Apple Blossom Time. 4.7.16

Standing next to NorthPole Apple.  4.7.16

 Here are the current blooming apples in the Vancouver yard.  This is all of my varieties there.  They are all early.

The NorthPole apple is about 15 years old.  It's a nice shape and appearance.  Difficult to find photos of such an old columnar apple tree. 

The newer Northpole is a graft I did on rootstock sprouts from an old apple tree.  I think this is dwarf or semidwarf rootstock, but I'm not sure.  Northpole is off patent, so it's OK to use as scion.

The other apple trees are on M27.  This is too dwarfing for me, but this year they look like they will be productive.  I played the bee and collected pollen from the pollen fertile varieties - Northpole, Liberty - and transferred to each other and to the pollen-sterile Jonagold.  I love the Jonagold apples, hope I get a good crop this year.

No photos now, but at Battleground the other columnar trees, Scarlet Sentinel and Golden Sentinel are also blooming, as is Queen Cox. 

Jonagold on 27.  4.7.16

Liberty on M27. 4.7.16

New NorthPole Apple, at 2nd leaf.  4.7.16

Protected Raised Beds for Pepper Plants. 4.7.16

Pepper Plants in Raised Bed.  4.7.16

Protected Raised Bed.  4.7.16

I planted 18 of the pepper plants into the building block raised beds.  Initially I have planted seeds for cold tolerant plants,  but they haven't done well.  These are the peppers that I started from seeds in Jan.  Most are blooming, some have small peppers.  The sunroom becomes too hot now during the day - into the 80s and sometimes 90s.

I planted the pepper plants.  They need protection from cool nights.  I had some old Remay nonwoven fabric from a previous year, constructed frames from old metal fenceposts and bamboo.

I can keep the  beds open during the day when I am there, and close up again at night.

When the Remay goes, I will need something to keep rabbits and deer out.

Male Ginkgo biloba flowers. 4.7.16

First flowers of male Ginkgo biliba tree.  4.7.16

This Ginkgo biloba is the beautiful tree in my Vancouver back yard.   I have posted numerous times about this tree.  Almost 20 years ago, my Dad collected ginkgo seeds, one of which grew into this tree.

I've often thought it will have a better chance of surviving our moving away, if the tree is male.  Female ginkgos have fruits that many people object to, because they are stinky.  The males are nicely suitable for picky people, because they have no stinky fruits.

The male flowers are sort of a catkin.  The female flowers have a swollen terminal aspect that becomes the seed.

Unknown Soidler from Long Ago. 4.4.16

Unidentified Soldier, early 1900s

From time to time I post photos from my family's photo boxes.  No one is left to tell me who they were.  The photos are unlabeled.  In some cases I process with Picassa, to improve contrast and crop to focus on the soldier.

I wonder if this was the last that family and friends saw this young man.

This soldier looks to me like early 1900s, either WWI or Philipine-American war.

Daylily Seedlings. Fruit Tree Bloom Times. Puttering. 4.3.15

Daylily Seedlings Leaving Dormancy.  4.2.16

First Apple Flowers.  Golden Sentinel.  4.3.16

Daylily Seedlings.  During the late winter, I thought the daylily seedlings were dying of some disease or infestation.  The leaves had become pale and turned brown.  I do think there were some spider mites.  I placed them all outside and left them to the weather. 

It turns out they were going dormant.  If there were spider mites, I guess they are gone now.  The top growth is vigorous and sturdy.  The roods are also thick and sturdy for such small seedlings.

This leaves me with some choices.  There are too many plants to grow them all in borders.  I chose about 2 dozen from different crosses, and planted in a bed between orchard trees.

They will still have to survive marauding rabbits and deer.  Nature, random chance, and their final appearances, will determine which ones I ultimately keep and move to more prominent borders.  It may be another year or two before I know. In the ground, they will require minimal care and not take up room on the deck.

Apple Blossoms.  By a clear lead, the first of my apples to bloom are Golden Sentinel and North Pole.  Both are descendants of McIntosh, with other parentage as well.  In the Vancouver yard, which is ahead, Liberty is also blooming.


Pear Blossoms.  Based on this years results, in this yard, all of my varieties of Asian and European pear overlap their bloom times.  It doesn't look like the bloom time tables matter much, because there is significant overlap between the earliest - Maxie, and the latest - Rescue.   Most of my varieties are Asian pears, but there are a few Euro or Euro grafts.  Orcas pear is not yet at blooming age.

Puttering.  I'm still digging the first of 4 new large garden beds that are intended for sunflowers, flint corn, or sorghum grain for chicken feed.  All of those can be planted in May or possibly June, so one row at a time, I may get there.  With 2 acres, there is still room for more, but I don't want it to cross the line between enjoyable work / exercise, and unpleasant chore.

I think there is a lot of fruit set on Methley - first time, other than maybe 3 plums last year.  Probably just age, although it did have pollinizing variety branches bloom, within the tree from T-bud grafts of Shiro and Hollywood that I added in 2014.  Sweet Treat may also have fruit set, which is pretty impressive considering this is only second leaf.  Still tiny and may still fall off, but I look every day and many are still on the tree.  Toka may have lost its fruit.  The next few weeks will say.  Chill and frost, bloom too early.  Although Sweet Treat was earlier.  NoID Asian Plum is also covered with potential fruits.  Again, this tree is a multiple multigraft now, which may weigh into the reason for better bearing.  Or just coming of age.

Now going out to dig a couple more rows.