Deer Resistant Petunias. 10.24.18

Petunias.  10.24.18

Add petunias to the list of deer resistant annuals.  These did great.  Deer didn't touch them.  They are in a major deer super-highway.  They are starting to wear out, due to the season.  They were covered with flowers, all summer long.

Brussels Sprouts. 10.24.18

I didn't know how these would do in my garden.  I love Brussels Sprouts.  It's a challenge growing cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower, because of Cabbage moths / worms, and because of slugs.  I can manage the slugs, but the Cabbage moths are very destructive.  Still, Collard Greens seem unaffected or mostly unaffected.

So this Spring I planted Brussels Sprouts.  They did great!  Minimal problems with Cabbage moths.  Aphids covered them in late summer / early fall, and I was not diligent.  Hosed them off once or twice.  Next year, use neem.

But I'm happy with the result.  These will be great once I clean them up and roast them.

Alice Wachenheim in her Rose Garden. Early 1960s.

I've returned to the dusty, musty boxes and albums that were left to me in my parents' estates, and left to them by their parents and my grandparents' sisters. Gardening has always been part of the lives of my family. Here is my grandfather's sister, Alice, who started hybrid tea roses by sticking flowers from bouquets into the ground, and covering with a jar to prevent dehydration. Her tea roses were important and meaningful to her, and she was proud of them. It's a faded Kodachrome.

I used the free photo editing program, Picasa, to sharpen the contrast and refurbish the color.

My Dad's Ginkgo biloba tree at 20 years of age. 10.21.18

Male Ginkgo biloba, grown from seed,, at 20 years old.  10.21.18

 This tree has grown into a magnificent specimen.  There is more risk planting a seedling ginkgo tree in town, because people don't like the stinky seed coats and cut them down.  That's a shame.  fortunately, this tree has proven itself to be a male, based on my observation of the flower catkins over the past few years.

Some day, we expect to sell the old place.  Anticipating that, a few years ago I cut grafting scion from lower twigs of this tree, and grafted them to rootstocks grown from locally collected seeds.  Of those, 2 took but only one survived planting.  I'll sho that later.  That tree has taken hold and is now about 5 feet tall.   Along way to go before it is this magestic, but a hopeful development.

I'll intend to post photos of the other ginkgo trees later.  This is the best of the lot.  My dad collected the seeds in his neighborhood in Quincy, Illinois, and gave me the seeds.  I sprouted those in flowerpots and when I moved to Vancouver, WA, three of those seedlings moved with me.  One of the others is at our country place in Battle Ground, WA, and the other did not survive transplanting there.

Same tree at about 8 years old. 

Persimmon Fall Color and Fruits. 10.1.18

Yates Persimmon.  10..21.18

Nikita's Gift Persimmon.  10.21.18

 Here are some of the persimmon trees, showing fall color.  The Yates American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) fruits have already ripened, and have been eaten.  Despite small size, their flavor is the best I have ever eaten.  The crop was small this year, about a dozen fruits.  The tree is still young.  For size, those are 5 foot tall fence posts. 

The second is Nikita's Gift Persimmon, a Ukranian hybrid of D. virginiana and D. kaki.  The fruits are beginning to ripen, but not quite ready yet.  There is a fairly  large crop this year.  I did not water this tree at all this summer, a long, hot, dry summer.  Therefore, the fruits are smaller but I imagine the flavors will be more concentrated.

Saijo Japanese (Asian) Persimmon (Diospyros kaki) always looks droopy in my yard.  The fruits are good, and should ripen in the next month.  It also did not receive any water this summer.

Not pictured yet, the other American Persimmon Tree,  Prairie Star.  That tree got off to a difficult start in previous years, due to rabbits and/or deer eating it off multiple times.  However, the tree finally recovered, and is now a tall, about 9 foot, whip.  If all goes well, expect the first fruits in 2 more years.

Nikita's Gift Persimmon, with fruits.  10.21.18

Saijo Persimmon Tree.  1021.18