What's Blooming? 7.13.22

 Here are some daylily hybrids I created some years ago while playing mad scientist.

This one is more lavender in person.  Cellphone doesn't catch the true color.

This one is not so good.  I think I'll get rid of it and plant a better one in its place.

The Alstroemerias that I bought are responding to the TLC I gave them.  It's mostly just opening buds that were already there.   I think more will develop soon.

This looks better in person.

Sedum in a barrel.  This is a few years old.  I started it from a bunch of discarded pieces about six inches long, just piking a stick into the ground to make a hole, then pushing the sedum pieces into the hole.  Sedums are incredibly easy to start and grow.  This barrel never gets watered or fertilized.  They are too packed in together for weeds to grow.  It's a great plant.

Ant Protection For Ripening Figs. 7.3.22

 When figs are ripening, ants usually find them and tunnel inside.  They can bring molds and spoil the fig before it's fully ripe.

I usually forget until the figs start to ripen, but not this year.  It's a simple treatment.  Wrap plastic wrap fairly tightly around the trunk, the spread on some Tanglefoot,  Tanglefoot is a very sticky, gooey substance, thicker and more persistent than vaseline.  Ants can't climb past it.

Now they are protected against ant damage.  It's a good idea to remove the Tanglefoot strip after the fig harvest.  I've forgotten at times, and fungi grew between the plastic and the bark, damaging the trunk.

Now the fig trees have "The four protections"-

(1)  Pruning height to deter deer.

(2)  Yellow Jacket traps to deter yellow jackets.

(3)  Scare tape to deter birds.

(4) Tanglefoot to deter ants.

Will there be figs this year? We should know in a few more weeks.

Sandwich Bread. 7.2.22

 Today I broke in the new electric range, baking a loaf of sandwich bread.

The flour must have been more moist than usual - by the time I kneaded in enough for the right  consistency, there was enough for an extra mini-loaf.

I didn't know if I would like electric.   The bread loaf baked more evenly and a little faster than the gas oven.  I think it cane out perfect.  Cookies (gingersnaps) baked the same as with gas, but again, about a minute faster.  

I'm not sold yet on having a glass cooktop, but at least it should stay cleaner.  Pots seem to boil faster, but I can't use cast iron so will have to adapt.

Cleome Seedlings. 7.2.22

 Today I planted the cleome seedlings into the meditation garden.  They were small, so not root bound.

Cleome is a warm weather plant, so I had waited until recently to start them.  There were about nine usable seedlings, which is plenty.  

I started these seeds May 23rd.  The germination was slow and uneven, so the plant sizes are variable.  

Potato Flowers. 7.1.22

 Elba potatoes are blooming nicely.  These are a "late potato" but apparently bloom earlier and better than my other varieties.

Bird Deterrent For Raspberries. 7.1.22

 The raspberries are doing great.  Barely beginning to pink up.  Next to them is a redcurrant that birds stripped of every berry.  I didn't get to taste even one.

Strips of holographic tape usually deter birds, so I was generous in how much I tied to the raspberries and to the fence above them.

Here's a video.  I tie it lime a kite tail, so every slight breeze whips the strips around.  It can be noisy and in the sun, the flashes of light are almost blinding.  I added some to one of the fig trees, too.

First Garlic Harvest. 7.1.22

 These are the first of the "Music" variety garlic, that I planted last fall.  I've grown them through many garlic generations here, so they are very well adapted.  The cloves are very large, and strongly flavored.

These are not ready to dig for storage.  The paper-like covering needs to be dried out first.  I think they will be ready in a few more weeks.  Meanwhile, we have fresh garlic from the garden.

Roscoff Fig Tree. 7.1.22

The convent fig tree in Roscoff, France was planted in 1610. The wide ranging branches were supported by granite pillars. The branches covered an area of 600 square metres. The trunk itself had a circumference of 1.75 metres. The tree could shelter five hundred people. The tree lived into the 1980s, when it was removed.

Roscoff is a community in coastal Brittany, in NW France.  

Brutally Pruned "Hardy Chicago" Fig Tree Made A Comeback. 7.1.22

 Here is the Hardy Chicago fig tree that I pruned in March, as of today.

Here is how it looked just after pruning, 15 March 22.

I tipped the most vigorous new shoots, as I usually do, to promote formation of fig buds.  Given the severity of the pruning, it may not bear this year.  Or it might.

(The house has been repaired and painted recently, but it's the same tree).

Removing Rain Cover From Genetic Dwarf Peach Trees. 6.28.22

I removed the rain cover from the genetic dwarf peaches.  It worked - no leaf curl at all  except one branch that was sticking out in the rain.  The bigger tree is Garden Gold (I think).

This tree is very lush, but only about five feet tall.  Under all those leaves one can find growing peaches.  They were too thick so I removed about 90% of them, a few weeks ago.