Dahlias. 8.20.2020

 I grew these dahlias in the vegetable garden.  There, they were safe from deer and rabbits.  I didn't tie them up very well, and the garden is crowded, but some came out very nice.

 

 

First Taste of First Redlove® Calypso® Apple

 This was the first apple from my first-leaf Redlove® Calypso® apple tree.  The apple fell off the small tree, so I took that as a signal it was not going to ripen further.

Some precautions -

First year fruits are not always reliable indicators of the future fruits from the same tree.  Next year, this tree might have larger, sweeter fruits.  Or it might not.

This fruit might not have fully ripened.  The tree does have two other fruits.  Maybe they will ripen further.

A small tree may not be able to support full ripening.

That said, this small (about silver dollar size) apple was colorful on the inside.  The  flesh had a crisp, juicy texture.  It was not astringent or bitter.  What it was, was very tart - like a lemon candy.  Or a pineapple, or grapefruit, but crisp.

Peach Bud Graft Took and Growing. 8.11.2020

 This is the leaf curl resistant "Sunny Day" peach that I did patch grafts.  I think they both took, but the heat was too much and I was unable to look after them for a while.  One started growing, but the other one dried out and baked.  I think I'll just let them alone except for watering and shelter, and cut the top from the one that took, next Spring.  I might keep the other one for another graft attempt next year.

Garlic. 8.11.2020

 The bigger garlic heads are Music, the smaller ones are Spanish Roja, I think.  I'll save about 5 of the largest to plant next year.  Raised bed, inside fence, made a big difference.  Animals didn't eat them and they did really well.  The fall planted ones were bigger than the spring planted ones/

Saving Poppy Seeds. 8.11.2020

 These are Shirley poppies.  It's interesting how many seeds one can collect from the pods, even though the pods seem small.  I'll continue saving them, since the honeybees like them so much and there aren't as many other bee forage plants blooming now.