Chestnut Tree in Bloom. 6.21.19

This one is Maraval.  Last year, this tree was the first to bear, having two chestnut clusters last year.  This year, there are about 10 female flowers.  Hard to say because they are so small and so high on the tree.

Precose Migoule also has a couple of female flowers, and lots of male flowers.

The very small Marigoule is vinally growing nicely, and has a few catkins of male flowers.

The Marissard seedling has no flowers.  Nice looking tree, but no flowers.  It's probably a mistake to buy a seedling, even if it's named.

The plan was to have them close enough together to pollinate each other.  But with the small size of the trees, and the small numbers of male flowers on the trees that just started making them, I have tried to hand pollinate using catkins of the other tree.  Unfortunately, doing so I broke off one of the two potentially bearing branches of the Precose Migoule.  That was going to need pruning anyway, but a few curse words were said.

Cowlitz Peaches. Progress Report. 6.21.19

Cowlitz Peaches.  6.21.19

The big test will be in the ripening, but so far the Cowlitz Peach Tree is looking great.   There are about 20 peaches, maybe 25.  A few have been mauled by critters or birds.  It's not in an ideal spot, probably too much shade.

However, this might be one of my best peach yields in a long time. 

I'm guessing they'll ripen some time in July, maybe August.

Cowlitz Peach Tree.  6.21.19

Pawpaw Seedlings. 6.20.19

Pawpaw Seedlings.  6.20.19

Pawpaw seedlings are starting to emerge.  I think it's about 3 months after I planted the stratified seeds in these containers.  At first they were in the warm sunroom.   In May I moved them out to a shady area.

Pawpaw seedlings require shade.  They die in full sun, according to what i have read.

Each of these four pots has about 6 planted seeds.  I stratified them in wet paper towel, in ziplock bags, in the fridge, from September to April.

Growing pawpaws from seeds is a long term proposition.  Most likely, if they do survive and bear fruit, and if I survive that long, it will be around 6 to 8 years before we see anything.

Meanwhile, with the recent heat spell, only one of my four pawpaw trees is looking good.  The others have smaller, paler leaves.  I don't know if they will survive.  All of the tiny fruits fell off.

Yamamoto Dendrobiums. 6.7.19

 These are a few of the Yamamoto Dendrobiums that I bought last year.  They don't get a lot of attention.  I thought they might bloom in winter, but now is good too.  If I remember, I'll check the tags and add the names later.

Sweetcorn Progress Report. 6.1.19

 The first batches of sweet corn look  OK.  I gave them a watering with fish emulsion.

I'm not sue the second batch will germinate.  It's only bern a week, so there is still a chance.  I thought I saw a couple of seedlings but those might be weeds.

Today I planted the third batch and thinned the first batch to a foot apart.  I planted this year's order of "Delectable" from Territorial Seeds.

They should do well here.

Tomato Progress Report. 6.1.19

Tomato Bed 6.1.19

I wondered if I would have the fenced area ready for tomatoes on time.  It was close, but I think they are doing great.

Closest to camera are slicing tomatoes, including Better Boy, Brandy Boy, Cherokee Purple, Sunny Boy, and an early and a late type.  Then there are 12 sauce tomatoes, Ranger.

I think I will do Missouri pruning this year.  Last year I over-did the garden and couldn't keep up.  This year I'm growing a bit less, so I think I can do it.

The paths are boards from the sides of my old raised beds.  They were not wasted.

Apple Grafting Progress Report. 5.27.19

Columnar Apple Grafts on Bud-9 Rootstock.  5.27.19

Some of the new fruit grafts were quite stressed by recent hot weather.  They were not ready for it.

These grafts are columnar apple trees on dwarfing rootstock Bud-9. They had the advantage of being bench grafts, growing in containers.  I moved them to the shade when it became hot.  I wondered if a couple would make it.  They are looking good.  There is some slug damage, so I gave them some slug bait. I think all of the grafts have healed together, and actual growth is commencing.

Iris of the day: "Overjoyed." And Others. 5.27.19

Tall Bearded Iris "Overjoyed".  5.27.19

This is the last of the irises to begin blooming.  Many still have many buds remaining to open.

This iris, "Overjoyed" has nice form, ruffled flowers with a nice shade of yellow in the falls and near-white in the standards.  It's a very modern look and they came through the rainy season like a champ. This is also nice for a rhizome that I planted late summer / early fall, yet grew vigorously an give a great bloom.

The others have been posted before.  In the dead of winter, I'll look at these photos many times to recall this season and anticipate next year.

Tall Bearded Iris "Edith Wolford".  5.27.19

Tall Bearded Iris "Gay Parasol" 5.27.19

Bearded Iris Experimental Garden Bed.  5.27.19

Kitchen Garden. 5.25.15

Tomatoes, Eggplant, a Dahlia, and Zucchini.  5.25.19

Tomatoes, Eggplant, Jalapeno,, and Squashes.  5.25.19

 Most of the kitchen garden is in and growing.  Two views here show the fenced garden for deer and rabbit vulnerable crops.   The bottom view is the first batch of sweet corn, with temporary covers to keep rabbits away from the tender small plants.

Sweet Corn, One Week After Emerging.  5.25.19

Yesterday I planted a bed of sweet corn "Delectable".  The seeds are from 2018 so borderline too old to germinate, for sweet corn.  I will give them a week or two to emerge and then, if not, plant newer seeds.

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.