Tropical Lightening climbing rose.

It's not climbing yet but the flowers have a sweet tea rose perfume.  Each flower is different from the next.

More Drip Irrigation. 6.24.22.

 I put in a drip irrigation line for the rest of the squashes, as well as so mini dwarf apples and potted lilies.

 

Last year, the squashes were  my biggest watering burden, so I'm glad they are on an irrigation line now.  They are really taking off and growing.  I do need to stake the hoses down.  They are somewhat of a tripping hazard.

Ugly Pie. 6.24.22

 I still had some cherry pie filling in the freezer, so made a pie.  The crust was very difficult to work with, brittle and kept falling apart. My guess is the flour, which was the last of a big bag of institutional bleached white  flour bought by internet during the early part of the pandemic.  The crust was too brittle to top the pie so I tried a lattice topping but that fell apart too.

Still, the flavor was good.  Even the crust was good, despite the difficulty in working with it.  

I think there is some rhubarb on the plant, calling my name now.  Maybe that's next.

Alstroemeria. 6.24.22

 I made a trip to the store and saw these.  They were pretty messy but the price was quite good, so I bought a couple.

I think these are described as deer resistant, so it's a test.  Plus, some survive the winters here.  I have larger Alstromeria that I from divisions last year, in my garden, overwintered from last year.  But these look like they will become quite colorful.  I think they will fill in and bloom a lot more, once they establish.

Hardy Chicago Offset Cutting Starting To Grow Seven Months Later. 6.24.22

 In November I cut an offset from the big Hardy Chicago fig tree.  I was unable to obtain more than a few tiny roots.  I planted it anyway.  This week I noticed a significant start of growth.  Seven months later, and all of the other fig trees are already lush and green now.  I gave it some balanced fertilizer and water.  Now that it is growing, I want to continue the TLC and see if it establishes and becomes a tree.

It's difficult getting the I-phone to focus well on such small buds, so they are a bit blurry.

This is the offset that I started with in November.  I didn't have a lot of expectation it would grow, but fig trees can be surprising.  That's really not much root for such a big top.  On the other hand, sometimes fig trees can be grown grow dormant cuttings that are all stick and no root at all, when they are started.

 

Planting More Seedlings. 6.24.22

 There are a few more seedlings to plant.  

African marigolds - planted the rest of them.  The ones already in the ground are already perking up.

The cosmos seedling that I set out a few days ago are growing.

More seedlings to plant - mostly French marigolds from home saved seeds, cleome, and thunbergia seedlings that I think don't like chilly nights and cool days we have now,

I want to plant those during the next couple of days,

An Excellent Gardening Aid for an Older Gardener. 6.20.22

 I bought this at Bi-Mart.

In this position, it's a nice seat for resting or working in raised beds.

In this position, it's an excellent kneeling pad.  The cushion is just the right firmness, and the side handles make standing up again a LOT easier.

 What a great tool.  

Starting A New Star Quilt. 6.20.22

 I've been wanting to start this quilt pattern for a year.  As with some other projects, I'm using fabric from mens's shirts bought at estate sale or thrift shop.  A lot is left over from other quilts.  There were some that I especially liked so I'm  using all of that I can.  

Each square is different, but with recurring themes of fabrics and shapes,  Here are the first two.

These have in common with the last quilt that the blocks are made from nine squares, but these squares are made by piecing together smaller squares and triangles.  

The pattern was published in Today's Quilting, a UK magazine, last year, by designer Lynne Goldsworthy.  My version will be more monochromatic, blues, greys, whites.

Here is a nine patch block before sewing together.  It's a challenge matching the corners and edges.    Also, I am using a crinkly fabric for the white areas, but it's too thin so I temporarily fused it to a white background fabric, which makes it like card stock.  The adhesive will wash out when I wash the final quilt, making it softer again.  

Planting a Container of Sempervivum and Sedum. 6.19.22

 Here is a container I planted with Sempervivum and Sedum a few years ago.  It thrives with almost no care, can dry out without problems, and doesn't mind winter or summer.

I decided to plant this strawberry pot with similar starts from around the yards.

The sedums are cuttings.  Just cut pieces from existing plants and poke them into the soil.  They root quickly with no other effort.  I do cut off the growing tips so they will branch and fill in.  Sempervivums are splits from my original plant.  They don't have many roots but will establish just fine.  There are a couple more pockets to plant, plus a second strawberry pot.

Envol Potatoes and Four O'Clocks. 6.19.22

 Here is my row of Envol, and my row of Four O'Clocks.

Both are pretty lush.  I think the potatoes should be ready to start digging soon,

Potato Flowers. 6.19.22

 The Red potatoes from Safeway are blooming.

So are the Envol, a white early potato.

Dwarf Tomatoes, Tying Them To Support Stakes. 6.19.22

The dwarf tomatoes are growing beautifully, with dark green, thick, lush, rugose leaves.   Some of the plants were leaning over so I put in stakes (willow poles) and tied them up.  The names are in the photos.  

Pawpaws, Grapes, Persimmon Buds. 6.19.22

 Some of the shorter grape vines are being eaten off by deer. The taller ones that I renovated are doing very well this year.  This is Buffalo - a dark purple grape with flavor like Concord, that ripens well here.

A few of the pawpaw flowers that I cross pollinated, "took".  Like certain fig varieties, Pawpaws like to fool you and make you think they will bear, then they all fall off.  Still, these are the first clusters in a few years. 

This one is the variety "Mango", which has never borne fruit for me before.

This was the variety "Sunflower", but it died to the roots.  Then the rootstock grew snd this year it bloomed.

This is the variety "NC-1".  I think two flowers each may have one fruit each, if they grow.

This is the NC-1 tree, which is really more of a bush (the others are also bushy). I don't think pawpaws usually do well here.  The tops of most of mine died in a few years, then new ones grew from the roots.  I think they might be better grown as large bushes, on their own roots and sending up new shoots to replace ones that die off.

The persimmons have lots of flower buds now.  That probably means a good crop this year.

Flowers. 6.19.22

 Sarracenias.

Itoh Peony.  This was one I moved last sinter into the meditation garden.

Annual Shirley Poppies.  These are self-sow from poppies I grew last year or two years ago.

Alstroemerias.  I planted these from divisions, last year.

Sisyrichium - kind of an odd plant.  

Elderberry

Fig Update. Yellow Jacket Traps. 6.19.22

 Some of the figs are starting to swell, especially Desert King, Lattarula, and Brunswick.  I installed three yellow jacket traps.  Yellow jackets tunnel through the figs at about the moment they ripen, so when you pick a fig, you get a ball of angry yellow jackets.  They are voracious and destroy the entire crop, leaving nothing.

So far I haven't seen any, but not taking any  chances.

These are on Desert King.

These are on Lattarula.

These are on Brunswick.

If those Brunswick figs stay on the tree and ripen, it would be one of the best crops of that variety tbat I have had.  They are really good, too, and the largest of my fig varieties.