An Ugly Iris. 5.8.19

I  bought this iris, "My Friend Jonathan" late last summer / early fall at Costco.   It was in a package with the variety " His Royal Highness".   The rhizomes were very vigorous, grew rapidly, got through the winter without problems, and just started blooming.

What can I say?  This color is like an old faded Kodachrome.  It looks like there is a layer of dirt covering a nicer looking flower.  But there isn't.  It has a faint fragrance.

Iris pigments don't always photograph true.  I think the photo is nicer than the flower in person.

I'm not usually one to dig up a healthy plant and throw it away, but this one will go when it finishes blooming.  There are countless better looking ones.  This cultivar has the advantage of reblooming, so you can look at ugly twice a year.

I hope "His Royal Highness" looks better.

Planting Sweet Corn Seeds. 5.7.19

Mesh to protect sweet corn seeds, planted 5.7.19

It may be too early.  However, this promises to be an early summer, hot and dry.  So I planted two blocks of sweet corn.  I generally plant a new block of sweet corn seeds, for 4 rows of 5 plants per row, every 2 or 3 weeks until late june.  If it does turn put to be too early and these either don't germinate or don't thrive, I can replant the beds in a few weeks.

I planted the varieties Burpee's  Farmers' First se hybrid, and Bodaceous se hybrid.  I placed mesh over one block, and fencing low tunnels over the other, to reduce herbivorous browsing of the seeds and small plants.

The soil is quite warm and dry now. Midday soil temp was in the 70s.  It feels like midsummer soil.

Yellow Jackets. 5.7.19

Yellow Jacket Trap.  5.7.19

There are more yellow jackets in the traps, every day.  It's almost scary.  Such ominous life forms.

I'm no expert, but some are huge.  I hope that means Im catching queens.  I also hope we don't get a repeat of last year, when they destroyed the entire breba fig crop.

Thornless Blackberry Progress Report. 5.7.19

Blackberry Floricanes.  R is Triple Crown.  L is Arapaho.

New Primocane Growth for Prime Ark Freedom Blackberry.  5.7.19

The floricanes for blackberry Triple Crown ate growing rapidly and have flower buds.  Arapaho is less vigorous and behind Triple Crown in growth.

The floricanes of Prime Ark Freedom died this winter, somI have go depend on the new primocanes for berries.  That should not be a problem, since these are a primocane bearing variety.  However, Im not sire if spotted leaf drosophila will be an issue for the later berries.

Potato Progress Report. 5.7.19

Potato Plants.  5.7.19

Potato Plants.  5.7.19

The early- planted potatoes have grown by leaps and bounds.  We are having unusually hot, dry weather, so I watered them.  The soil is filled into the trenches and smoothed over.  One nice thing about the trench method, as opposed to planting the, more shallow and hilling up the soil, is I think they retain moisture better so need less watering.  This did not lead to rot for any of the plants.

The last of the planted spuds are smaller.  I assume that will stagger the crop, so they are not all ready at once.