Delicata and Pink Banana Squash Seedlings. 5.12.2021

 About a week ago, reading about squashes, I decided to plant some Delicata squash seeds.  Delicata is a pepo species squash, so on saving seeds will need isolation from Zukes which are also pepos.

One seed germinated from the packet.  I dont think they were all that old.   Maybe two or three years?  Anyway, where one seed germinates, there is hope and that can be all it takes.

One of the Pink Banana Squash attempts has finally yielded seedlings.  This is from seeds that I saved from last year's plants.  No way to know until the fruits form, if they are pure PBS.  My home saved seeds were bigger and plumper than those I bought in previous years.  Maybe that's a factor.  If the newest ones or other attempts grow, I'll also plant those seedlings.

PBS is a maxima species squash, so last years squash might have mixed with Kuri, Galeux, or Kabucha which were nearby at the time.   Those genetics will be easy to spot, if that is the case.

This is potentially a good squash year.  I already have seedlings I the ground, growing vigorously.  I didn't expect that for two or three more weeks.

Time to start thinning apples. 5.12.2021

 Some of the apples set fruit very well.  The clusters needs to be thinned so that there is one apple per cluster, and separate by about 4 to 6 inches.  Thinning makes for larger, sweeter, earlier, more flavorful apples, less limb breakage and more likely to bear next year.  It's a good reason to have small size trees or espaliers, since a big tree would be too much and possibly dangerous to work due to the need for ladders.

This is a North Pole cluster, before and after thinning.  I use a kitchen shears.  Today I thinned North Pole, Liberty, Gravenstein, and some of the pear trees.   The earlier the better, so I'll be thinning for a week or two.  I use kitchen shears.

Alstromeria beginning to grow. 5.12.2021

 A few weeks ago I dug up some Alstromeria that had been growing at the old place.  The roots and crowns remind me of daylilies, but they seem much more floppy and delicate.   Despite cate, a lot of damage was done.

Today I noticed they are growing.  They might need a year or two, but this seems like a good start.

Planting Some New Ponca Thornless Blackberries. 5.12.2021

 I bought some "Ponca" blackberries via mail order.  They were shipped from Arkansas.  This variety is described as the next best thing since sliced bread - the sweetest, most flavorful of its type, short internodes so much shorter "trees" than other types, early.   I know, every new introduction is described as incredible, then after a few years one never reads about it again.  This one sounded good and here is little lost by trying it.

The plants do not look happy about their treatment, storage, digging, and shipping.  I hope that at least one survives, maybe two.  Three is possible but it seems like a lot to hope for.

Two plants went into temporary locations.  I want to identify a couple in my Blackberry bed and possibly remove two, opening up locations for Ponca.  The best looking one went into a prime spot in the newer blackberry bed.  I soaked them an hour before planting, gave them good soil with a little Osmokote, mulched with dry leaves, watered well, and shaded the tender pale new growth.

Irises. 5.10.2021

 The bearded irises seem to be quite happy with minimal maintenance.  I'll have to add the names tomorrow using my computer - this old Ipad doesn't allow it.

Iris dalmatica

Iris dalmatica

Iris "Alcazar"

Hand Me Down white bearded iris

Curbside Hand Me Down Bearded Iris.  I'm pretty sure this is "Blue Shimmer".