Fruit Trees: status report.

Stella cherry. All of the cherries are in bloom.

4-variety pear. This is the first year that all varieties have bloomed.

North Pole Apple. I was concerned that I had removed all of the flowerring buds, but if just one per spur sets fruit, there will be plenty.

For other fruits:

All of the fig trees have at least miniscule buds. Even the new "Desert King", only a foot tall, has 1 or 2 breba embryos and a tiny tuft of leaves at the top. The Lattarula has 1 or 2 brebas, and mostly tiny, approximately 1mm new buds on all branches. The other fig trees have slightly larger buds, the largest being on "Vancouver" with multiple brebas.

The peaches have a major case of leaf curl. My attempts at prevention via multiple sprays of neem were not successful. Some branches appear to be dying. Remind me next fall to COVER the peach trees to prevent leaf curl. The new peaches have bloomed but given that they were just started this year as bare-root trees, Im not sure what I'll do if they set fruit.

The Aprium looks mostly dead after a hard frost. The Chinese apricot, which started blooming later, looks alive but Im not sure about fruit set.

Looks like not a good year for stone fruit.

What's blooming?

This violet was started from my parents' lawn in Illinois. Is's later than the other violets here.

Leukojum. They continue to multiply.

A test of climate zone. These paperwhites have survived 3 years.

The Pink Cherry. This is how I know it's Spring.

First Rhubarb Pie of the Season

Victoria Rhubarb

Canola based crust, organically grown rhubarb. I only used 1 cup of sugar, so it's slightly on the sour side but that's how I like it.


This is "Glaskin's Perpetual". It was started from seeds 3 years ago. This is much slower growing than Victoria. True, the stalks are deeper red, but if it doesnt make majoer stides this year, it'll soon be "Glaskin's compost".

What's Blooming?

"White cherry in bloom, with dogs" photo.

These hyacinths not only persist, they multiply here.

These narcissus were rescued from lawn grass 7 years ago. They continue to multiply. Better for part shade -they tend to fade in sunlight.

Not in bloom, but the buds are definitely swelling. This lilac is about 10 feet tall now.

Tomato update

Germination. Even without a heating pad, so far the following tomatoes have sprouted:
Black Krim
Supersweet 100
Better Boy
Lemon Boy
Cherokee Purple (from 07)
Supersweet 100 (from 07) - this is just showing a tiny root.

The other older seeds have not sprouted, including
Celebrity

None of the peppers have sprouted yet.