New Plants. Anemones, Ixia,

This is sold as "Pink Forsythia". It's not a forsythia.  Some varieties are white, not pink. It's Abeliophyllum distichum 'Roseum'. The flowers are blooming now which is cool. The plant seems to have a forsythia-like shape, and pseudoforsthian flowers. The name is OK. These plants originate in Korea. I guess that's considered exotic.  Forsythias all originate in China, Korea, and Japan. I'll try to take a better pic net time. The plant is not as fuzzy as my pic. Anemone coronaria De Caen. This pic from Amazon, although I bought them at Fred Meyer. These are new to me but not to horticulture. It's hard to find pics of the whole plant, so it's hard to predict what it will look like. From wikipedia, Anemones are called "poppy anemone, Spanish marigold, "dağ lalesi" in Turkish, "Calanit" in Hebrew, "Shaqa'iq An-Nu'man" in Arabic". Also from wikipedia, the Arabic name is thought to originate from "the Sumerian god of food and vegetation, Tammuz, whose Phoenician epithet was "Nea'man". Tammuz is generally considered to have been drawn into the Greek pantheon as "Adonis". Adonis died of his wounds while hunting wild boar... [Adonis] transformed into a flower, stained by the blood of Adonis. Tammuz's Phoenician epithet "Nea'man" is believed to be both the source of "An-Nu'man" in Arabic which came through Syriac, and of "Anemone" which came through Greek. They go on to say, "Another possible source of the name is An-Nu'man III Bin Al-Munthir, the last Lakhmid king of Al-Hirah (582-c.609 AD) and a Christian Arab. An-Nu'man is known to have protected the flowers during his reign. According to myth, the flower thrived on An-Nu'man's grave, paralleling the death and rebirth of Adonis.  That last version seems unlikely.  Whatever the history, they look interesting.  The plants that survived the winter are growing nicely.  The leaves are finely cut and ruffled, thick and green.  Multiple web sites state all parts of the plant are toxic, and deer and rabbits leave them alone.
Also new to me, but not to horticulture, Ixia. This pic from bloomingbulb.com but I bought them at Fred Meyer. Most web sites state they cant handle cold wet conditions, but the row I planted last fall appears to have survived. The plants are about an inch tall.  Again, it's difficult to find pics of the plants in bloom.  Just the flowers.  I became interested in these when I saw what I think were Ixia at a house we looked at and almost bought.  The yard was full of them, hundreds.  All one color, yellow.  If they were Ixia, that variety seemed must do fine here.   From ces.ncsu.edu  IXIA Hybrids...Cream, purple, rose, yellow or yellow flowers)...very late spring (May/June)...~16 inches tall...Injured at temperatures below 28 degrees F (-2C) when planted...warm (75 to 80F) - cool (35 to 45F) - warm (50 to 65F) annual thermoperiodic cycle...Climatic zone habit: 1990 USDA Climatic Zones 6 ot 7 with mulch, Zones 8 to 9 without mulch...Full sunlight only. Some sites emphasize the need for dry season when dormant. Here, summers are dry but winter is wet. That the row I planted last fall survive is encouraging.

Irises. Progress Report.

This is the iris clump, I uncovered and weeded to rejunenate.  That was a few weeks ago. Southeast side of the house, raised area. Growing fast now. From the size, if grown from one rhizome, my guess is 15 or 20 years old.  Soil must be depleted of nutrients. I might give it some organic fertilizer. But doing well for a supposedly malnourished colony.  It should be dug up, divided, and replanted to rejuvenate. First, I want to see what the color is and what the appearance is.This is the iris raised bed. All rhizomes are now growing. That includes the one I was sure was dead, a variety called "Red Zinger" bought during the winter. It has a side shoot.  I've been trying to get a Red Zinger growing for 5 years, but lost the last start.  Literally, it may be in there somewhere but never bloomed.  Which is odd because only some of the photos look good to me.  Iris colors photograph strange, often not like the actual plant.  So only if it blooms do I know if I want it.   The winter-mailed rhizomes have also put on sturdy appearing growth. Anemones, planted as one edge for animal repellent (poisonous plants) are mostly growing well but it looks like I lost 4 or 5 to winter. Planted replacements today. I never grew anemones before.

Raised Beds. Progress report.

Here are the raised beds now. I added another this weekend. Planted the new bed with Snow Peas Oregon Giant, Bok Choy, Spinach, Radishes, Lettuce, Onion sets, between the onion sets planted Evergreen Bunching Onion seeds - packaged for 2011, might not grow. Also Swiss Chard 5-color Silverbeet, Beets Detroit Red, and Chinese Cabbage, Napa variety. Most of the rows are short, 2 foot rows. The Snow Peas and onions are full 4 foot rows. Also a row of mixed color Ixia. For color. The allium raised beds, planted last fall. Growing by leaps and bounds. Amazing to this small town Illinois boy, a garden with rapidly growing plants before March first. Garlics are about 1 ft tall. Shallots about 6 inches, White Potato Onions about a foot, and Egyptian walking onions about 6 inches. Illinois Chinese chive is about 2 inches and Changchun Chinese Chive is about 1 inch but thicker and sturdier and growing faster now. The Chinese Chive seedlings from last fall have reappeared, I think, although those might be seeds I planted last month.

Planting Seeds. Planting Fruit Trees.

Planted these today.

The Catnip and Lemon Balm are listed in companion planting books as beneficial to various vegetables. I don't know that I believe that, but no harm either.  I could have just divided more of the volunteer lemon balm from the yard.  Wanted to see if the seedlings are different.  Somewhere I read, Malva zebrina is a Korean vegetable.  Better find that before eating it. Seedaholic.com states they are edible and have a mild flavor.  pfaf.org states the leaves can be used in salads and soups, and the flowers are an edible and tasty garnish.    Planted in old plant 6-packs I had in the garage. Reuse / recycle. Once they are growing I can put them in the protected raised bed to acclimate.

Also planted the Orca pear and Rescue pear that I had buried in compost on Sunday.   Glad they are in the ground.

Home Orchard. New Trees.

Order came from Raintree Nursery late last week. I kept them in the box in chilly shaded sheltered north location for 2 days. Planted some today. I expect this to be the last "big order". No doubt there will be small additions. This pretty much completes the mini orchard I planned. Nicely packaged. Most are sizable trees. Raintree also had nice bonus plants, gave me a choice.  Nice job. I read not to be alarmed that persimmon roots are black. Sure enough, they are black. I read that the heartwood is also black. I won't live long enough to see that. This is Nikita's Gift. A Ukranian hybrid between American and Asian Persimmons. I think it's 3/4 Asian and 1/4 American, not sure about that.  Nikita does not require pollination.  This was the smallest tree in the bundle.  Saijo Persimmon. Pic from Raintree.  According to the catalog, this is the only Asian persimmon that can be relied on to fruit at the Raintree Nursery.  I think they are higher altitude than here, and a little cooler.  This variety is astringent until ripe.  Saijo does not require pollination.   Nice size whip - 5 ft tall, as thick as my ring finger.  Sweetheart Sweet Cherry. Pic from Raintree.  Self pollinating sweet cherry.  There may be flower buds on the tree.  Would be nice, and quite unusual, to get a taste the first year.Vandalay Sweet Cherry. Pic from Raintree.  Also self pollinating.  Also appears to have flower buds on the tree. Most other sources don't show it looking so black - more wine red.  If so that's OK.

There were also other items - grapes and a raspberry.  Two pears.  I heeled them in, in potting soil for the smaller items, and in my pile of leaf compost for the pears.  They should do OK for a few days.  Too tired to plant more.

Some small trees needed rearranging to plant these.  I dug out my Petite Negri small tree and moved it up the hill, south of the house.  It's now is a chicken wire root basket.  I think the tunnelling animals ate a lot of the roots.  I have some concern about that.  Maybe the basket will help.  Also, dug out a near dead or dead apple tree, unidentified size and type.  In its place is one of the little jujubes.  That made it possible to have the 2 new cherries next to 2 tart cherries in a 2X2 format.  Even though none of them are said to require pollination, it's there if needed or helpful.  The 2 persimmons are north and east of the rest of the trees, since they may grow larger.  That way they wont shade other trees.

I planted volunteer lemon balm from the Vancouver house, next to these new trees.  For honey bees, and beneficial insects, and maybe the flavor will deter some pest animals.  Maybe.