Four O'Clocks / Mirabilis. 5.3.14

Mirabilis seedlings.  5.3.14

The transplanted four o'clocks / Mirabilis jalapa are growing nicely.  The plants in Battleground have hail damage.  Despite torn leaves they look viable.  I planted several in deck containers in Vancouver.  They seem to take off and grow much faster, with more root room.

Some have some sun damage from the high 80s weather but they still look good.  So far, so good.

More seedlings to plant.  The lessons learned so far:

1.  Pre-soak the seeds for 24 hours.  Possibly up to 48 hours.
2.  They germinate much faster on a seed warming pad, and when placed between moist paper towels in a zip lock.  Germination is also almost 100% that way.  It's around 50% when germinated in seed medium on heating tray, and about 10% when germinated at room temp, even with presoaking.
3.  The seed medium should be left an inch or 2 below the container rim.  When they grow, they are floppy.  The extra space allows for more potting soil to be added on top, to help them stand upright.
4.  They don't seem to mind the cooler weather outside when planted.  The soil temp now is about 50 degrees.
5.  They are delicate.  Hail rips a lot of holes in the leaves.
6.  The variety "Marbles" seems to grow faster than the variety "Marvel of Peru".

Now to see if and when they bloom.

Irises. 5.3.14

Iris Beds #2 and #3.  5.3.14

 Now we are past some 80 degree weather.  I am hoping the bearded iris beds have taken their damage and the present iris clusters will recover.  The leaf fans appear firm and new leaves are growing.  I lost a few completely, as far as I can tell:  Gingersnap, Frost and Flame, and Deity.

This seems to be the blue / white  / purple stage.  Given the bacterial rot damage to leaf fans, I'm glad I grew bulbs in the iris beds.  The alliums and camassias look nice, with colors that complement the current iris flowers.

Iris florentina.  5/3/14

Iris "Red Zinger".  5.3.14

 Cherry Garden is tiny and the flowers are not rain durable.  I have 4 clusters.  I think I will narrow them down to 1 cluster.  They were not damaged by bacterial rot.

The Iris florentina is quite elegant and has a beautiful fragrance.

The Iris pallida dalmatica was not at all affected by bacterial rot.  It is quite tall, and also beautiful fragrance.

The Iris pallida variegata was also not at all affected by bacterial rot.  Not blooming yet.  Much smaller than the nonvariegated version.

Red Zinger is striking, but small.  This would be a good selection for elevated setting or elevated container.  Fragrance is amazing.  I am not good at describing fragrances, but it is truly elegant.  Just hard to get to, because the plant is miniature.  Red Zinger was from a dried out rhizome I thought was dead, from sale rack, planted winter 2012/2013.  Last year it did not bloom but spread nicely.  Disease resistance seems fairly good.

Iris germanica looks more true to a wildflower heritage.  The fragrance is pleasant.  Disease resistance seems fairly good.

More to bloom soon.

Iris germanica.  5.3.14

Iris dalmatica.  5.3.14

Okra. 5.3.14

Burgundy and Baby Bubba Okra.  5.3.14

These are the transplants of Burgundy and Baby Bubba Okra, in container on deck.  The BB Okra pod was thumb-size so I picked it and froze, to be joined later by others until I have enough to make some soup.

They got some sunburn in the high 80s temp last week but look OK.  Transplanting was not an issue at all.  They are growing great, blooming, and making pods.

The new starts are in the fluorescent light stand, making their 1st or 2nd sets of true leaves.  Some are at cotyledon stage.

Burgundy grows the fastest of the varieties I am trying this year.

Grapevines. 4.29.14

Himrod Grape

Lynden Blue Grape

The grape vines are in their second spring, just over a year post planting at the Battleground place.  They all survived the hard freeze.  They are all in deer/rabbit cages.

One of these days I'll need to extend the deer protection so they can be grown along the support lines.  This year I expect at least a couple of the varieties to do that.  The others will grow up to the top of their respective poles.

I gave them some home-made nitrogen boost last week.  According to the grape book, they won't bear fruit if there is too much nitrogen.  I expect that will be depleted in a year or two, so not an issue.

The fastest growing vine was Buffalo grape, not pictured.  It appears to have a couple of embryonic flower clusters.

Peach Leaf Curl. 4.29.14

Charlotte Peach

 This is Peach Leaf Curl Disease season in my area.  I have enough resistant peach varieties to make a comparison.

As of now, they all have peach leaf curl.  Charlotte seems to have the least, and looks like it will have a small bowl of peaches this year.  Oregon Curl Free has a bit more, and also looks like it will have some peaches.

Indian Free peach has a moderate amount of curl.  It didn't bloom, except for one flower that fell off.  I think

Charlotte Peach

Oregon Curl Free Peach

 As for the Genetic Dwarf peaches...  anyone who sells them in the Pacific NW is doing their customers a big disservice.  Photos are the varieties Garden Sun, Honeybabe, and Ponderosa.  They may make a comeback.  The peaches will need a lot of thinning.  It's too difficult to cover them to keep out rain, and spraying in the fall is difficult to time.  Rainy season starts before the leaves fall.  So they are going to get leaf curl each year, they look terrible and it has a big effect on peach production.  The only solution I can think of is treat them the way hobbyists treat fig trees.  Grow small, in containers, keeping them pruned small, root prune, and put them in garage or shed for the winter.  Bring them outside when they start to grow.  I might try that, maybe starting my own variety with seedlings.  I have 2 seedlings in the garden beds, so that is a start.  For what it's worth, one was in a covered bed, and has no curl.  The other was exposed, and does have curl.

The seedlings might take a long time to bear.  I don't know.  But, being on genetic dwarf rootstock, they might also stay smaller than if grafted on regular peach rootstock.

Not pictured, the Tri-lite Peach-Plum hybrid has as bad leaf curl as any of the others.  The susceptibility of the peaches dominates the resistance of the plums.  So it's not worth buying that one either.

Indian Free Peach

Garden Sun Dwarf Peach

 I suspect that none of the Zaiger hybrids will be curl resistant.  They are bred in California where the disease is not an issue.

Ponderosa Dwarf Peach

Honey Babe Dwarf Peach

Summary:

Less susceptible to peach leaf curl, but not immune:

Charlotte
Oregon Curl Free
Indian Free

Q-1-8 is in its first year.  There is no curl, but as a bare root tree it was probably stored in a barn, and not exposed to winter rains which are responsible for spreading the fungal spores.

Highly susceptible to peach leaf curl:
Tri-lite Peach-plum
Honey Babe Genetic Dwarf
Garden Sun Genetic Dwarf
Ponderosa Genetic Dwarf.

Potential alternative:
Raise in container, keep small by pruning and root pruning, and move container into shed for winter, similar to fig hobbyists in cold climates.  Or similar to my brugmansias and geraniums that I overwinter.

Thoughts.
Next year, buy one for the container treatment.
This year, try to pot up the two seedling trees so I can get them started, but it may be a long path and who knows if I will live that long.

One additional thought.  Deer seem to stay away from most of the peach trees.  They do take some bites out of Indian Free.