Planting Tomatoes. 5.6.19

Tomato Plants.  5.6.19

Tomato Plants.  5.6.19

Today the temp reached 80, with prediction for higher as we go through the week.  Nights down to mid 50s.  Soil temp in the 70s.  I thought about waiting, but there is risk of overheating and drying out in the sunroom, so I planted most of the slicing tomatoes today.

These are all started from seeds, i doors, under lights in early April.

The varieties are Better Boy, Brandy Boy, Sunny Boy, Red October, something early.  There are a few more to plant.

This rotation, last year was corn, te year before was squash.  Before that, lawn and weeds.

Iris of the Day: Alcazar. 5.6.19

Bearded Iris "Alcazar".  First Bloom.  5.6.19

Two years ago I moved the clump of "Alcazar" to the edge of the woodlot and left it alone. Last year I noted it was doing quite well.  This was one of the few clumps that kept its label, so I knew what jt was before blooming.

Alcazar was released by the French developer, Vilmorin, in 1910.

From the above link, quoting a Cornell description in 1927, "CORNELL MEMOIR 100 Study of Pogoniris Varieties Austin W.W. Sand July 1926.
Alcazar (Vilmorin, 1910)Color effect light hortense violet, velvety pansy-violet bicolor viened on bronze haft; size large; form long; open, oblong ; flowering habit free ; tall bearded class ; height 32 inches ; branching wide at center or above; A flower of extra substance ; firm texture ; slightly crêped surface ; good fragrance;....
S. Light mauve or hortense violet, shaded deeper in the recesses of creped parts ; carriage cupped, arching ; blade obvate to fiddle-form, notched, undulate, ruffled and frilled, revolute, slightly crêped.... F. Deep velvety pansy-violet, the bronzed wide outer half becoming olive- yellow along the beard, veins ending abruptly with beard ; carriage drooping ; wedge shaped to oblong, slightly convex ; excellent velvety texture ; Minor parts ; beard coarse, dense, projecting, conspicuously broad, orange-coloured..., light violet bronze on the margin ; crest bronzed... Growth vigourous ; increase rapid ; habit open to regular ; foliage stiff, leaves broad, deep glaucous green ; 4 blooms open at once... floriferous ; stalk erect, angular, with 9 or more buds.... awarded a certificate of merit by the National Horticultural Society of France in 1909, and a first-class certificate by the Royal Horticultural Society, London in 1916."

Bearded Iris "Alcazar".  First Bloom.  5.6.19

I edited a little for brevity, but wanted to note that this variety is historically significant, and can't help but quote that "hortense violet" description.  This really is a nice, heirloom iris with a history dating back before WW1.  In fact, during the year that Vilmorin released this iris, my grandfather was in the Philippines participating in the latter stages of the Philippine-American war.

This clump got some of the leaf spot.  I think it's stopped now and will be cleared up and prevented in the future.

Some Nice Flowers. 5.5.17

Laburnum.  5.5.19

White Lilac.  5.5.19

Tree Peony.  5.5.19

Bloomerang Korean Lilac.  5.5.19

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.