Daniel's Pacific NW Garden

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Persimmons are Blooming. 6.19.17

Saijo Flowers. 6.19.17

Saijo persimmon flowers have opened. So have the grafts of Chocolate persimmon.

The leaves on Saijo are much greener this year. I'm attributing that to correcting a soil, magnesium deficiency, via dose of Epsom salts. That was 1/4 cup in 2-gallon watering can, late winter. I did add 1/8 cup Epsom salts in 2 gallon water, last weekend as well.

Nikita's Gift Persimmon flowers are swelling but not open yet. Yates American Persimmon flowers are even smaller, possibly because they are smaller anyway, as an American persimmon. Speculation on my part. I am watching them with interest. Since American Persimmons are smaller, compared to Asian Persimmons, maybe they don't need as long to develop in the warm summer weather.

The last one is Prairie Star (Or Prairie Sun?) American Persimmon, which I planted 3 years ago. First year, it was eaten off by rabbits. This year, most of the leaves were destroyed by hail. It has a little regrowth now. It's only about 18 inches tall. Maybe growth on the remaining stems will be good this year and give it a better boost for the future. Of course, no flower buds at this small size.

Edit: Earlier version of this post stated "coffee cake persimmon". I should have stated "chocolate".

Sunday, June 18, 2017

Snake. 6.17.17

I'm guessing this is a garter snake, and feeds off moles and voles, bugs, slugs, and snails. We saw 4 snakes today while planting beans. They are not particularly afraid of us.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Indian Runner Ducks. 6.13.17They

Indian Runner Ducks. Now they have their full adult plumage. Shy, but healthy looking. 6.13.17

Grafted Ginkgo Tree. 6.13.17

Here is the growth of my dad's ginkgo tree, grafted onto a rootstock from locally obtained ginkgo seeds. I grafted last year. Then, the scion grew only a small tuft of leaves. This year, it is growing by leaps and bounds.

I think ginkgo is more difficult to graft compared to apples and plums. Of the three that I grafted, one did not take at all, and one fell off this spring, after one year. But this one is clearly thriving. This was a whip-and-tongue graft.