Trip to Quincy, ILCemetery

My parents' gravesites, Quincy IL

Cemetery Iris May 2010

Iris memento

Last weekend I paid my respects to my  parents. They died in 2009 and 2010, nine months apart.

It's been 3 years since I've been there.  Being ill, I made the trip short.  Fly in to St.Louis, stay overnight; drive to Quincy, visit the cemetery.  Return to St Louis for overnight, then fly back to Portland.

The grass has not filled in completely.  There is a lot of clover which helps.  Being fall, the leaves scatter the lawn.  It's nice.

After my mother's funeral, I walked around the cemetery and pondered graves, trees, and the general surroundings.  This was a clump of bearded iris there.

At the edge, there were some discarded plant trimmings.  That included a couple of shriveled rhizomes.  I brought back two small pieces as a memento.  They were discards.  They may require a few years to bloom.  I don't know if they match the cluster here.  If they do survive and grow, I will ponder them and appreciate where they originated.
 

Ginkgo Trees. Progress Report. Some ginkgo trees in China.

My backyard ginkgo.  Now about 16 years from seed, give or take a year.  I didn't catch it soon enough to show the color in full leaf.

Seated picture is in Xi'ian China, 2 weeks ago.  I tried to take various photos of ginkgo trees, during vacation in China 2 weeks ago.  The other photos are from other places during that 2 weeks in China, as labeled in captions.

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With gingko tree in Xi'an China.

Ginkgo tree in container, at muslim temple in Xi'an.

Large Bonsai styled ginkgo tree in Changdu, China

Stylized ginkgo tree at temple in Szechuan.

Bearded Iris Raised Beds

Bearded Iris Bed #1

 This week I added a layer of leaf compost to the bearded iris raised beds.  I covered the soil surface, except on and adjacent to the rhizomes.  I want to keep the rhizomes exposed.

This is the last thing needed for them this winter, other than minor puttering to remove dead leaves.  They look pretty sad with the dying leaves.  I think they are like that every year.

Bearded Iris Bed #2

Bearded Iris Bed #3

 The anemones that I planted last winter at the front of Bed #1 are growing now.  That surprised me.  I thought they might be dead.

There are a couple of plants to remove from Bed #1 but no hurry.  Those are a trailing rosemary, a couple of Laburnum cuttings, and some ginkgo seedlings.

Top L-R: Kissed by the Sun, California Blue, Immortality.  Bottom L-R:  American Classic, Red Dirt Road, Accent.

Iris germanica, with mushrooms.

New start of Owyhee Desert

 Bed # 2 is pretty much as I want it.

Bed # 3 has some reserved spaces for rhizomes from Old House Gardens, to arrive in April.  At the left are Egyptian Walking Onions.  I expected to pull those as scallions, but deer ate them.  The remainder have a chicken wire cover.

The established cluster od American Classic, Kissed by the Sun, Accent, Immortality, and Edith Wolford all survived their move from the Vancouver yard.  They should have good displays next year.

The Iris germanica clump, planted this spring as a new rhizome, has a mushroom companion.  I don't know if that is commensual or infecting.  It could be inoculum from the filler soil, or from the mycorrhizal inoculant.  The iris looks OK so I am leaving it alone.

Clump of Cherry Garden

New start of "Los Angeles"

Expanding clump of "Helen Collingwood"

New start of "Alcazar"

They new rhizomes, planted late summer, all look OK.  For reference, this is Owyhee Desert, which looks settled in and is making increase.

The Cherry Garden clumps also survived their moved from Vancouver and appear to have increased.  Last year's TLC got them growing rapidly.  They might look better in a different location.  I have 4 clusters of those.

Los Angeles did not appear to grow as fast as some of the others, but I think this rhizome, from "Historic Iris Preservation Society" is settled in.

Helen Collingwood grew one new rhizome last year.  This year it has increase of 3.  It is settled in and the rhizome looks robust.  It looks promising for bloom next Spring.

The last one, Alcazar, from Historic Iris Preservation Society this summer, looks settled in.  It has increase of 4 new buds to develop into rhizomes.  I'm curious about whether it will bloom next Spring. 

Not much else to do with the bearded irises now.  Hard to just watch them in dormancy, but that's the season.

Orchard ready for WInter

Home Orchard

The little orchard is ready for winter.  This week I added a layer of leaf compost on top of the mulch surrounding each tree.  Most of the trees are as pruned as the need to be.  For the most part, that's just removing a few terminal buds and small wayward branches to guide future growth.

I removed a fair amount of growth from the plum tree that came with the place.  Purpose, keep it compact, and keep the center open.  Last week I did the same for what I think is an apricot tree.

Most of the young fruit trees appear to have flower buds for next year.

Between now and Spring, I plan to remove the one jujube sapling, over to the bee garden.  Replace that with a 4-year-old plum currently growing in Vancouver.  There is a peach on order from Raintree, to plant in late winter. 

The last of the peppers.

Barrel-grown Thai Hot Peppers

Cayenne, Peter Pepper, Thai Chili Peppers, and a Golden Sweet Pepper

This is the last, or near last, of barrel-grown peppers.  Pretty good for November.