Cactus, Zinnias, Marigolds, Echinacea, Crocosmia flowers. 7.12.18

 Crocosmia does great in this region.  I see bunches in a lot of yards.  Mine need dividing every few years, which gets me even more plants.  Hummingbirds love them.

 I don't know the species of cactus.  Maybe, Opuntia humifusa?  It's prostrate.  Two years ago, I planted it in this pot of lilies.  It's had no special treatment at all.  During the winter, when the lily is dormant, I place the pot under a spruce tree where there might be less rain.    These are the first flowers.  This is the first time it's bloomed.  Very pretty.  Flowers last one day, like daylilies, but there are many buds.

 I  grew the Echinacea from seed, planted Aug, 2016.  I transplanted the plants into the ground May, 2017.  There were flowers last year, but much nicer now.  These are basically no-care perennials.  I read they might not do well in our wet winters, but so far, looking great!

The zinnias are starting to bloom.  I grow them in rows, like vegetables.  Same for marigolds.  These zinnias have a little rust on the leaves, but not affecting much.

Continued, Fig Tree Progress Report. 7.5.18

Carnini Fig Tree.  6 years.  7.5.18

Carini and Sicilian White.  7.5.18

These are most of the other fig trees.  They are in a row on the sputh side of the house, with a hill sloping downwards both south and west.  They have full sun on south and west, and some on the east. Name and ahe is with photos.

Carini, Lattarula, LSU Tiger.  Lots of brebas, maybe in a month.  Main crop starting to grow.

Hardy Chicago - main crop starting to grow.

King - lots of brebas.

Celeste - young, only 4 feet tall.  Main crop starting to grow.

Sicilian White - young, about 5 feet tall.  Several brebas, maybe next month.

Celeste Fig Tree.  3 Years.  7.5.18

King, Chicago Hardy, and LSU Tiger.  5 and 6 years.  7.5.18

Lattarula.  7.5.18

Lattarula, Petite negri, Carnin.  7.5.18

Sicilian White.  3 years.  7..5.18

Fig Tree Progress Report. 7.5.18

Fig tree "Smith", about 7 years old.  7.5.18

Fig trees "Champagne" and "Atreano", about 7 years old.  7.5.18

Here are a few of my fig trees. 


I left the Smith for dead last year, after historic cold spell winter of 2016-2017 left most of the shoots looking dead.  It survived and grew anyway.  I thought it would have brebas this year, but they fell off.  The main crop seems to be developing nicely.

The Champagne is an O'Rourke (Louisiana) development.  It has not had many figs.  It is starting to develop main crop.  No brebas.

Fig tree "Brunswick", about 17 years old.  7.5.18

The Atreano has its first two brebas this year, nicely developing.  There is some competition from a fir tree to its east.  Main crop is also developing.

I moved the Brunswick at around 10 or 11 years old, to its current location.   Much of the original trunk died over the subsequent years, but there was vigorous growth of new sprouts from ground level.  It looked like there would be a lot of brebas, but only a few have not fallen off.  Main crop is often lost to fall rains.  We'll see how it does this year.

These trees have full South and West exposure, and some have full East exposure as well.

I'll have to post separately on the row of fig trees, south of the house.  Some of those are more established as thriving in the Pacific Northwest.

I grew all of these trees from dormant cuttings.  When small, some had winter protection, but I've left them unprotected for the past several winters.  I did have deer fences surrounding them, but as they grow taller and seem to have tougher leaves, I removed the deer fencing.  There is rare browsing of some lower shoots.

Milkweed updates. 7.5.18

Asclepias incarnata.  7.5.15

Asclepias syriaca.  7.5.18

 These are two species of milkweed.  I grew the Asclepias syriaca from seeds a few years ago, and transplanted them to the current location.  I bought the Asclepias incarnata about two years ago as a nursery plant.  As it turns out, both attract honeybees and butterfles.  Both are fragrant.  They bloom at about the same time.  The A. syriaca is a larger plant, and looks a bit like a rubber tree for a while, then looks a bit sad as it dries out.  The A. incarnata seems to have a longer bloom duration.  Both develop pods that are filled with fluffy "down", and would be interesting in dried arrangements.

First New Potatoes. 7.5.18

 A few of the potato plants have browned and withered, so I dug them up.  These were potatoes that sprouted in the garage, so I planted them in late winter.  The other plants are a few weeks from harvest.

The starts were so dried out, I didn't know what they would look like.  I broke off the longest shoots, and left the shortest to grow.

Not a bad harvest.  One bunch of russets and one bunch of red potatoes for potato salad.

This year I planted in trenches, filling in as the plants grew.  The rationale was that they would need less water, in the heat of summer, and there might be fewer eaten by voles.  So far, no vole browsing at all, and they have not been watered in at least a month.