Pollinating Pawpaw flowers. 5.7.17

 I've been hand pollinating the pawpaw flowers for two days.  One of the challenges with pawpaws, is they don't self pollinate, bees are not attracted to the flowers, and most if not all require pollen from a genetically different variety.  The flowers first are receptive to pollen with a glistening stigma, then the stigma becomes non-receptive and the anthers bear pollen.  My observation is the flower is open and potentially receptive, one or two days before the pollen is shed.  The flowers do not open on the same day, instead blooming over a couple of weeks.  So if the temperature is not right, or if there is rain, all opportunity is not lost.

My trees for these varieties ("Sunflower" and "NC-1") were planted in 2012.  This is the third year they have bloomed, and this year is clearly the most prolific.  I also planted the variety "Rebecca's Gold" in 2012, it was then eaten off by a rabbit or deer, recovered, and this year is the first year that tree has bloomed.

In addition, I planted the variety "Mango" in 2015.  It bloomed in 2016 but not this year.  I planted the variety "Allegheny" in 2016.  It is not blooming.

Pawpaws do not transplant well, so they are planted when very small, and it takes more years to bear, compared to most fruit trees.

I should add that I have yet to see a ripe pawpaw in my orchard.  Will this year finally be the first?  I have noted that on the first, and sometimes second, year that many fruit tree varieties bloom, they do not set fruit.  Pawpaws are not native to the cooler maritime Pacific NW, and may have more challenges here than hot humid mid continent summers.  However, there are usually some ripe pawpaws at the Home Orchard Society fruit show, so I know that some people get them to grow and bear.

I use a paint brush to collect the anthers and pollen from flowers with ripe pollen, letting them fall into a white cup, then use a paint brush to transfer to flowers of the other tree.  Sunflower started blooming 2 days before NC-1, so this has been one-way so far.  However, Sunflower is also sometimes described as one of the rare self-receptive varieties, so I pollinated those with that tree's own pollen to see what happens.

Persimmons about to bloom. 5.8.17

New Growth with Flower Buds, Saijo Persimmon.  5.7.17

New Growth with Flower Buds, Nikita's Gift Persimmon.  5.7.17

 Persimmon trees are wise to the ways of Spring.  They wait to be among the last to bloom.  New growth has started.  Flower buds form in leaf axils of new stems.  It may be a month before they are fully open, but with nice warm weather and sunshine, possibly sooner.

I've never seen Chocolate persimmon bloom.  Since this cultivar has both male and female flowers, I'm guessing two shapes of buds represent the 2 sexes of flowers.

This will be the first time for Yates American persimmon.  Will there be fruit this fall?  If so, that will be my first taste of American persimmons.

New Growth with Flower Buds, Coffee Cake Persimmon.  5.7.17

New Growth with Flower Buds, Yates Persimmon.  5.7.17

Edit 5.31.17  I had incorrectly stated "Chocolate Persimmon."  This graft is the variety "Coffee Cake".  To make it even more confusing, "Coffee Cake" is probably more accurately called "Nishimura Wase", while "Chocolate" is probably  more accurately called "maru".  I tried to find scion for chocolate persimmon this year, but did not find any.  "Coffee Cake" needs a pollenizer for its best flavor, and neither Saijo nor Nikita's gift make male flowers, while "Chocolate" does.

Kitchen Garden. 5.8.17

It's been sunny and warm for three days. This was a good time to cultivate the kitchen garden. The potatoes and onions that I planted earlier this year are doing well. I hilled up the potatoes. With rain and winter, it was difficult to cultivate the garlic, which I planted in the fall. I weeded a couple of weeks ago, and today it just needed light cultivation. I planted out some collard greens seedlings, surrounding each with a dusting of blood meal that I found in the garage. The idea is to repel rabbits, which are prevalent in my garden. Then some organic slug bait. Slugs love cabbage family plants. Last year's collards are blooming. I intend to save seeds from those.

Collard Greens in Bloom.  5.7.18

I have mustard green seedlings to plant. 

The tomatoes are growing nicely in containers in sunroom.  Ditto for peppers.  Yesterday the soil temperature was 80 F, so I planted sweet corn, Trinity hybrid which is reported to tolerate chill, and which did well in 2015 and 2016.

More Lilac Blossoms. 5.8.17

 I  love this time of year.  Every day it seems something else blooms and demands attention.  Most of the lilacs are along the property's edge, intent is to have a blooming hedge when they fill in.

The  bottom photo is a lilac that was on the property when we bought it.  The bush was gigantic, with fallen over trunks several inches in diameter and around 15 feet tall.  I cut out the injured and dead  branches, and the shrub responded with vigorous, strong growth.  It's once again a massive lilac bush.  Deer don't touch it, unlike some of the newer types.

Lilac Blossoms. 5.6.17

 These are the lilac bushes that I moved about 35 miles in Jan 2015, to the Battleground yard.  I think these bushes were about 10 years old, and very tall and heavy.  I took as much soil and root as I could.  I watered during the dry parts of summer.  All 10 of the bushes survived.  I think that's about all you can expect during the first year.  They are a bit scraggly but should fill in over the next couple of years.

 Meanwhile, we get to enjoy some flowers this year.  Deer usually don't go much for lilacs, but they ate some of the new succulent, lower growth, from these. 

The red/pink lilac is a modern Korean lilac, "Bloomerang™", promoted as reblooming and compact.  Nice flowers.   This is newer, about one year old.