Tigridia 2nd year. Ginkgo seedlings.

Tigridia and Ginkgo biloba

I read that Tigridia won't survive a wet winter, so I treated these as annuals last year.  They were planted in a barrel among ginkgo trees Ning was growing - seedlings I started several years back.

Ning moved the ginkgos to Battleground, and planted in his perennial garden.  Intent is to keep them pruned as small trees.  Interesting, the tigridia came back, blooming among the ginkgos.

Transplanting Borage

Borage in container

 I read that Borage can't be transplanted, so needs to be grown from seed in situ.  This plant was at the local farmer's market in a small container.  Looked droopy.  I planted in a larger container, gave some TLC (code name for Miracle-Gro 1/4 teaspoon per gallon, with each watering) and had it on the deck.  It filled in and now is covered with flower buds.

Since it survived that transplanting, I think it will survive being planted in the iris bed.  I was gentle with flipping it out if the pot.  Tried not to disturb roots.

I read this is a great bee plant.  There are others nearby, almost in bloom.  This was a challenge I wanted to try.

Borage planted in Iris bed.

Smith Fig Tree Graduation. Now into the real world of in-ground FigTrees.

Smith Fig.  View of roots.

Too many trees on the deck.  With 2 Smith Fig trees, about equal size, I decided to plant one at the Battleground place.  Original plan was overwinter and wait until Spring.  However, by planting one in-ground now, I have a chance to see if it will survive winters here.  If not, I can keep the other in container and overwinter in garage.  Or not - might be too much trouble.

If it has a chance to harden off, I think it will survive the winter.  No "TLC" plant food now.  Just water to keep it alive and let roots grow into surrounding soil.

Root close-up

It is not root-bound.  Some winding roots.  This is one of the few cases of my planting without slicing into the root ball, or teasing them apart.  Fig roots are aggressive, so will have no problem growing outward.  Some references recommend intentionally confining the roots, to restrict growth.  I don't want to reduce feeding roots during Summer planting.  I did the same procedure with Carini fig.  It wilted a little.  Not much.

Smith Fig.  Now in the ground.

Fig Grove #1

I mixed a little homemade compost into the fill soil.  Not much.  I poured 2 gallons of water into the hole to soak in.  Then placed tree into hole, filled in with mildly amended original soil, watered in, and mulched with straw.

Smith is an old heritage family variety in Louisiana.  Some wriers state Smith is the best of all figs.  Some of that could be variety, soil, climate....  Will it do well here? Survive winter here?  This is an experiment.  Buff or yellow skin, red inside.

The little fig grove.  From close to distant (front to back), Carini, Petite negri (possibly re-identified as Aubique petite - via Figs4fun website), Smith, Sal's.  Behind Sal's, not visible, is truncheon cutting, now growing, Lattarula.  I may add one final tree but the spot is not perfect due to shade via a growing cherry tree on neighboring property, south of the fig grove.

This is a nice spot.  Mild grade, down-slope to west and south.  South of house, so warmer in winter.

Edit 7/25/13:  Planted LSU Tiger fig tree in the location where I had the Lattarula truncheon starts.  My goal was to dig up the Lattarula starts and give them TLC for faster growth.  However, they do not appear to have roots.  I can do much better with fresh starts, can think about that next year.  Meanwhile, the row is completed, with 3 new fig tree starts, and the 2 existing small trees started previous years.  LSU Tiger is usually just called  "Tiger".  Since Panache is also sometimes called "Tiger" - incorrectly -  it's less confusing to add the "LSU".  Which also designates the origin for this variety.

Buddleia planted last week.

Buddleia X Blueberry Cobbler

This was a TLC plant on the deck.  It grew rapidly and came into bloom before it's in-ground siblings.

Just one problem.  This was sold ad "Peach Cobbler"  From the photos on line, it's really "Blueberry Cobbler" - not nearly as much to my liking.

Still maybe it will provide some nectar.  It was wilting rapidly in the container.

I planted it in the ground last weekend.  In-ground, the roods should spread further, the moisture is not as confined, and the roots are in relatively cooler ground, so it won't be as much effort to water until established.  Once established, it should almost never need watering.

Gave it some compost and mulch.  

So far I've seen bumblebees and butterflies on the buddleias, but not honeybees.

Iris Bed. New additions from Schreiner's.

New Iris Order from Schreiner's

 Iris order from Schreiner's came today.  As in previous years, the rhizomes are very big, firm, clean.  The leaves are green.  The packaging breathes, so they don't start rotting in shipment.  I don't think anyone does as good a job packaging and shipping iris rhizomes.

They sent a bonus rhizome - variety "Red Dirt Road".  Looks like a beautiful variety.  I added it to what will be iris bed #3.

New Irises, Planted.

The new rhizomes are planted.  I removed a large variegated, scented geranium.  Last weekend I moved out two large lemon balm plants.  They went to the orchard, fruit tree surrounds.  Much too big for the iris bed.  The chives may have to go soon too.  Or I can arrange differently.  Oregano also grows too large for this arrangement.

This bed is getting close to capacity.  I might change the arrangement of herbs next year, so they don't crowd the irises.  The big leafy plant is swiss chard.  It will come out soon.  Tasty in stir fry.

The white material is crushed eggshell.  Pacific NW soils are reported to be calcium deficient, so I save eggshells, dry them, crush in a large mortar and pestle, and sprinkle them liberally over the soil.  They will gradually mix into the soil and won't be visible, in a few weeks.

The miniature marigolds grew nicely and are blooming.  They have a nice marigold leaf smell.  Makes me wonder why buy marigold plants, when they do so well from seeds.