Fruit tree bloom times. 2.11.16

Sweet Treat Pluerry Buds.  2.11.16

Current bloom status on fruit trees.

Big fat buds.  Sweet treat pluerry, Hollywood plum, Methley Asian plum, unknown variety of Asian plum.

Fuzzy buds but not showing petal color.  Peaches, Charlotte, Q18/Salish.  Leaf buds of Saijo and Nikita's Gift persimmons.

We are not as far ahead as I had worried.  Last year, full bloom for plums was March 7th.  We might be 2 or 3 weeks early this year.

This will be a good year to see if the Asian/American hybrid plums bloom later than the all-Asian plum varieties.

Euro plums, cherries, pawpaws, apples, most pears, no or minimal bud swell so far.

What's blooming. 2.11.16

Epiphyllum NOID cactus in bud.  2.11.16

Helleborus.  2.11.16

 In february there isn't much blooming here.

In the sunroom, an epiphyllum I picked up for a dollar or two, a couple of years ago at Home Depot.  I didn't know or expect for it to bloom, but there are the flower buds.

Some of the Epiphyllum orchids are blooming in the sunroom.

Helleborus are blooming around the yard.  This one was a volunteer seedling I moved last year from the old yard.

Dendrobium.  2.11.16

Dendrobium.  2.11.16

More Arborist Wood Chips. Bearded Irises. 2.11.16

Another pile of arborist chips.   2.11.16

 I heard the heavy equipment noise down the street and went to check it out.  An arborist was removing the top 15 feet or so from a long tall hedge of Leyland cyprus.  I offerred my driveway as a way to dispose of the chips, which he otherwise needs to pay to get rid of.  So here is another pile of chips.

We have a large area to mulch.  We'll get through them in a month.

I also weeded the bearded iris beds.  Weeds were minimal this time.  The irises have broken dormancy and are growing strong, although that happens each year, then there is extensive leaf spot and bacterial rot, which is frustrating.  Reading multiple sources, they state don't mulch them, that promotes rot.

Mulched Iris Beds.  2.11.16

But they were not mulched for years, and the diseases were a big problem.  I am experimenting now.  Last summer I applied an arborist chip mulch, and they grew very well with, I think, much less disease.

My working theory is the chips are open enough to prevent sogginess, they dry quickly.  Maybe - maybe - the evergrees contain substances that reduce fungal and bacterial diseases.  By applying on top of the soil, rains do not splash spores onto the plants.  If not, and they all die, that's OK - 3 years is long enough to try and be frustrated.  Darwin at work, survive or be replaced.

More chips will go onto the strawberries, and we have a lot of perennial borders and other places in need of the weed suppression and water retention effects during the summer.

Allium Family Perennial Vegetables. 2.10.16

Chive Beds and New Raised Bed.  2.10.16

 All of the overwintering Allium family perennial vegetables are growing.

The 2 raised beds of garlic chives broke dormacy last week, now 2 to 2 inches of growth. 

I priced these concrete blocks today at Home Depot.  They were 99 cents each.  I think they are less expensive than the wooden beds, will last longer, and are easier to assemble.  I don't know about thermal properties.  The corners have openings that would be good for posts.

Garlic Chives.  2.10.16

Chives.  2.10.15

Garlic Raised Bed.  2.10.16

Egyptian Walking Onions.  2.10.16

Standard chives are growing fast.

Garlic is showing great growth.  My subjective estimate is the garlic in the raised bed is about  twice as big as the garlic in the ground, probably due to warmer temperature although the soil mix could also be better.

Egyptian Walking Onions are also growing nicely.  I protected them from deer and rabbits this year.  There was still evidence of something foraging - maybe slugs.

Not shown, the new starts of White Potato Onions are about 6 inches tall.  This time around they are also protected from herbivores.  There is no evidence of foraging on those plants.

I'm not concerned about potential frost or freeze.  These are hardy plants.

Planting Bare Root Strawberries. 2.10.16

Bare Root Strawberries.  2.10.16

 I'm on vacation this week and did some gardening today.

These are "Ozark Beauty" everbearing strawberries.  I bought them mail order from Starks.  They don't look like much when dormant but should take off and grow in the warm weather.

I have been preparing the former chili pepper bed for this planting.  Over the past couple of months, I topped off the soil, which was already good from 2 years of amendments and care.  I added a large amount of eggshells for calcium.  This bed received a large bag of Starbuck's coffee grounds a few weeks ago.  I added some urea nitrogen and mixed it all together, smoothed it somewhat, and planted the berries.

This bed is 2 feet by 8 feet, so each berry plant gets slightly under one square foot of soil.

Bare Root Strawberries.  2.10.16

Planted Strawberries, nearly invisible.  2.10.16

Last Year's Strawberry Plants.  2.10.16

I also added chopped cypress mulch to the prior 4 x 4 foot strawberry bed.  That one contains 4 plants of "Pineberry" strawberry, one of a pollinator, and several of unnamed from the front yard.  This bed should bear this year.  The new one might or might not.

Very important for strawberries here, is animal control.  I have each bed surrounded by rabbit fencing and a top of deer fencing,