I'm glad it's fall. 10.19.14

I'm glad it's fall.  I can clean up what's become messy, and not have it become messy before I can clean it up again.  I can plant trees and shrubs, or transplant them, and not have to water them every few days or every week.  The grass is green again.  It's cool enough to be outside without becoming winded.  I can harvest pine needles for mulch.  And leaves.  I love planting Spring bulbs in the fall, to have something to look forward to.  I love having a fire in the fireplace in the morning when I'm up, alone.

I've quoted this before....

"My creed is that:

Happiness is the only good.

The place to be happy is here.

The time to be happy is now.

The way to be happy is to make others so.

 

Robert Green Ingersoll

Sourwood tree at one year after planting.  10.19.14

This is the Sourwood after a year.  The madrone that I planted at the same time died quickly.  I read that would happen, so shouldn't be surprised.  I wondered if the sourwood would live.  It did.  There is still a "Dr. Suessian" look.  That may take a few years to fill in.  Leaves will be pretty in a week or two.  Having survived a historic freeze it's first winter, and the nursery abuse / removal of most roots, with a chance to recover for a year, it has a good start for the future.

Varmints already chewing. Tree protection 10.19.14

Chewing damage.  Asian Pear.  10.20.14

Hardware Cloth Tree Protection.  10.20.14

 This is the first time I've seen chewing damage at the base of pear trees.    I suspect voles.  Could be rabbit.  Deer don't chew so low.  Fortunately it doesn't surround the tree, and pears heal quickly. 

This protection is a central part of winterizing.

I've learned it's just best to have a roll of hardware cloth on hand, and some zip ties.

The  zip ties make it very easy to put on a sleeve without a helper.  When it's time to remove the sleeve, the zip tie is easily cut with a scissors.  The extra tail can be trimmed off if the appearance is an issue.

The pear now has a protective sleeve of hardware cloth.  Usually I have more overlap where it joins, just didn't here.  I don't think the varmint will squeeze through the seam, anyway.

I try to make the sleeve loose enough for several years of growth.  That way I don't have to put it on every fall.

There are hardware cloth sleeves on, probably, most of my young trees.

I don't think the mesh size is too important.  I've used 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch.

It's time to get them protected.  Tender fig bark is a critter favorite.  Apparently they like Asian Pear bark. 

Moving a Japanese maple. 10.18.14

Japanese Maple before moving.  10.18.14

This Japanese Maple started out as a volunteer seedling in the front border in Vancouver.  When I moved a big Camelia, this seedling came out with it.  I lost most of the roots.  I planted it in a container for a few months, then Ning planted it in his flower bed.

It grew too well there.  Now it's time to find a better place.  As it happens, a dogwood died, and the location needs a small to medium size tree.  If I am correct about the parentage of this maple, it should be in that range.  It seems to have a semi-weeping shape, which is nice.

I dug it out.  Nice root mass.  No winding or crossing roots.  That's a good aspect of growing it myself.  It is not subjected to tree nursery abuses.

I planted at the same depth as it was.  Since it's fall, this is a good time to plant.  It can grow some more roots before winter and again in early spring before the top starts growing again.

I read that it's not appropriate to top prune on transplanting, so I didn't.  I did remove a few wide ranging branches that were in the way.  Next Spring, it may need some corrective pruning due to closely crossing branches.  Mostly it's OK the way it is.

I like that this is a home - grown, own-root, seedling tree.  Not just because it's free, but because it feels more like it's my doing.

Japanese Maple Root Mass.  10.18.14

Transplanted Japanese Maple.  10.18.14

Transplanting ginkgo seedling. 10.18.14

Ginkgo seedling.  10.18.14

 This was one of the ginkgo seedlings growing in a raised bed for irises.  Because of the mesh bottom of the beds, I was unable to get some of the roots.  Maybe most of the roots.   This is almost at the stage of being a rooted cutting.  Fall is a good time to plant, because it will not be hot, it will stay moist, and have a chance to grow some roots during the fall and spring.

It may not survive.  That's OK.  I have other, smaller seedlings.

I tried to prune off the slightly ragged base, but I think I caused more harm than good.


Ginkgo seedling roots.  10.18.14

It's planted in the location where the dead madrone was.  The madrone never took off, I left it in the ground but it has been a dead stick all year.

Ginkgo seedling.  10.18.14

Transplanting Fruit Tree and Vine Starts. 10.18.14

Hollywood Plum after 1 season of growth. 10.18.14

 I replanted some of the fruit trees and a grape vine that I started in the raised beds. 

The Hollywood Plum was from cutting late winter this year, so one season of growth.  Pretty good.   Some of the others were eaten by deer.  I know they need protection but someone else left the gate open  :-).

This was one of the better cuttings.   It did not need any pruning.  I planted it in the location of the dead Satsuma plum.  That might not be wise, but my tree autopsy suggested the problem was, the tree was root bound in its original container, and I had failed to correct that. 

It's useless planting a little plum tree without protection, so I protected it.

The peach seedlings were volunteers.  I think they are from one of the genetic dwarf trees.  They have short internodes, so I think that is correct.  I dug them out, bare-rooted them - easy - and replanted in potting soil in containers.  Rationale - leaf curl disease is carried by rain during the winter.  If I keep them in the garage, I may be able to avoid that frustrating problem.    Depending on how they grow, I could either see what the peaches are like, or use them as a rootstock and graft scion from the other genetic dwarf peaches.  The plan - keep them out of the rain until dormant, then place them in a shed along with containerized fig trees, for the winter.  That may also have the advantage of delayed bloom.

Roots of Hollywood Plum, one season after starting cutting.  10.18.14

Transplanted Hollywood Plum.  10.18.14

Protected from rabbits, voles, deer.  10.18.14

 The grape was from cutting of Price grape, about 2 years old now.  The roots grew down through the screening underlying the raised bed, so I was unable to salvage most of the roots.  I think it will still be OK.  I pruned off the bottom node, which I had badly damaged in digging it out.   Now it's planted in the row with the other grapevines.  I like that I grew my own from a cutting, and Price is one of my favorites.

Peach seedlings and Price Grape Cutting.  10.18.14

Replanted peaches.  10.18.14

Pruned grape cutting.  10.18.14

Replanted grape.  10.18.14

Planting Bulbs. 10.18.14

Bulbs to plant.  10.18.14

Before cleanup 10.18.14

 Bought some bulbs.  Except for the tulips, all are regarded as deer and rabbit resistant.  Daffodils and the Fritillaria Crown Imperial were not touched last year.  The Fritillaria has a smell a bit like sewer gas, which may be why.   Alliums were also untouched.  So now for this bed -

Some clumps of narcissus, remaining Jetfire from some that were still not planted, and Red Devon. 

Nectaroscordum siculum.

Camassia quamash.

One Fritillaria persica.  I do't know if it will grow, so just trying one.

One red Crown Imperial Fritillaria rubra.  The ones I planted last year grew well, so I hope this one does too.

A package of Allium karataviense "Ivory Queen".  I haven't tried this one yet

The last package of Anemone blanda went around a replanted Japanese maple.

Layout.  10.18.14

Front bed planted.  10.18.14

I dug up and divided some Chinese chives for this bed too.  They are delicious, beautiful, and the bees love them.

I didn't label where each bulb or group of bulbs was planted.  That will be to discover when they come up in the Spring.

The tulips will need to be planted in containers.  Keep them away from deer.

When these bulbs start coming up, they will be a very welcome sight.  This is one of the first signs of Spring, and they renew my spirit.

The edging needs to be completed.  Winter project.  Also a walkway.

I added a layer of cardboard mulch.  The cardboard was wet.  It's fragile when wet, tears very easily.  So I think the bulbs should grow through it easily.  Plus, I tore the cardboard into irregular pieces about 1 foot diameter.  That allows water to soak through, and bulb growth.  But weed seedlings should not grow.


Planted, mulched with pine needles.  10.19.14

The cardboard is unsightly.  So I raked up pine needles from the driveway and mulched with those, on top of the cardboard.  That looks pretty nice.  The bulbs should grow easily through the pine needles, too.

Smith Fig. 1.16.14

Smith Fig Tree.  10.16.14

 The containerized Smith Fig has been ripening a fig every few days.  They are small.  The flavor is in the "excellent" range.  I also have one in-ground.  It was killed to ground last winter in the historic freeze.  I should keep this one in container for another year.

The figs might be smaller or later due to the young age of the tree.  It is in it 2nd year.  Or because of container.  Or climate.  Or maybe they are small figs.  But they have been delicious.


Smith Fig.  10.16.14



Smith Fig.  10.16.14

October Tomatoes & Okra. 10.12.14

Tomatoes, Okra, and a Fig.  10.12.14

Not bad for almost mid October.

The tomatoes are Better Boy. 

The Okra is Burgundy, Dwarf Green Long Pod, and Baby Bubba.

The fig is a lone fig from Brunswick.

There may be a few more.  We had vegetarian BLT today.

Back from Vacation. 10.11.14

At the Acropolis.  Oct 2014

Mosques, Istanbul.  Oct 2014.

 Ning and I went on a cruise vacation for 2 weeks.  Now returned safely.

I almost canceled - recovering from pneumonia and bronchitis, and side effects of work and Gleevec.  I thought the cruise would be healing, and it was.  Very worthwhile.

There were a lot of places - Venice, Athens, Ephesus, Istanbul, Naples/Pompeii, Rome, Florence, Toulon/Marseilles, and Barcelona.

I took more than 1,000 pics - easy to to with electronic camera with good memory card.  Very selective with pics to post - respecting the volume of memory needed, and this blog is really my gardening log.

When I was late teens / early 20s, I was a young soldier stationed in Turkey.  Getting to visit again was a bit of a bucket-list item.  That and Ephesus, and Rome, and Pompeii, and Barcelona.  I could not ask for more.

Four O'clocks, Ephesus Turkey, Oct 2014

In front if Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Oct 2014

 Since this was my year of the 4:00's, I liked seeing some in Ephesus.  Similar to some I grew here.

I tasted figs in Athens - larger but not as flavorful as the ones I grow.  I imagine that is because they need to travel from the countryside, so are not fully ripe.

Observing city and countryside trees and plants, there were lots of Sycamores, lots of olive trees, scattered fig trees, vineyards.

I-pad panorama views are pretty interesting.  They pull a lot into the photo.

As an autodidact student of religion and social history, I loved some of the places.  Example, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, built in the Christian Roman Empire, started in the year 537 possibly on older Christian and possible prior Roman or Greek Polytheistic temple site, some of the materials taken from the Ephesus temple of Artemis; with mosaics of religious figures, destroyed in the iconoclast period, sacked by the crusaders sent by the Catholic pope, rebuilt, then remade into a mosque by Ottoman Turks, victorious over Constantinople, becoming Istanbul, and finally, Ataturk, fed up with the intrigues and politics of the Caliphate, expelled the Caliphate and secularized the Mosque.  There has been some restoration, while still respecting the interplay of Christian and Muslim aspects.

Palms, Toulon France.  Oct 2014.

Sycamore, Topkapi Palace Compound.  Istanbul, Oct, 2014

 I am probably unusual in spending as much time admiring an ancient sycamore, as admiring paintings or sculptures, but that's how it is.

The Vatican / San Pietro piazza looks to me a lot like ancient Greek and Roman temples.

The Pantheon of Rome, built close to 2000 years ago and in continuous use, first polytheistic, then Roman Catholic, beautiful stone work, soaring spaces, and natural light via ostium at the summit.  Amazing place.

Inside Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Oct 2014

Pompei, with Vesuvius.  Oct, 2014.

Panarama inside Pantheon.  Rome, Oct, 2014

Panarama, St. Peter's Square, Oct 2014.

Today's Kitchen Garden Yield. 9.21.14

Kitchen Garden Yield.  9.21.14

Fingerling potatoes, Asian Pears, more Tomatoes, various winter squash, a yellow summer squash, okra, various peppers, containerized Thai and Tabasco peppers, and probably some things I forgot.

This is one of our best garden yields ever, for this time of year.  Very happy with the result.