Yamamoto Dendrobium nobile in Bloom. 3.20.18

These are Yamamoto Dendrobium nobile hybrid orchids that I've had for, maybe, 10 years. During the summer, I just sit them under a tree. During the winter, I keep them in the sunroom, although any sunny window would do. This is when they bloom like crazy. I gave them a little diluted general plant food in January. Super easy to grow and maintain.

Daffodils in Bloom. 3.18.18

 Full bloom time for dafodils. Each fall I buy a few bags of bulbs and plant them in random acts of daffodil planting. You never know where they will come up. Planting them is an act of faith, that winter will come and go, and we'll be here to see Spring once again.

Crinum Bulbs. 3.16.18

These were at Costco.  I bought them on impulse.   I had Crinums in the old yard in Vancouver, surviving at least 15 years, and the yard in Battleground too.  They come up every year, bloom for a while, and disappear.  The remind me of Lycoris, which I have never been able to establish. 

I planted them in a container with existing lilies.  Their flowers are transient, but nice.  We'll see how they do.

Venus Flytrap. Cool Stuff.

This is an experiment to see if I can embed videos.  This one is from Youtube, not something I filmed or grew.  It shows a Venus Flytrap eating a fly.  These plants have their own kind of nerve-like responses, and grab their prey after a specific number of movements.  I couldn't figure out how to embed this even cooler video from NY times, but here is a link.  Scienceline describes how the plants create electrical impulses from their trigger hairs, that serve as mechanosensors, back to the mechanical energy to snap shut around their prey.  The scienceline link also shows a Venus flytrap catching a small frog.

Inspired by my friend Jacob Farin at the carnivorous plant nursery, Sarracenia NW, I've started a new carnivorous plant blog "Beautiful Carnivorous Plants" also on the blogspot platform.

Plum Bloom Times. 3.15.18

Sweet Treat Pluerry.  3.15.18

It's hard to find overlapping bloom times for fruit trees. Many of the plums and hybrid plums need a pollenizer, but that only helps if they bloom at the same time.  In addition, for areas with late frosts, it's better to plant cultivars that have later bloom times.

So far this year, the following are in bloom at the same time.  These are early bloomers:  Sweet Treat Pluerry (hybrid plum / cherry with some peach and apricot in its ancestry), Crimson Spire ornamental plum (small but flavorful fruits), Hollywood plum, and Shiro plum.  My multigraft is blooming too, but I don't know the main variety - I think it's a pluot.  Methley plum is not quite open now.  Nadia Cherry/Plum is also on the verge, with a few blossoms open.

I removed some blooming twigs from Hollywood and Crimson Spire, and placed them into the branches of Sweet Treat, to improve the chances of pollination.  There are no honeybees around now,  but there are lots of tiny pollinating insects within the tree.  Since they don't appear to fly from tree to tree, I added those branches to improve the chances of good pollination.