Home Orchard in Bloom

Almaden Duke Cherry.  Moved from the house in Vancouver mid summer.  At that time, it wilted a bit.  This tree is roughly 4 years old.  The blossoms indicate a nice bowl of cherries this year.  I'm happy it not only survived, but is thriving.

Euro plum. This tree came with the place. Deer ate virtually all of the leaves. A few new branches grew but it was shot for the summer. That it survived at all is a surprise. The new branch will supply some plums this year. The older branch, which was denuded, I will be happy if it just grows. Looks like it will. We will see if the fencing keeps out the deer.


Vandalay Cherry. This was planted bare root last month. I don't expect any cherries at all this year. The blossom suggest a few could happen. Just a taste.  

Shan Zha.  English name is Chinese Haw, Red Sun.  Beautiful new leaves.  Planted bare root last fall.  No blossoms, that's OK.  Too small for fruit this year.  Needs to grow and settle in.  The new leaves are a special effect.  Very nice.

Toka plum. Caged to protect from deer. Bought as a container tree at Home Depot last summer. Part of my attempt to get things started for the home orchard as quickly as possible, and start tasting fruit from my orchard as quickly as possible. If we get plums the first year after planting, that is awesome. Even a few.

Satsuma plum. Caged for protection from deer. In bloom. This was purchased last summer from Home Depot. Nice to see it blooming. Plums the first year after planting - nice. If they happen.

I can't get the text to align with photos, since the program updated.  Maybe I will figure it out.  If not, these will have to do.

Heritage Irises, continued

The bearded iris order did arrive, as I was typing the previous post.

The rhizomes were smaller than previous orders from other sources.

My thinking is these are mostly, or all, diploid. Most modern irises are tetraploid and would have larger rhizomes. In addition, West Coast irises are expected to be larger due to growing season.  I think.  These were from Michigan, and the shorter season may lead to smaller rhizomes.

The important thing for me is they grow and bloom.

Ning planted them for me. A very simple task to plant these small rhizomes. Digging in the raised bed, there was a sizable population of earthworms. They would start coming out of the ground a foot away from each hole.  Add some well aged compost mulch around each.  Ready to settle in.

According to Old House Gardens, these should bloom this year.  Considering the size and need to settle in, if these do bloom this year, that suggests the others,, which are already much bigger, should do the  same.  I would like that.

Those rhizomes traveled a long way.

Not much I can do at the moment. Brief puttering and thinking about stuff. Quite some time back I ordered some heritage iris rhizomes.

By heritage, I indicate varieties that are genetic clones, through generations, from the mid 20th century, to the 19th century, and in some cases the 16th century. Propagated in endless succession by gardeners, and sometimes by nurseries, and sometimes by neglect, for generations and centuries. I ordered these rhizomes back in August of last year.  Ordering so far ahead is a leap of faith - a lot can happen in 8 months, and has.

 The raised bed is set up for them, and already has other irises, already well amended with a mixture of leaf compost and local soil (about 3 parts soil to 1 part compost), plus wood ashes, plus near the surface level, more kitchen compost and a generous dusting of ground eggshell for calcium. The irises already in the bed are growing vigorously, with stout green leaves, longer each time I look.

The rhizomes are shipping here,, should arrive today. It's interesting to me - and probably only to me - to look at the shipping record online. These rhizomes, having traveled through decades and centuries, and some at least across one ocean, and back and forth across a continent, are traveling again.  More when they arrive.

Location	Date	Local Time	Activity
Vancouver, WA, United States	04/05/2013	7:27 A.M.	Out For Delivery
	04/05/2013	7:01 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Portland, OR, United States	04/05/2013	6:35 A.M.	Departure Scan
Portland, OR, United States	04/04/2013	11:32 P.M.	Arrival Scan
Hermiston, OR, United States	04/04/2013	7:54 P.M.	Departure Scan
	04/04/2013	5:38 P.M.	Arrival Scan
Spokane, WA, United States	04/04/2013	2:31 P.M.	Departure Scan
	04/04/2013	11:55 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Hodgkins, IL, United States	04/02/2013	10:37 A.M.	Departure Scan
	04/02/2013	6:28 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Oshtemo, MI, United States	04/02/2013	4:18 A.M.	Departure Scan
	04/02/2013	4:07 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Wyoming, MI, United States	04/02/2013	3:08 A.M.	Departure Scan
	04/02/2013	12:22 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Ypsilanti, MI, United States	04/01/2013	9:44 P.M.	Departure Scan
	04/01/2013	6:53 P.M.	Origin Scan
United States	04/01/2013	4:22 P.M.	Order Processed: Ready for UPS

from Renaissance herbals.



from http://irapl.altervista.org/nit/viewpics.php?title=Iris+florentina

(from the linked website:  Iris florentina
Picture modified from Gilg, Ernst; Schumann, Karl - Das Pflanzenreich Hausschatz des Wissens (1900) - Permission granted to use under GFDL by Kurt Stueber. Source: www.biolib.de - Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this image under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled GNU Free Documentation License.
More to follow.

What's Blooming?

Sweet Cherry.

Iris bucharica.

Muscari. These multiply rapidly with no assistance from me.

Genetic dwarf peaches..

Laburnum Cutting

Laburnum grown from cutting the same way as figs. Looking pretty good. I potted them a few weeks ago. I'm happy to have Spring here now, and the cuttings growing. I'm recuperating and can't do much for a month or two. Fortunately, watering cuttings and minor tasks are do-able and cheer me up.