These are some of the Sarracenias. This summer, with illness and hospitalization and catching up, they didn't get trimmed or repotted. Even so, some still look pretty good. This winter, I can work on them to clean them up and pot into larger containers with fresh growing medium.
This is the end of the second year for this Tasmanian Alpine Eucalyptus. Also called Tasmanian Yellow Gum. It's reportedly more cold hardy than the types known in California. With la nina this year, we'll find out.
It's difficult to see in the photo, this tree is now about 7 foot tall. That is without watering this year. I don't think deer have touched it at all. It has tough leaves with a somewhat odd fragrance, which may make them unappetizing. When fully grown, it should have colorful bark
Another close up. The new growth can be quite nice.
I planted this Dawn Redwood in November, 2016. I was going through some anticipatory grieving about my aging dog, and wanted it as a reminder of him when he was gone. He is buried among its roots, as is his companion dog and at least one chicken. I like to think that the tree contains some of Charlie's atoms.
Here was the tree as planted 11.16.16. I removed the potting soil and burlap / clay mix, and washed off the roots. I pruned off crossing and potentially girdling roots. With so little root mass remaining, I wondered if it would survive.
The tree did survive, and thrived. Here it is almost exactly four years later. I keep some fencing around it to prevent deer damage to the trunk. That might no longer be necessary but doesn't hurt anything either. It got no additional water at all this year, surviving as a natural member of the ecosystem.
Dawn Redwood is a tree that existed at the time of the dinosaurs. It is different from native redwoods, in that it drops its needles each winter. They were thought to be extinct, with only a record in fossils and coal from millions of years ago, until discovered in a forest in China in the 1940s. Before dropping, the needles change color to a brownish yellow, which they are starting to do now.
This is the second raised bed. I completed it and filled with a mix of purchased top soil mixed with prior raised bed soil. The purchased top soil is a little less than 50%. It's nearly full. I added maple leaves to the top to see if they compost and add some organic matter. For minerals, I also added about 4 cups of wood ashes, which contain the cremated femurs of 10 chickens (thighs made into dog food). That adds minerals, mainly calcium and phosphorus, with some iron, magnesium, and potassium I think.
This is for tropicals for next year - pickle cucumbers and peppers. They get planted in May or June, so it has lots of time to settle in. There is one more planned raised bed, no hurry on that either.
This year Yates American Persimmon was early. Nikita's Gift hybrid American / Asian Persimmon and Saijo Asian Persimmon are not yet ripe. The Prairie Star has fruits for the first time. They are small and I have not tasted them yet.
Nikita's Gift. The best performer, most productive, better flavor than pure Asian and much bigger than pure American.
Prairie Star. This is the first crop. I'm interested to see how they taste. Small fruits. Maybe that's the effect of this being the first crop.
Close up of Prairie Star.
Close up of Nikita's Gift, and a Prairie Star in my hand.
Just Nikita's Gift because they are so pretty.
Saijo. They never seem to produce well for me, but more than nothing anyway.
