Thinning Apples and Pears. 5.5.19

Gravenstein Cluster After Thinning.  5.5.19

Gravenstein Apple Cluster Before Thinning.  5.5.19

Maxie Pear Cluster Before Thinning.  5.5.19

 Today I started thinning the earliest of the fruits to look like they set.  In this case, some of the Gravenstein apples and Maxie Asian Pears.  It looks like the Gravensteins set heavily so itwill take some time to thin them.

It's a little early but by the time I work my way through all of the clusters, it might be a little late.

Maxie Pear Cluster After Thinning.  5.5.19

Nadia Plum X Cherry Hybrid. 5.1.19

Developing Nadia Plum Cherry Hybrid Fruits.  5.1.19

Developing Nadia Fruits.  5.1.19

Fruits continue to develop on the Nadia Plum X Cherry hybrid tree.  I counted roughly two dozen fruits, then stopped.  I meant to graft potential pollinators onto the tree but forgot.  I can do that next year.

These fruits are up very high.  That's good for deer avoidance, more difficult for me.  I may need to prune the highest branches.

This is the first time that fruits have developed on this tree.  I'm interesting to see how they do.  Since the number of fruits is small, and the tree is well established, I think they will be large for that variety.

Sarracenias Waking Up. 5.1.19

Sarracenia "Extreme Green" flower bud.  5.1.19

Sarracenia "Tarnok" flower bud.  5.1.19

The two American hardy pitcher plants with flower buds, are gradually starting to grow.  It's warm enough now that I replenish the water basins daily.

This will be the first time I see them develop flowers in my own yard.

I think all of the others survived the winter.  Some are awakening faster than others.

Plant source - carnivorousplants.com

Pollinating Pawpaw Flowers. 5.1.19

Pawpaw Flowers.  5.1.19

Sunflower Pawpaw Tree in Bloom.  5.1.19

 Of my pawpaw trees, only NC-1 and Sunflower look ready to bear a crop of fruit this year, which they also did last year.  They are in early bloom, which stretches out for a week or two.

This time I noticed, the flowers don't open all the way when they are receptive to pollen.  It's difficult to get a pollen loaded paint brush into them.  When the pollen ripens, and the stigma is no longer receptive, then they are easier to access.

I will get a smaller paint brush for flowers today.

These trees are small enough that I have to get onto my knees to pollinate the lower flowers.  Maybe my neighbors, driving past, think "he's praying to those trees!". 

NC-1 Pawpaw Tree in Bloom.  5.1.19

Yellow Jacket Traps in Fig Trees. 5.1.19

Yellow Jacket Trap.  5.1.19

 Up until now, there was only one, male, yellow jacket in the traps that I set up a month or more ago in the fig trees.  Today I noticed several, and at least two of those are queens.

Last year I lost the entire fig crop to yellow jackets.  That was the first time that ever happened.  It was disappointing, so this year I'm being as pro-active as I can be.  Plus, yellow jackets are aggressive and vicious, and I worry about someone with an allergy being stung.

So far, so good.  I refreshed the traps with new bait.  It's cheaper to just buy the bait, when you already have the traps.

Since each queen is a potential colony with hundreds, maybe thousands, of yellow jackets, by catching them now, the numbers should be greatly reduced later.  I'm not looking to eliminate every yellow jacket, just to have a decent fig crop and avoid stings for myself, other people, and my dog.

Interestingly, there were queens appearing from time to time in the house through out the winter.  I don't know where they were living, or how they entered the house.  In the firewood?  Around electrical fixtures or plumbing?  I never discovered the source.  They seem to be gone now.  I also dispatched the ones that I found in the house, using a fly swatter, at the time that I found them.  I had a trap in the sunroom, but none ever got into the trap.

Yellow Jacket Trap.  51.19