Tigridia

Next year I'll have to be on the lookout for more tigridia. These are fun. No effort at all, stuck them in with other plants. The leaves here are not the tigridia - their leaves look like gladiolas. Unplanned color math - cool.

each flower lasts about one day. I've read that saving the corms for the next year can be a challenge. Might be better to treat them as annuals. Won't hurt to try and save them for next year, when fall arrives.

I had stuck the corms in the deck planters with no plan in mind. Just curious about what would happen. Now every once in a while see another one is blooming. Like daylilies, the flowers only last one day, but there are several consecutive flowers per stalk.

Shiro Plums. Great harvest!

This Spring I wondered if there would be any plums. That was due to frost, and I read that Shiro needs a pollinator other than the Hollywood plum that is nearby. I was wrong. This is plenty for me to eat all I can, and share lots at work. Shiro ripens all plums in about 2 or 3 weeks, so no reason to have more than this.

These are the juiciest, sweetest plums I have ever eaten. Not huge size, but that's OK. They are a clingstone plum, so a little messy to eat. But so good.

Fig Time!

The figs are ripening like gangbusters. Even thought the first tree to provide a ripe fig was Lattarula, most of those are still green and firm. These are Desert King (also called King) and Petite Negri. The King figs are juicier and sweeter, but the PN figs have a "richer" flavor. The others are well behind. The advantage of keeping the small, so I can have more varieties, is a much longer period of ripening, as well as some do well some years, and others do well other years. And each has its own flavor. Cell phone is there to show size.

King. This tree is only 4 or 5 years old. Some of the new branches grew 12 feet, as thick as my thumb. Amazing year.

Iris Arrival and Planting

These are the irises from C and T Iris Patch. They arrived nicely packaged, nice fresh rhizomes and leaves. They appear to have been just recently dug and processed, nice. Well packed in excelsior. Two were labeled differently from the order - I emailed the seller and they responded almost immediately, this was a labeling error, that the irises as listed on the invoice were correct. Great service!

I really appreiate how carefully these were packed. The rhizomes tended to be a bit smaller than those from Scheiner's, but I can't complain since the price was much lower. (How does Schreiner's get the so big? Buch bigger than my established iris rhizomes). Also, they were much better than what I've bought in previous years locally, from big box stores, and they are much more fresh, there is more time for them to establish, and I get to support what appears to be a family business.  They may well bloom next Spring - that would be nice.

Since I've been so big on container planting, I opted to plant a few in this container - a wooden half-barrel-style container that I harvested garlic from last month. I plan to use fresh soil for next year's garlic, and only grow one container - more in raised beds at the country plane - so I had this one to spare. I planted them so they would grow from center to outward edge. They will need replanting in one to two years. These are the yellows - Los Coyotes, Love the Sun, Sun Catcher, and a rhizome from my patch of Sunny Delight, which I want to renovate or remove and plant the irises elsewhere since it's overgrown with grass.

These went into a planter box. They will need transfer to ground or elsewhere in one to two years.  This is a chance to get a head start.   I didn't have a good place prepared in the ground yet. I can move them onto the deck when blooming, then back to the yard when done. I pointed them as I did, with growth patterns in mind. The cut portion of the rhizome is near one edge, giving lots of room for the other end to grow. These Diety, Whole Cloth (heritage variety), Romeo (heritage variety), and Pink Millennium.

Some more new Iris varieties

These are via C&T Iris Patch, and are not yet shipped.  Couldn't resist.  The prices are very good, but I have not seen what the shipped rhizomes look like yet.  I'm hoping that, by growing them in Colorado, these will be durable varieties.  Also, I will make a bed for them at the Battleground place.  I'm thinking of the space between trees in the mini-Orchard.  It will be quite a few years before the fruit trees are big enough that too much shade will be an issue. Despite wanting to increase heritage varieties, most are fairly recent. Some are antiques. The photos are from the catalog - I hope that's OK since I linked to it.

Romeo. French firm Millet et Fils, from 1912

Diety. Monty Byers, 1988

Leprechaun's Delight. Developed by Weiler, 1986. Miniature Iris.

Los Coyotes. Developed by Burseen, 1992

Northwest Progress, Schreiner's 1997.

Fire on Ice, Weiler, 1990.

Pink Millenium, Schick, 1999.

Suncatcher. Ensminger, 1992.

Sweet Reflection. Maryott's, 1991

Whole Cloth. Cook, 1958 While at Portland Nursery, I saw this potted iris on the 50% off table, so bought it as well.

Iris is "Cherry Garden", photo is via "hort.net Cherry Garden was developed by Jones in 1966, and is a miniature."