Bearded Irises In Bloom. 5.18.14

Bearded Iris Pallida dalmatica.  5.8.14

Bearded Iris Indian Chief.  5.8.14

Bearded Iris "Her Majesty".  5.8.14

Bearded Iris "Red Zinger".  5.8.14

Front flower bed.  Yellow iris is an old no-ID variety.

Puttering. 5.8.14

Hollywood Plum Cuttings

Sungold Tomato Plants 5.8.14

 Puttering around the yard.

The Hollywood Plum cuttings continue to have small leaves.  None of them has dried off.  The Shiro Plum cuttings' leaves all crispified and died.  I weeded around the living cuttings.  It is raining today.  If they stay alive, that's a bunch of little plum trees.  Hollywood is a very tasty, very richly colored plum.

Planted the 2 Sungold tomato plants today.  They doubled in size in a couple of weeks.  I hope the seedlings progress well too.

The Cincinnati Market radishes are interesting.  They are shaped like carrots, but the flavor is all radish, juicy and peppery.

Cincinnati Market Radish.  5.8.14

 The front yard trees all look pretty good.  I planted these Summer 2012.   This is the first bloom for the Mountain ash.   The Laburnum bloomed last year, but it was cut short by frost.  I don't know if the Greenspire Linden will  bloom.

The Laburnum was leaning with the wind, so it got a stake to straighten it.  That will need to stay in place for a year or two.

All of the trees have had some dilute doses of organic nitrogen in late winter and spring, for a boost.

Front Yard Trees.  5.8.14

Beared Iris Order. Traits to seek. Lessons Learned. 5.7.14

Today I added orders for 3 varieties of bearded iris.  Two are heritage varieties.  Heritage varieties are 30 years old, or older.

Beverly Sills.  1979.  Listed as vigorous.  Pink.  There are not a lot of pink heritage varieties.  The vigor would be welcomed as well.  Bloom time early midseason.

Gingersnap.  1969.  Fragrant, listed as root beer scent.  I bought this last year, but it succumbed to bacterial rot.  I am taking a change to try again due to the fragrance.

June Kraus.  2009.  Not a heritage variety.  Nice ruffled pink.  Listed as late season.

Traits to seek.  Lessons learned.

Currently the irises that were not in the raised beds, did not develop bacterial rot.  Some were in beds that had added compost.  I had over-nurtured the raised beds with dilute plant food last summer.   Ultimately, all of the irises in the raised beds had some bacterial rot.  This hear, I will not over nurture them.  Just remove weeds. remove some of the unwanted varieties and replace with new ones or others I already have.

So -

-Don't water in summer or fall.  Or be very careful.
-Don't fertilize.  Or be very careful.
-Take note of the least affected varieties.  In this case, that's Pallida dalmatica, Pallida vareigata, Germanica, and a few others.

In addition, the earliest bloomers are the most affected by rain.  It's drier here after early may.  Try to aim for late season varieties.

The tiny ones can be nice, but are so short, they are difficult to see and almost impossible to smell.  I will remove some of those to make room for later, taller varieties.

That's the plan.

Despite the bacterial rot, there are more flowers this year than next year.  The worst seems to be over.  Some references state remove all of the affected varieties, but in my case, that's everything in all of the raised beds.  So I will depend on plant hygiene and more appropriate growth conditions, and see if they grow better this time around.

Kitchen Garden. Seed starts. 5.6.14

Today I planted seeds for:

Golden Zucchini.  From Seed Savers Exchange.  New seeds.

Squash Patisson panache, verte et blanc.  From Seed Saver's Exchange.  New seeds.

Sweet Corn, "White Sensation Hybrid"  70 day.  Lilly Miller.  Seeds from 2008.

Squash Waltham Butternut.  From Seed Saver's Exchange.  New seeds.

Beans Roma II.   Ed Hume Seeds.  From 2012.

Cucumber "Bush".  From Seed Saver's Exchange.  New Seeds.

Squash "Scallop Bush Mix.".  Ed Hume Seeds.  From 2009 I think.

Zucchini "Dark Green".  From Victory Seeds.  New seeds.

Some of those old seeds might not grow.  If so, it's best to try, and if they don't grow, throw them away.

Rhubarb Crumble. 5.4.14

Rhubarb Harvest for Crumble.  5.4.14

 I kept saying I was going to make either a rhubarb pie or rhubarb crumble.  Sunday I did.  Came out very good.  Easy, I don't know why I couldn't get myself to make it.

The rhubarb mix:

8 cups 1/2 inch slices of fresh rhubarb
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

The topping:
1 cup flour
1 up brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats.
1/2 cup soft butter.

Preheat over to 375.
Spray 13 x 8 casserole dish with nonstick spray.

Combine rhubarb mix and spread into casserole dish.

Combine topping mix and sprinkle clumps over the rhubarb.

Bake 35 minutes until bubbling and hot in the center.

That's all.  Easy.

Rhubarb crumble.  5.4.14