Irises Planted from Dried Rhizomes, at One Month.  10.6.18

 On 9.6.18, I planted some bearded iris rhizomes that I bought at Costco.  I wondered if they would grow at all before the first frost.  Here there are, lots of increased / new growth.  So they are doing well.  One is "My friend Jonathan" and the other is "His Royal Highness" but I didn't label them, so I don't know which is which.

As for bearded irises that I replanted from about the property, that I had abandoned two or so years ago, also not labeled, they are putting on new growth too.

Finally, the bearded irises that I bough by mail order from Schreiners, and planted in July and August, those show nice growth too.

The big questions to follow this winter and next Spring:  Will any of these bloom?  Will they have bacterial and / or fungal rot disease?  Will they survive?  And the same, for other clumps that I planted in the woods border, which are currently looking OK where they are and are in full sun..

The other iris from the same package.

Bearded Iris Planted August, 2018

Gallardias. 10.7.18

Gallardia planted Aug, 2018

Gallardia Planted in 2017

I don't know when the year-old gallardia startied blooming this year.  I think, early summer.  I didn't dead head it regularly.  I almost never watered it.  Deer and rabbits did not touch it.  It just continued to grow and bloom.  I bought the other one this summer.  I forgot it was in the car, and it dried out to crispy brown flowers, although the wilted leaves were still green-ish.  Then I saw it and planted it.  That plant recovered, and is now blooming again.

These are tough flowers.  Inspired, I've bought some seeds to cultivars with other color nuances.

Healing "Summer Red" Maple Tree Trunk Wound, 6 Years Later. 10.7.18

Maple Tree Progress.  10.7.18

 This is a progress report, on a "Summer Red maple tree that we planted in September, 2012, update in 2914.  The nursery where we bought it is no longer in business.  My guess is they took damaged nursery stock from other places, to resell.  This tree was very inexpensive, but had a large wound - see lower photo or link.

I planted the tree with the wound on the southern side, to reduce potential for growth of rotting organisms.  Maple wood is hard, and I read that trees have a process to seal off internal wounds, that stops spread of any potential rot.

Here we are, 6 years later.  The tree has flourished and grown.  It has beautiful fall color.  I wondered if the small root ball size would result in a dead tree.  It did not.  This was a very hot dry summer, historic I think.  I did water it about every 2 weeks, with water that I bailed out of the duck pond when replacing that water.  That was about 15 gallons every 2 weeks.

Maple Tree When Planted.  9.20.12

Healing Trunk Wound.  10.7.18

Wound At Time of Purchase  9.20.12

The wound is nearly completely sealed.  I wonder what the darkened area indicates, lateral to the wound.   Is that growth of bacterial or fungal infection?  I don't know.  In retrospect, I would not buy a tree with such a large wound, nor would I recommend it.  It just seems too "iffy".  Still, 6 years later, it looks healthy, flourishing, quite beautiful.  Only time will tell whether there is a long term effect of that large wound.

North Pole Apples. 10.6 18

North Pole Apples.  10.6.18

These are the apples from the young apple tree that I started from "North Pole" scion.  The tree is only about 5 feet tall, but the apples are large and have a good flavor, nice crispness.  They made an excellent apple sauce. 

I grafted this tree in 2015.  Not bad for such a young tree, and it received no watering this year.

Transplanting Columnar Apple Trees. 10.6.18

Three year old tree, made from "North Pole" scion .  10.6.18

Last year, I transplanted a columnar apple tree that I had started on a sucker from a dwarf or semidwarf apple tree, which I had cut down some time before that.  Despite the lost of significant, if not most, of the roots, that tree survived the winter, bloomed, and I allowed a few apples to develop.  The growth was less than for an established tree, but there was actual new growth, and the tree appears to be becoming established.

Today, I moved the sibling of that tree, and another older, much larger, columnar apple tree.

Above tree, replanted.  10.6.18

 The first was a tree from the same scion source (North Pole Apple), and root stock, as the above tree.  However, I had transplanted this one when it was smaller, and it had enough time to establish that there were more than a dozen large apples that I collected today.  The location is inconvenient for deer fencing, so I decided to move it.    I tried to get all of the roots that I could.  I think this has a better root ball than the previous tree, so it should survive.

The second was a Golden Sentinel tree that I planted in 2012.  This tree is much taller and larger biomass.  Again, I tried to get the most roots that I could, but losses were significant for the amount of tree.  From what I've read, we should not attempt to prune back to "match" the roots, but leave as much top as we can.  I did remove about the top 3 feet, and some of the side branches.

Because the second tree is top heavy, I also planted 3 fence posts and tied the tree loosely to the posts.

Six Year Old "Golden Sentinel" Columnar Apple Tree.  10.6.18

Above Columnar Apple, Replanted.  10.6.18

After the leaves are lost, I intend to prune back the branches and spurs, to match the ideal columnar shape.  That will be in a month or two.

I'm optimistic these trees will survive, despite root loss.  I've moved several apple trees that were similar age and had similar losses, and all survived.  They will need generous watering next year.