Cactus, Zinnias, Marigolds, Echinacea, Crocosmia flowers. 7.12.18

 Crocosmia does great in this region.  I see bunches in a lot of yards.  Mine need dividing every few years, which gets me even more plants.  Hummingbirds love them.

 I don't know the species of cactus.  Maybe, Opuntia humifusa?  It's prostrate.  Two years ago, I planted it in this pot of lilies.  It's had no special treatment at all.  During the winter, when the lily is dormant, I place the pot under a spruce tree where there might be less rain.    These are the first flowers.  This is the first time it's bloomed.  Very pretty.  Flowers last one day, like daylilies, but there are many buds.

 I  grew the Echinacea from seed, planted Aug, 2016.  I transplanted the plants into the ground May, 2017.  There were flowers last year, but much nicer now.  These are basically no-care perennials.  I read they might not do well in our wet winters, but so far, looking great!

The zinnias are starting to bloom.  I grow them in rows, like vegetables.  Same for marigolds.  These zinnias have a little rust on the leaves, but not affecting much.

Book Review. How to grow perennial vegetables, buy Martin Crawford. 3.17.16

Red mulberry

This week I went to the local library and checked out the book, "How to Grow Perennial Vegetables" by Martin Crawford.  2012.

This book is interesting because growing perennial vegetables allows us to have plants that require minimal maintenance, fit into a permaculture landscape, and puts to work some plants that might otherwise be taken for granted or considered weeds.

The book is well written and interesting.  There is a comprehensive list of plants with descriptions, instructions for how to grow them, and culinary uses.  The format is easy to follow and informative.

Plants that were interesting to me -

Violet

Apple mint -  because I recently saw a video about how to make a tea from apple mint.
Asparagus - which I just planted yesterday, "Millenium".  I don't know how that will do, but it's worth a try.
Chives and Chinese Chives - which we already grow.
Columbine - for the leaves.  Salad greens.  I didn't know that.
Dandelion - multi uses, greens and root.   Planning to experiment with both the weed and improved cultivars.  One application is a sort of "wilted lettuce salad" which involves saute of the leaves.
Daylilies - for the flowers or flower buds.  The unopened buds can be used as a sort of green bean - like vegetable.
Hostas  - eat the young shoots as a fresh vegetable, apparently popular in Korea.
Horseradish - I think I will add some in the orchard row.  That should at least give the moles and voles extra flavors to savor as they tunnel through.
Sedum spectabile - I didn't know that!  Already growing many bunches for bees.  Use leaves as a fresh green.  The book states, "succulent and juicy and ready to add to a salad on a hot summer day"

Linden

Linden - leaves for cooking like spinache, or salad.  I imagine better in spring when fresh and young.
Mulberry - leaves can be used as a cooked green. Also, I imagine better when fresh and young.
Opuntia cacti - for nopales.  I don't know how they will do but I am experimenting with them.
Oca - I found these in a catalog but way too expensive.  If I can find a less expensive source I will try.
Rhubarb - mostly uses as a pseudo-fruit, but can also be savory.
Violets - leaves for soups, have a thickening effect.

The book describes many times more than this list, which other than oca and apple mint, I already grow.  All very interesting and useful

I'm fairly impressed at this list, so many edible plants already in my yard, and quite a few that I have not sampled.  I suspect some are better and some are not so good, but we can be sort of like Euell Gibbons, we can "Stalk the Wild Asparagus", in our own yards.


[All images via public domain website, vintageprintable.com]




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Opuntias. 2.27.16

Texas Opuntia.  2.27.16

 Today I took most of the Opuntias outside from the sunroom.  The "Texas Opuntia" - most likely Opuntia Engelmannii - has roots in the drainage holes of the pot.  There also appear to be growth buds vs. flower buds.

The original cutting from October is pictured below.

It might be my imagination, but I think the pad is a little fatter than it was at the outset.

The "Baby Rita" hybrid Opuntia also has what appears to be growth buds.  I'm going to think they are all growth buds and not flower buds, due to the time of year.

I have the containers under the eaves, on the West side of the house.  They get full Western sun, and no rain.  I am avoiding rain due to potential for rot diseases in the cool weather.

"Baby Rita" hybrid Opuntia.  2.27.16

Texas Opuntia cutting.  October, 2015

Opuntia. Bumblebee. Peach Seed. 10.14.15

 This is a good start for my opuntia trial.   I have two "Texas Opuntia Cuttings" via Amazon.  I imagine these are just some cactus pads that someone in San Antonio went outside and cut off a larger cactus.    "The Mother plants are direct offspring from some of the San Antonio Missions including the Alamo! A large cactus with flattened, mostly spiny stems that produce deep red, juicy and sweet fruits.".  They are labeled as "Spineless Thornless Prickly Pear, Nopal Verde Opunti" which I can't find anywhere, but suspect they are Opuntia Engelmannii.   The others were posted last week.

If nothing else, they will be interesting in the sunroom for the winter, and require minimal or no watering.

Random pic of one of the largest bumblebees I have seen this year.  Haven't seen any in months.

Sprouting peach seed from last week or so.  Planted in seed starting medium.  This one is from "Oregon Curl Free".

Texas Opuntial Pad Cutting.  110.15.15

Bumblee on Dianthus.  10.15.15

Germinating Peach Seed.  "Oregon Curl Free" Seed Parent.  10.5.15

Opuntia trial. 10.3.15

Opuntias for experiment.  10.4.15

These are the opuntias that I want to overwinter.  I hope they will produce fruits next year.

The larger one is from Raintree, sold as "Large fruit opuntia".  Image below links to their catalog URL.

Raintree Nursery Opuntia.

From Raintree catalog:  "(Opuntia engelmannii) Like the cycloides cactus, but with red/purple, flavorful fruit that is twice as large. Enjoy the pretty yellow flowers. It grows to 4' tall and has blonde colored spines.". 

Did I post the info on the smaller one?   That was from Shorty's nursery in Vancouver WA.  Just being local does not prove adapted to this area. I have seen lots of things that were not idea here.  But it was different, so there we are.  This one is "Baby Rita Prickly Pear".  There is a beautiful photo at this link.   On Dave's garden, the pads are purple.  On cactusjungle.com there is a beautiful photo of the pink flower, and this description:  "Prickly Pear season starts with Opuntia “Baby Rita”, a santa-rita hybrid with small and spiny pads. Small pads, will grow 3 feet tall. Very spiny pads turn purple in winter.  Hardy to 15F.  Monrovia - the brand for this plant, states this is Opuntia basilaris hybrid. "Exceptional dwarf hybrid with brilliant carmine colored flowers in a small padded, purple skinned prickly pear. Thrives from the coast to inland deserts, and even into high altitude mountain areas! Loaded with spring blooms, the purple foliage intensifies in winter, providing year-round interest." and gives hardiness range as 0 to 15F.

I was interested in opuntia in the past.   These photos were from my yard in 2007-2008.   I did not get ripe fruit from the opuntias, and they died after a hard freeze the next winter.  I enjoyed that the flowers changed color, so there were yellow and orange flowers on the same plants.  The freeze-kill might have been because I did not keep them sufficiently dry, or the variety might not have been as hardy as needed.

With summer 2015 hotter and drier than any on record, highly dry adapted plants like opuntias are worth another look for fruit, flowers, and vegetable - nopales.  Worth a try.

Opuntia in Bloom.  Vancouver WA 2008

Opuntia.  Vancouver WA 2007

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. 

More Fruit Tree Orders

Uh Oh....

Last weekend I looked online at Raintree Nursery again. Decided to order two additional trees to grow, using the backyard orchard culture method:

Surefire Cherry. I was thinking about my parent's cherry tree, and realized that I haven't had a pie made from sour cherries for about 30 years. Being into "slow food" - you can't get much slower than starting out with the a small, bare-root tree. OK, you could plant a seed to grow the tree, but I'll be dead before I get cherries from a seed-grown tree. Tree should be here in 1-2 weeks. The 'ideal location' in the backyard was occupied by a rose (Carl Brunner), so yesterday I dug it up and moved it a few feet to the former location of "Angel face", which did not survive the winter and has now joined other Angels in heaven. Well, actually, in compost, but it sounded nice. The location is ready, I added some chicken compost, and will add some eggshells when planting the tree. Some thought actually went into this selection: It blooms later than other cherries. Late frost has been a fruit-tree nemesis, so the later flowering is a bonus. Most sour cherries, including this one, are also self-fertile, so no pollinator variety is needed. They stay fairly compact, especially compared to sweet cherries, so the pruning might be easier as well. IT's on Gisela5 rootstock.

I DID say two trees. I've been developing a taste for asian pears - they are crispy like apples, but have more flavor, like pears. Not enough room for more than one, and most asian pears need a pollinator, so I ordered a multigraft Asian Pear. I won't know the 3 varieties until it arrives. It will be all but one of:

Shinseiki (medium to large, sweet, yellow fruit, late August).
Yoinashi (medium to large, russeted, butterscotch flavor).
Hamese (mid sized, sweet, yellow fruit, mid August).
Mishirasu (large, russetted fruit, late September).

They can't say which if the 4 is missing. If I could pick, I would go for the two sweet yellows and either of the russetted, but any combination is OK with me. Planning for this to go into a front-yard border, possibly in the location of the opuntia (winter did a job on that one too) or eucalyptus (also a winter victim - there is a trend here). I'll have to look at the site from multiple angles to scope out the optimal location.

We already have a multigraft European pear and a multigraft sweet cherry. Some authors are not crazy about multigraft trees, since some varieties may be more vigorous than others, but my feeling is that for trees that need pollinizers, it's a way to achieve that need in one tree. Plus, judicious pruning can keep the most vigorous in check and allow the other varieties some space as well. I've added a couple of unknown variety grafts to the dwarf apple trees, last year. If we are very lucky, they'll bear this year.

opuntia

Opuntia flowers. I was thinking about removing this cactus. It's difficult to weed around it. Especially when the weeds are thistles - double ouch! Frankly, the fruits are not great and take a lot of effort in slicing and peeling for minimal taste. The flowers only last one day, and most bloom over a period of a few days.

Still, when it does bloom, it's interesting. As the flowers age, the color changes dramatically. Interesting. Maybe I'll keep it.

Overwintering. Dark, cool & dry vs. light, not as cool, and not as dry

This dracaena and trailing pelargonium are overwintering, dry, dark, in the garage. It is attached so doesn't freeze.
The brugmansia overwintered in this spot last year, same garage. The cannas were dug up this tijme because several died or did very poorly with overwintering outside last year. Some pelargonia and zantedeschia are overwintering in this situation as well. The more tender zantedeschia dont survive winter here, but take to the dry/dark/cool method very well.
This is the spare bedroom that, until a month ago, had a carpeted floor. You cant see the spot here, but there is a 1X3 foot plywood patch on one side. The rest is a nice hardwood oak floor, full thickness tongue and groove oak. I need to get saucers under a couple of pots (as soon as I finish this posting). The cacti (Epiphyllum and a coujple of opuntia) should be OK here since they have wintered for several years in the room. The citrus are a bit anemic but as long as they survive, that's OK. There is also a small brugmansia - we'll see how it does, a cavendish banana - last year it died down to the container, and I would like to keep more of it alive if possible. An aloe, and two gingers are also present. the gingers may be OK outside or in the garage, but i wanted to see if I could maintain them green for a head start next year.

opuntia flower

Here is a better photo. Apparently the flowers last only one day., then change color to orange and fold up. Will there be edible fruit?

Flowers

Ville de Bruxelles
Opuntia
Oriental Lilies
Angel Face

Opuntia buds

I'm excited. This opuntia has been growing here for 5 years. These are the first flower buds.

Hymenocallis blossom. Brugmansia bud. Opuntia ears.

I thought this might bloom mid or late summer. Here it is tonight.

Below is the brugmansia. Sorry about the blurry photo - might need to invest in better cam. I was surprised to find some little flower buds already. This probably points to June blossoms.
The little opuntias are growing 'ears'

Progress notes, Sunday puttering.

Today was a day of rest - in other words, some puttering.

This is the opuntia rufida that I alluded to in an earlier ramblimg.

Pruned about 15 rose bushes, to about 18 inches. Removed old canes, tried to direct new growth outwards. Aim was also toward renewal - remove older, decrepit canes and small, weak-appearing canes, and leave the stout, younger canes. Despite some of the garden books now directing us to leave them taller, I think that too much blackspot can overwinter on older canes.

Looked at a couple of rose books. There is some temptation, now, to add a coujple of English (David Austin) roses, such as Shakespeaare or Fair Bianca. Must restrain myself - not much place to put them. Maybe if I bought them as small, cutting-grown plants from Heirloom Roses, they will take a few years to reach a good size, then be move to replace a poor performer? On the other hand, some of the David Austin Roses have not performed well in my garden (and some have been very gratifying) - maybe I should restrain myself. In this garden: Tamora (excellent), Symphony (OK), Galmis Castle (poor, few, small, not so fragrant blossoms), Jayne Austin (OK, very fragrant, sparse small flowers on large bush), Evelyn (OK, slow to get started, still quite small after 2 years, beautiful large fragrant flowers), Bibi Maizoon (poor, after 2 years, only a few flowers, those balled up and became moldy), Happy Child (good, slow to get started - cutting grown- but the blossoms are beautiful, not much problem with disease, and very fragrant).

Anigozanthos, looking frail but has survived the shortest Winter days, and now might make it to Spring in the South Window. It tells me when it needs water, by wilting, then I give it some and it revivies. The goal is survival, not gfrowth, so it is watered minimally. So far this experiment with overwintering Anigozanthos is proceeding OK.

Notable garden news: honeybee disaster. Without them to pollinate, the fruit crops may decline. Hopefully the Orchard Mason bees will not be affected and will fill in, in commercial orchards and in the home garden.

Global warming and the gardener

Some random thoughts about Global Warming, and Gardening.

First, everyone has a role in this issue. As the top of the blog states, "Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads 'not guilty'." Gardener or not, each person has a role in trying to reduce carbon emissions, increase carbon sequestering, and compensate or prepare for change.

To reduce carbon emissions, we can grow shade (reduce air conditioning requirement), grow food crops (reduce shipping costs), grow organically (avoid unnecessary use of petrochemicals). We can share starts from favorite, well-adapted plants (reduce shipping costs, use locally adapted plants with improved chances of success).

My favorite shade project is the grape arbor on the south side of the house, which cools a bedroom in the summer, provides a shady place to sit, allows warm sunlight in the winter (because the grapes are deciduious), and provides many pounds of really tasty grapes in the Summer.

To increase carbon sequestering we should plant more trees where-ever practical. Trees remove CO2 from the air, and sequester it in their wood. My yard is small, but I have planted a ginkgo seedling in the back yard (now about 8 feet tall) which will also shade the house (it is on the south side) and two ginkgo seedlings in the front yard. Ginkgos are versatile, adapted to a wide variety of climates and conditions, and long-lived. Many other varieties of shade tree will do, this is just a favorite for me. A nut-producing shade tree might also be a good option, and will also provide food. I've seen figs large enough to provide shade, but not many people want such large fig trees.

My yard is not large, however, so I don't know how many more trees I can add. Now if I could just some neighbors to add trees... some of their yards look so barren. By having trees in my yard, I also provide an example. Woody shrubs and trees may also help (less lawn, and some carbon sequestered in the wood, although not nearly as much as a shade tree). I do have lots of those, in the form of dwarf fruits, and shrubs. (After writing this, I think that I have just decided to let the Eucalyptus - which I was going to pollard near the ground and grow as a shrub - grow as a tree instead. It's north of the house, near the street, so won't shade the garden.)

To prepare for change, we need to think about what will grow in our changed local climates. Some traditional or native species and varieties will be stressed with the changes, and won't flourish. Meanwhile, others that would not have grown before, will do well. Some gardeners (myself included) like to push their "zonal envelope" (derided by others as "zone denial"). A few degrees might make a difference in whether tender varieties of figs survive and fruit, or peaches. Or Eucalyptus as noted above (I know, these are a problem in California. But if the native trees can't adapt, then "invasive" might mean "successful" and a "detriment" turns into a "benefit").

Even though climate change is generally considered global warming, there will be some areas that are cooler, and some areas with more chaotic weather patterns. Most likely, some areas will be much more dry. Dry tolerant plants become more desirable. Maybe some hardy cacti - time to learn to cook nopales (Oh no, not more about opuntias! By the way, I did buy another small one at Fred Meyer. Probably an Opuntia rufida which looks like this or this. But it's not very hardy so is overwintering indoors.) Some stream of consciousness here. Not quite 'word salad' but getting close.

Other thoughts:

-maybe offer to rake the neighbor's leaves, so they are less likely to cut down their trees? Then take the leaves home and compost them.

-maybe I should go out today and plant some lettuce. That way it doesn't have to be shipped from california. I wonder if those old lettuce seeds will germinate?

-mulch mulch mulch. makes the garden easier to maintain, improves the soil, allowing for deeper roots, making garden plants more resilient, reduces plant disease by preventing splash back from the soil, reduces weeds and water requirements, makes use of the leaves mentioned above.

-it really is time to give up on the idea of a golf-course-like lawn as the neighborhood ideal. Let's see more productive kitchen-garden yards, or low-maintenance forested tree-filled yards, or ornamental flower and shrub filled yards, but not energy-intense, chemical filled lawns.

That's about it for random thoughts today. Time to go out and plant those lettuce seeds. It's light outside now.

These remain green, Midwinter

It's encouraging that there are still green plants in the yard. The opuntia and Rosemary have survived about 5 Winters so far, so must be OK in this climate.
The Eucalyptus cinerea may not be ideal for this climate, given its milder provenance in Australia and New Zealand. This is a 'global warming' tree - I'm trying it given that we've had some 'zone creep' and former rules may not apply any more. The hardiness zones have moved. Of course, when the hard freeze arrives in February, it might not look so good. It might be Eucalptus gunnii instead - I'm not sure about the labeling.

The Euphorbia remains green (or more correctly, red/green) as well. It's in a dry microclimate which receives almost no rain.

Opuntia (final). Meyer Lemon.

Part of the rationale for growing opuntias is to see if I can eat them. Initially, I hoped for some 'prickly pears'. Since there have been no blossoms, there have also been no fruits.

In addition to being a fruit, prickly pear cacti (opuntias) are also a vegetable. The pads, stripped of thorns, are rich in vitamins and fiber. Called nopales (or nopalitos when prepared), they are a traditional Mexican food. There are quite a few recipes for nopales.

I'm surprised that, with so much Mexican food available, and with the incorporation of Mexican food into the American lifestyle, that this vegetable is such a mystery to us. I did have some when in Mexico this fall, they seemed like a fairly routine vegetable. Maybe Americans are just not interested in having more vegetables.

OK, on to new topic - it looks like the Meyer Lemon has some lemons that are ready to pick. The plant itself is quite small. Gardenweb has many entries expressing frustration with this tree. It may not be amenable to 'out-of-zone' thriving, although some information is available on Winter care. This tree has survived the Winter so far in a sunny, cool room, and the three lemons look ripe. Considering the small size of the plant, 3 lemons is more than I expected this year. I'll post again when I know what the lemons taste like.

Meyer lemons were originally found by Frank Meyer (not Fred Meyer) growing as potted trees in Peking (now Beijing) in 1908. They are thought to be hybrids between a lemon and another citris such as an orange or mandarin.

Opuntia

These drawings from the USDA web site, original text is: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. Illustrated flora of the northern states and Canada. I like these old drawings.

These are less likely to be damaged by cold and rain, compared to desert cacti. The two in the "GrowingGreener" yard are looking sad and have never bloomed, although they have survived the cold wet weather for several winters. I keep hoping for a 'prickly pear' to taste. Unknown varieties. If I can find a source, I would like to try an Opuntia fragilis (since it's native to WA) or an Opuntia microdasys, since it seems to remain small so I could bring it inside for the winter.

The images can be 'clicked' to render them more readable.