ones in place. 

Megafauna are thought to have lead to proliferation of pawpaws and persimmons.  Later, it was Native Americans who planted them. Now, it's us.  Both of these species range from the Southeast to the Mississippi basin, nowhere near where I live in Pacific NW.  So here, they are exotic tree species, like apples, peaches, pears, figs,  most plums and most cherries.

I know, there are lists of harmful exotics.  Especially, highly invasive ones.  In the southeast, that's kudzu.  In the Northwest, it's English Ivy, Himalayan Blackberry (actually, European), and Buddleia, Tansy ragwort, and others.  Some of these are really harmful, replacing other species and crowding others out, or toxic, like giant pigweed.  We don't think of it, but our lawn grasses are invasive species.  The dandelion, ubiquitous, and probably harmless, even beneficial, is invasive.  And probably can not be eradicated.  In our yards, many more - but maybe more annoying, as opposed to harmful on a vast scale, like Hyacinthoides, Bishopweed, in the Northwest, may fill a niche, and have a role where others don't survive.  Especially Hyancinthoides, which deer leave alone.

Pawpaw.  Image source:  vintageprintablecom.  Pawpaws don't look much like this.

 I have read that native pollenizing insects also are best adapted to the native plants, and not to exotics.  That may be true.  There are philosophical, as well as scientific, reasons.  But insects evolve fast.  That's why we have an ongoing chemical war against insects in factory farming - they evolve to resist each chemical that is sprayed against them.  I suspect they will also adapt, and many probably already have, to the different flower shapes and colors, different pollen types, and other characteristics of exotics.  Certainly, I have watched many pollinating insects devour nectar and pollen from nonnative alliums like Chinese chive, shallots, onions, and from buddleia, apple, non-native plum, non-native cherry flowers..

In the typical American garden, farm, suburban yard, locally derived plants can be nice, and have a clear role.  But there is no reason to avoid plants from the world's vast resources of centuries of importation, adaptation, genetics, and breeding.  Plants from elsewhere will often be better adapted, more useful, and more suitable to the highly changed and changing ecosystem.  

Pawpaw in bloom. 4.21.16

NC-1 Pawpaw in bloom.  4.21.16

I've been using an artist's paint brush to transfer pollen between flowers of pawpaw varieties "NC-1" and "Sunflower".  Supposedly, "Sunflower" may be self fertile.  This tree bloomed first, and maybe some flowers did take.  The stigmas are receptive before the flower produces pollen, and once the anthers ripen and release pollen, the stigmas are not receptive.  So the timing for both the donor and recipient flowers is important.

The tiny "Mango" pawpaw tree- about 18 inches tall - has 2 flowers.  I pollinated one today.  I doubt that will produce fruit, but you never know.

Orchard at 3 years. 11.8.15

Home Orchard.  11.8.15

Home Orchard.  11.8.15

This is the main orchard at 3 years.  There are also fig trees by the house and in the 2nd yard, apples and pears in the second yard, and columnar applesn by the house.

More should be producing next year.  Some of the plums have triple buds at the nodes for the first time.  Triple buds should indicate flower buds.  Those are:  Methley, some multigrafts, grafted Hollywood and Shiro, and some on the 1st year Ember grafted onto Hollywood rootstock that I planted here a couple of weeks ago.  Sweet Treat Plurerry has triple buds.  All of this is something to look forward to.

Others that look promising are Pawpaws NC-1 and Sunflower.   Rebecca's gold does not look like it, and Mango is just at first year.

The Asian Persimmons bloomed last year, so I am hopeful for next year.

The cherries should all produce next year.  They have lots of flower buds. Except Almaden Duke, which has tiny fungus mushroom-looking things growing out of the trunk.  Bad sign.  And some of  the apples should produce, they did this year and have active spurs.  Ditto for Asian pears and Euro pears.

Q18 peach and Charlotte peach have triple buds with fuzz - also look like potential flowers

Losses:  Indian Blood, I'm giving up.  No fruit and poor growth, it's been at least 5 years.  Minidwarfs on M27, I'm giving up.  Not worth the hassle and wait for minimal and bad yield.  Oregon Curl Free looks like it will die.

Anticipated additions or replacements:   Nadia Cherry Plum, Surefire Cherry.  Looking at web info, Rebecca's Gold Pawpaw may be late bearing.  I might buy an Allegeny Pawpaw which should be earlier and is a new-generation Peterson variety, probably the best of the best.  An apple and an Asian Pear.  That fills all of the empty, emptying, and potential new spots.

Just daydreaming.   I really don't need more fruit trees.  Pawpaws take 3 or 4 years, at least to bear.  That's a long way out, to start one at this point in my life.

There is a Korean Bush Cherry in the driveway that needs to be planted.  Possibly bloom size.

Persimmon, Pawpaw, and Peach Trees Fall Color. 11.3.15

Nikita's Gift Hybrid Persimmon.  11.3.15

Today I stopped by the One Green World nursery outlet in Portland.  Fall is a good time to plant many types of trees.  I found two fruit varieties to try:

American persimmon "Prairie Star" (Diospyros virginiana) and  Korean bush cherry (Prunus japonica).   More on the bush cherry later.

Back at Battleground, the persimmons have nice fall color.  The best is Nikita's Gift - a hybrid between Diospyros virginiana and Asian persimmon,  Diosyyros kaki.  The little Prairie Star also has nice color.

Asian Persimmon "Saijo" had a tough summer, too much heat.  The leaves curled, but did not fall off.  They have nice color now, but it's hard to see due to the curled leaves.  Maybe next year it will do better.

The other American persimmon, Yates, doesn't look like much this year as far as leaf color goes.

Prairie Star American Persimmon.  11.3.15

Saijo Asian Persimmon.  11.3.15

Other fruit trees / plants with nice fall color were the NC1 Pawpaw and the genetic dwarf peach seedling.  The peach seeedling has fuzzy buds.  Those might indicate flower buds for next Spring.  It is about 3 years post germination.

It was interesting looking at the persimmons at One Green World.  They had several Nikita's Gift persimmons with big fruits on the 1 foot tall plants.  I asked the clerk how they accomplish that.  He didn't know.  They also had a kaki persimmon from Xian, which had little green fruits.   That did not seem promising to me, November and no where near ripe.

Mine may have received too much nitrogen this year.  It is a gamble.  Too little nitrogen, growth is puny.  Too much, and fruits don't set or fall off.   I will probably fertilize the two little American persimmons prior to Spring, but not the Asian and hybrid, which are both over 6 foot tall, so I don't need growth on those so much as wanting to taste the fruits.

NC1 Pawpaw.  11.3.15

Nikita's Gift Persimmons at One Green World Nursery.  11.3.15

American Persimmons are not yet developed as commercial fruits.  The challenges are, they tend to be small, too soft to ship, and have a bad reputation because anyone who has tried an unripe one never wants to try again.  When ripe, they are very soft, and lose their astringency.  They also have the challenge that, in their wild state, male and female trees are separate, and the females require pollination to form fruits.  Many varieties of Asian persimmons lost the need for a male to pollinate them (parthenocarpic), and those fruits are seedless.  Saijo does not need a pollinator, and apparently neither does Nikita's Gift.  Yates / Juhl is parthenocarpic.

James Claypool was an amateur who attempted to breed persimmons as an ideal fruit for home gardener or orchard.  He trialed thousands of hybrids, starting with varieties from earlier, mainly amateur, developments and improvements over wild persimmons.  When Claypool developed an illness and could no longer work on his persimmons, the Indiana Nut Growers Association took over.

Seedling Genetic Dwarf Peach.  11.3.15

Yates (Juhl) American Persimmon.  11.3.15

Fig, Persimmon,Progress Report. 5.30.15

Container Figs.  5.130.15

 Container figs all have thick mulch of chopped fir tree.  Some are doing better than others.  I've snapped off the growing tips, for branches of 4 or more leaves, to stimulate fig development.  For in-ground fig row south of house, I've done the same for side branches but allowed the central leaders to continue.

Persimmons.  The 2 trees in 3rd leaf, and the American Persimmon in 1st leaf, are all growing vigorously.  Nikita's Gift and Yates' flower buds persist. Chances are they will fall off, but I watch anyway.   All have protection from deer and rodents, and all have thick grass clipping mulch.  All have been given pee-cycling fertilizer, and all have been given extra water.

American Persimmon "Yates".  5.30.15

Hybrid Persimmon "Nikita's Gift"  5.30.15

 Pawpaws.   The three in 3rd leaf are growing well. "Sunflower" 3 fruit embryo / one flower, persists.  All have had doses of pee-cycling fertilizer, diluted 1:10, and all have been given extra water.  All have thick layers of grass clipping mulch, and nearby grass/weeds are removed.

Pawpaw "Mango", in first leaf, looks great.  That too, has been given the spa treatment, with  diluted pee, grass clipping mulch, protective fencing, and weed/grass clearance.

Kaki Persimmon "Saijo".  5.30.15

Pawpaw trees @ 3rd Leaf.  5.30 15

Persimmon and Pawpaw Progress Report. 5.19.15

Flower Buds on Nikita's Gift Persimmon.  5.19.15

Last Remaining Flower on Sunflower Pawpaw.  5.19.15

All but one of the pawpaw flowers fell  off.  The one that remains is on Sunflower.  It takes a close look to see the developing ovary.  I don't know.  It might give a couple of pawpaws.  This one flower is the last chance for this year.

Saijo Persimmon had some flower buds but they fell off without opening.  Nikita's gift started growth much later, compared to Saijo, the growth is much thicker and stronger, and there are a few flower buds.  The tree is only about 3 feet tall.

Yates American Persimmon is also growing strong, and has some flower buds.  This is first leaf for that one.

Pollinating Pawpaw flowers. 5.4.15

3-year-old NC-1 Pawpaw.  5.4.15

3-year-old Sunflower Pawpaw.  5.4.15

NC-1 Pawpaw flower shedding pollen.  5.4.15

Collecting pawpaw pollen.  5.4.15

 Today I pollenated pawpaw flowers.  I've been watching closely for flowers at the pollen shedding stage. 

The NC-1 is the largest of the 3 pawpaw plants that I planted summer 2012.  My goal has been to transfer pollen from Sunflower, which is smaller, to NC-1 stigmas.  However, each has only a few flowers, and what I do depends on the stage of each flower.

As it happened, 2, of the NC-1 pawpaw flowers were shedding pollen today.  When the entire flower is a dark burgundy, that's when it starts to shed pollen.  When the flower is almost all dark burgundy, it is not shedding pollen yet.  That is when I'm hoping the stigmas are receptive

The pawpaw flower makes a lot of pollen.  Much more than most of my other fruits

I pollinated 2 flowers of Sunflower with pollen from NC-1.  I also pollinated a flower of NC-1 with pollen from a different NC-1 flower.   That is not considered an option, but maybe this tree has not read that book.  If the flowers on Sunflower start producing pollen when flowers on NC-1 appear receptive, I will transfer pollen in that direction. 

Pawpaw flower prior to shedding pollen.  5.4.15

Pawpaws and Persimmons. Progress Report. 4.18.15

Pawpaw blossom.  Sunflower pawpaw.  4.18.15

Saijo Persimmon with frost damage.  4.18.15

Yates Persimmon with frost damage.  4.18.15

There was a small frost.  Some damage occurred for new shoots and new leaves of grapes, some figs, Saijo persimmon, Yates persimmon sapling, Illinois Everbearing mulberry.  The plums and apples do not appear affected.  I'm not sure about the peaches, might be some peach leaf curl or other condition.  For the most part, I think the effects look minor and the plants should recover without problems.

Nikita's Gist Persimmon has nicely greened swelling buds, but they still look too tight to have been affected by the frost.

The first flower on the first pawpaw has opened and begun to color.   This is on Sunflower.  Too early to collect pollen and there are no other pawpaw flowers open to pollinate, yet.

Puttering. 3.28.15

Main orchard.  3.28.15

Jonagold with multigrafts from Fedco.  3.28.15

 Most plants are out of dormancy or nearly so.

Plums are basically finished blooming.  Unable to see if and how much fruit set has happened.  All Asian plums are done.  Toka finished just after Asian plums.  Euro plums, Green gage is almost done, and Stanley is still blooming.  Stanley is the last to bloom.

Sweet cherries are in about full bloom.

Tart cherries barely beginning to bloom.  They really are later than sweet cherries, which is good for late frost avoidance.

Too early to say anything about the apple and plum grafts.  I look at them every day.

Pawpaw flower buds are swelling, Sunflower and NC-1.  I check those every day too.

Persimmons are growing, even Yates that I planted this January.  I often read that they may take until mid or late summer to grow, their first year.  Mine are budding out at the same time as mulberries.  Nikita's Gift and Saijo both have swelling buds, almost open.

The Mishirasu Asian pear graft, that I grafted last year and was eaten off twice by deer, is growing nicely.  The tree is fenced with a deer cage now.  Other grafts on that tree - 3 are have their first flower clusters.  It's been raining during bloom.  Too early to know if there is fruit set.  I should get the first Shinseiki on the Battleground tree this year - 2 year old cleft graft - and the first Hosui, the tree that I planted in 2012 and grafted others onto it since then.

Plum whip and tongue graft.  Ember.  3.28.15

NC-1 Pawpaw flower buds, swelling.  3.28.15

 Grapes are budding out and starting to grow.

Apples nearly blooming.

Prairie fire crab apple, almost blooming.  There are a couple of flowers, so this is among the first of apples to bloom.

Mishirasu growing despite deer browsing.  3.28.15

Yates Persimmon buds swelling.  3.28.15

Buds. Pollinating. Bud Grafts. 3.10.15

Crimson Pointe Plum.  3.10.15

Peach and Plum flowers for pollinating.  3.10.15

 Many of the plums and peaches are in full bloom.

Unkown Battleground plum.  Mid to late bloom.

Unknown #2.  Scattered bloom.

Crimson Pointe Plum.  Full bloom.

Toka.  Early, almost full bloom.

Oregon Curl Free Peach - Early, almost full.

Charlotte Peach - Early, almost full.

Q-1-8 Peach - Early.

Hollywood Plum.  Full bloom.

Shiro Plum.  Full bloom.

Methly Plum.  Only 3 flowers on the tree.

Genetic Dwarf Peaches.  All full bloom.

Stanley Plum.  Buds eginning to swell.

Gage Plum.  Buds beginning to swell.

Sweet cherries.  Buds beginning to swell.

Tart cherries.  Barely noticable swelling.

Apples.  Buds swelling.

Asian Pears.  Buds swelling.

Pawpaws.  Buds beginning to swell.

Persimmons.  Barely detectable growth bud swelling.

Mulberries.  No noticable swelling.

Shan Zha (Chinese Haw) - see photo.  I don't know if these are flower buds or new growth.

Shan Zha buds, almost open.  3.10.15

I cut stems from the genetic dwarf peaches, Hollywood and Shiro plums, to take to Battleground as pollen sources.  I used artist paintbrush to transfer pollen from those to peaches and plum flowers.

Many of the bud grafts from July 2014 are opened and growing.  They are a bit less vigorous compared to other buds on those trees.  I cut back the stems to about 1/2 to 1 inch above the growing buds.  It's a long wait, from July to March, to see if they took.

It's interesting that some of the bud grafts are blooming, such as the Hollywood, pink, buds on the unknown, white flowered plum tree.   I noticed several such buds bloomed.  I think it's OK, the stem growth will follow.

New sign for the yard - Washington State Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary.  I had to fill out an application form describing the places in the yard where wildlife can find shelter, the trees, potential pollen and nectar sources for bees and butterflies, no-spray area, some native plants although by no means all.  Now signs up on both parts of the yard.

Hollywood buds on unknown variety of plum.  3.10.15

Toka plum in bloom.  3.10.15

 On bud grafts - it looks like plums did the best.  The couple I did on peach tree did not take.  Only 2 of about 8 on lilac took.  On cherries, hard to say because not all buds are swelling.  Some have fallen off.  I think all of the plum buds took.  Some are growing, some have flowers.

Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary