For Denny. 1.22.14

I remember, a long time ago, you told me about beekeeping.

Image source:  Pinterest.  Vintage photo, French, 1920s.

Orchid Progress Report. Removing and potting a Keikei. Dendrobium in bloom. 1.21.14

keikei before removal

keikei with original stem removed

 This Yamamoto dendrobium had one keikei.  I've been meaning to cut it off and plant it.

Today I did.  It's larger than most of the keikeis I've started.

I cut below and above the attachment site.  I left a small piece of stem, rather than being perfectionist and possibly damaging the keikei.  I let it dry several hours.

Then planted in orchid bark.  Watered it in.  Now back into the window.

This is so easy.  This orchid is about as tough as a cactus.  It does not need a humidity chamber.

I tried not to damage roots but did damage a couple.  I think it will be OK.

Planted in orchid bark

Dendrobium in bloom

It needed to be propped up.  The rubber bands and clothes pin were all I had on hand.

The blooming dendrobium was pure white, with green center, when it bloomed before.  I think.  This time there is a pink blush.

I leave the old stems in the plant.  It looks more artistic that way.  It shows I've had the plant a while, not bought yesterday at the store.

This one survived a few months when I was sick.  Almost no care.. Left it outside, east side of house.  Brought it in before frost.  Tough plant.  I like it.

Fig Tree Progress Report. Pruning Freeze Kill. 1.21.14

Atreano Freeze-kill

Champagne Freeze-kill

Pruned off the freeze-kill from Atreano and Champagne.  It's obvious what's dead - the tops are soft, blackened, shriveled.

Further down, buds seem OK, round and firm.  The wood is firm, and the pith is white.  This wood looks alive.

It's not bad to prune the branches back, even without freeze-kill.  Makes the tree more bushy.  Might encourage brebas.  Not sure about that.

Still anxious to see if they grow.  I have more hope now than I did when we had that 8°F several days in one week.

There is also damage on other fig trees.  Smith looks especially concerning.  More, later

Fig Cuttings. Seedlings. Progress Report. 1.21.14

Carini fig start

 This is the plant start progress report for figs, peppers, and okra.

The little Carini start is growing nicely.  This was a low branch with a piece of root pictured previously.  I was concerned about whether that tree survived the hard freeze.  This start is alive.  So I think that means the tree is alive too.  At least the base.  So  I have a backup in case the tree died.  Also optimism that the tree didn't die.  Even if the top is frost killed, it might grow back more quickly from roots, than I could get from a new cutting.

Dominick Fig start

Plant starts under the light Jan 21 2014

 The Dominick cuttings are growing nicely.  This is the largest and fastest.  As in others, cuttings with no terminal bud grew faster than cuttings with a terminal bud.

MacOol fig cutting

Red Portugal pepper seedlings

 The collection under lights.  Now on a 14-hour timer.

Baby Bubba Okra seedling

MacOol cutting.  From a generous fig forum member.  This was a small cutting.  Possibly the variety is less vigorous, as well.  Roots growing nicely.  The top is not growing yet.  I potted it today, with the top under the lights.  Maybe that will stimulate top growth.









Red Portugal pepper seedlings.  They look nice.  The Tabasco peppers had lower germination, only 2 and of those only one looks vigorous.  not as much as these.

















Okra seedlings.  They don't look happy about their situation.  This method might not work for them.  Will continue to care for them.  This is "Baby Bubba".

Gardening via internet. 1.21.14

Anxiously awaiting the ForestFarms order - 3 new varieties of sterile Buddleia, a Philadelphus lewisii, and 2 varieties of hebes.  All for the pollinating insects.  Some, I hope, for honeybees.

Vancouver, WA, United States	01/21/2014	6:58 A.M.	Out For Delivery
	01/21/2014	6:53 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Portland, OR, United States	01/21/2014	6:32 A.M.	Departure Scan
	01/21/2014	4:54 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Roseburg, OR, United States	01/21/2014	1:27 A.M.	Departure Scan
Roseburg, OR, United States	01/20/2014	10:44 P.M.	Arrival Scan
Grants Pass, OR, United States	01/20/2014	9:28 P.M.	Departure Scan
	01/20/2014	7:20 P.M.	Origin Scan
United States	01/20/2014	7:24 P.M.	Order Processed: Ready for UPS

These days a lot of my garden comes via internet. Probably, most.  That is despite my philosophy that local provenance is so important. And my hope that people can pass good, locally adapted, varieties on to friends and neighbors.

It's frustrating to go to a local nursery, and see that everything appears shipped in, some items inappropriate for the area.  Like tropicals here in the NW, or invasives, and even some illegal invasives.  Or to be given inappropriate or just plain wrong information.  At one local nursery, I was told pawpaws don't need a pollinator - wrong - and there are no paw paw cultivars - wrong, and there are no persimmon cultivars - wrong.

Image source vintageprintable.com

So using the internet, I can research, ponder, explore, sort through reliable info and more just-plain wrong, and obtain what I think will do best.  Ultimately, it will still be up to me to see what does well and what does not grow, or isn't worth the effort.

Some negatives of internet gardening -
You don't get to sort through the plants and pick the best looking one for purchase.
You don't know how big it will be.  I've received some tiny starts at high prices.
Shipping can damage some plants - although I've been lucky, almost everything has arrived in good shape.
Gratification is not instant.  Although, sometimes it's pretty fast.
There is risk it will sit in the sun wilting, or in the cold freezing, if the order comes when I am at work.
Generally, you can't buy it, or see it, in bloom, in person, before buying.
A lot of plant pictures are highly selective, such as just the flower, so you don't know what the plant will look like.
Some bad players on the internet spam mercilessly, once they get your email address

Image source:  vintageprintable.com

Some positives of internet gardening -
It's like christmas coming home to a package of plants or plant starts.
I can mull over a plant or tree or seeds, over and over, for a long time, before actually buying it.
Research likely sorts out some duds that might actually be bought on impulse.
You are not limited to one source.
You can find many varieties that are not available locally, even if they would be well suited.
You can support companies whose philosophy you like, such as seed savers and venders of heritage varieties.
You can really shop around on price.

Image source:  vintageprintable.com

Some learnings about internet gardening.
Go to Daves Garden for info on the vender.  Some are just plain crooked, others have bad products or bad customer service, ship way slowly, send dead, dying, or not thriving material.
Once there is someone I like, and have good experience, I like to use them again.
Once I have a bad experience, think twice, three times, 4 times, before using them again.
Really read to know the size of the plant.  I don't mind it being small, but too small at high price is disappointing.

On that Forest Farms order - last year I liked the Linden I bought from them.  I could not find a similar one locally.  It was nicelyn packaged, and shipped on time.  The tree was in good shape.  This order, the plants will be smaller, but in the case of the Buddleias, are legal, noninvasive, very fast growing, and I couldn't find those varieties locally.

Update.  Here they are.

Forest Farm Shipment

 Very nicely packaged.  No damage at all.  Not a single broken twig.  The shrubs are dormant, but they look healthy and ready to plant.

They are larger than I expected.  This is an A+ shipment.

Opened

Unwrapped

The "tube" plants are interesting.  They are planted in paperboard tubes.  The tubes look like they degrade easily.  Better than plastic - more environmentally friendly.