Ning's Lilacs

These are not Hulda's lilacs, they are a selection of Ning's lilacs. Most have been establishing for about 4 or 5 years. Some older ones in Ning's yard are much larger, but folwered earlier and are not as photogenic now. The variety names fell off, and I was not diligent about recording which one was where. The goal was a lilac privacy hedge. This is a slow process, but now is beginning to develop into an informal hedge.

Hulda Klager's Lilac Garden

Yesterday Ning and I went to Hulda Klager's Lilac garden in Woodland Washington. Nice historical mini-botanical garden featuring Lilacs and the lady who was fascinated by them. Her house is a museum of the time as well.


Some of the Lilacs are massive. This one is 3 times as tall as Ning.
Some are covered with flowers. That seems to be variety-specific. They vary in the number of flowers and how early they bloom, as well as the colors.
A nice lilac-colored lilac. There are also magenta, pink, and white varieties.
Of course, I'm especially interested in the huge gingko tree. This one is further ahead in leafing out, compared to mine. It's at the stage of leaves the size of a squirrel's ear.

Maxine passed away thurs night.

It's hard to say when Maxine really left us. Alzheimer's doesn't give an exact day and time for when you lose your loved one. It makes for an agonizing fading away, until they speak no words, remember no one, cant walk, feed, or clean themselves. For the past 6 months, she swallowed when they put food into her mouth. I last visited a few weeks ago, and as in all visits for the past year, there was no hint of recognition, and it was unclear whether she was awake or asleep or something in between. I'm glad I found these photos, it reminds me of who she really was.

Maxine in the later 40s, I think. No date on the photo.

Another photo with no date. She liked smiling like that in photos.


Not so happy looking here. Nice angel food cake.

Later in life she didn't like having pictures taken. She said she looked like an old lady, and quit smiling for photos, but she did smile a lot in person. This was with me in 1989 in Indiana. Maxine liked prairie and pioneer themes.

Lilac is blooming

This weekend was literally a sit-on-my-butt weekend doing homework. Now at 7pm sunday night I'm done-enough although "done" is never an option. Stargate in the background.

So... looking around the yard. Lilac is blooming. Nice a fragrant "lilacy" fragrance. Cherry is almost done. Tulips are near done.

I did take some time to plant peppers in the 1/2 barrels. Various varieties from Fred Meyer and Shorty's nursery.

Each year the lilacs look better and bloom more.

Tomato covers

I ran out of covers so tried these. THe plants look healthy inside, after one week so far.

There are the usual "wall-o-water" units. They are about 10 degrees warmer than ambient temperature now.

Burrageara Stefan Isler

At least I think that's the variety.
I'm very pleased. I wondered if I could get it to bloom.

Iwanagaara Appleblossom "fantasy"

I'm a bit pleased with myself for blooming this again.

Starting Another Dendrobium nobile from a keiki

Dendrobium Yellow Song "Canary" grew a nice keiki so I decided to remove it and pot it up. Some of the web references, that I read, claim that keikis siphon energy off from the parent plant. Removal of the keiki ("keikiectomy"?) might help it grow and bloom. I don't know if the authors truly know that. But it's part of web orchid lore. There's also the fun of watching a new plant grow.

This was a keiki that I started in July. This was a nice, easily blooming variety, white flowers with blue fringes. It grew a nice fat looking pseudobulb cane, and now is producing 2 new sprouts. It's been getting the "weakly, weekly" 1/4 strength plant food treatment, high nitrogen growth formula version.

I've left it in the original container and growth medium. It may be good for another 6 months or year, before repotting is needed.

This is the Dendrobium Yellow Song "Canary" and keiki. I let it grow longer than I intended. I think no harm was done.


A section of parent pseudobulb is cut off along with the keiki. I don't have the fine touch, to just pull it off without causing damage. So I cut a section instead. The green root tips are a sign of healthy active growth.

Similarly, I removed the remainder of the cane, from above the keiki.

Some cinnamon is added to the cut surfaces. That's for mold prevention.
Resting in new container on bark-based orchid mix. Before adding medium, I placed the bamboo support stake into the pot. Easier that way. Less likely to damage the keiki's roots.
Now more bark medium is added. The top of the medium is at the juncture of keiki with stem.

Now it's just a matter of care. Same as an established orchid plant. I watered to settle it in, but will try to hold off more watering for a week or so. Probably best not to have watered the first day. I don't have the self discipline to wait.

Fig Progress Report

In another posting, the brebas on "Vancouver" (probable Brunswick) are shown.

Other trees with brebas now include Hardy Chicago (only a few, small), Petite Negri (few, small), Lattarula (more) and Desert King (many more).

I will try to avoid too much optimism. Brebas often enlarge then fall off. It would be great if they grow and ripen instead.

Meanwhile, I took the Desert King cuttings out of the refridgerator and stuck them into the half-barrel containers. I don't know if they will grow but the effort expended was truly minimal - I just stuck them into the growth medium such that about 9 inches was below soil line and 3 inches above soil line. If even one grows, I plan to start a tree to be kept in a less prime location. Then I expect to remove the existing tree. This is a long term plan. It takes about 3 years to reach significant fruiting stage.

Fig brebas, embryonic figs beginning to swell. Often, many if not most drop. I hope that most will stay this year.

One view of front border. The white flowers are "Stella" cherry.

A view of backyard orchard. I don't know the cherry varieties.