Bearded Iris Update. 4.15.19

 These are irises in the woodlot border - bunches that lost their labels.  When they bloom, I'll be able to check old photos and identify them.  Several of these clumps are beginning to push flower buds, most for the first time in three years.  They went through my not being able to care for them, to randomly transplanting to the edge of the woodlot, to getting a little more attention in the past year.  A lot of these are historic cultivars although some are modern.

Growth is rapid now.  The fir bark mulched plants remain cleaner, much less leaf spot disease compared to those in bare soil.

Looking back through photos, the leaf spot has been present in most of the older photos, but the plants bloomed nicely anyway.  I think I can also see it on the plants in my old photos of visits to Schreiners' Iris Gardens.  So I think as long as it is limited, it won't hurt.  But if the bark mulch really does decrease leaf spot, I will consider using more of that.

One thing that's interesting, is most of the irises I see around town have no problems with leaf spot disease.  I don't know why.  Most of those are also in borders with ground fir bark.  Again, I wonder if that is protective?

I also wonder if the disease arrives on freshly purchased and planted rhizomes. Those seem like the most affected in my garden.  The older, long-established clumps do not seem affected, or much less so.

The plan:  buy a truckload of chopped fir bark this summer, and apply around each of the iris clumps.  I  use about an inch thick.  I try not to cover the rhizomes per se, but I don't obsess over keeping them exposed.

It's hard to see in these photos, but these plants have several flower buds.  Very promising.

Nepenthes Update. 4.15.19

Nepenthes sanguinea.  4.15.19

Nepenthes x St. Mercury.  4.15.19

The larger of these tropical carnivorous plants, Nepenthes pitcher plants, are making nice pitchers.   They appear to be on the verge of opening.

This is my first try with these, so I don't know how long they will take to open.  Fun to watch them every day.

I've been watering them with rain water, supplemented with very diluted regular miracle grow.  The instructions state that for regular watering of house plants, use small scoop (I think the small scoop is 1/4 teaspoon) per quart of water.  I'm using 1/2 of small scoop.  I let the water drain through.  This seems like an almost homeopathic dose, but over the long run seems to be supporting excellent growth, and I don't have to remember the last time that I fertilized them.

Grafting Update. 4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Beauty Plum.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Black Ice Plum.  4.7.19

 So far, almost all of the grafts are looking good, have broken dormancy and started to grow.  While some scion wood will grow for a short while even without the graft taking, that is short-lived.  I think we are well on the way.

Interesting observations.  Interesting to me, anyway.

Beauty Plum (From Home Orchard Society), already had flower buds before I picked up the scion at the scion fair.  Even so, and even though they bloomed - weakly - and the petals fell off, the growth points remained viable and are growing.

I could not tell which way was up for the kiwi grafts,  So I did about half one way, and half the other way.  Sure enough, only about half of them are growing.

Whip/Tongue Graft of Male Fuzzy Kiwi.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Male Fuzzy Kiwi.  4.7.19

 For Pristine apple, I saved scion from living growth of a failed graft.  Since it was only holding on by a thin strip of bark and cambium, the 1 year growth was very spindly and thin.  I grafted some of those, and some second year growth that was thicker.  Both seem to be taking OK.

Pears and Quinces seem to take off and grow the fastest.

Non-Grafted Bud of Kiwi, Breaking Dormancy.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Raja Asian Pear.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Pristine Apple.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Pristine Apple.  4.7.19

Nepenthes, Tropical Carnivorous Plants. 4.7.19

Here are a coupleof the Nepenthes that I bought this winter.  The small pitchered one was in my LED plant set-up until last week.  The other has been in my sunroom since buying it.  Since they are vines, I have them hanging from the overhead window struts. On the larger plant, the initial pitchers died after the move - stress from a new home.  The small pitchered plant actually had new ones growing from the outset.

I'll try to remember to add their names later.  So far, I'm more than pleased with these fun plants.

I think the larger pitchered plants will grow much larger pitchers.  It's fun to watch as they develop.

These were from Sarracenia Northwest.

Grafting Update. 4.7.19

Here are the container geraniums that I stored in the garage overwinter.  Plus one that was small enough to store in a window.

They look quite sad.  However, after removing dead leaves, and watering, the first tubs look a little better.

Buying new plants that are blooming already gives a more instant result, but this method is a little cheaper and will result in larger plants with more flowers.