Historic Bearded Irises. Order for next Spring.

Crimson King.  Old House Gardens

 This is my iris order from Old House Gardens.  Link is to the online catalog.  Based on this year's experience, most of them should bloom a couple of months after planting.  Most are compact, a few are larger.

I think, by planting actively growing rhizomes shortly prior to bloom, that sets them back a little.  But these varieties are not easy to find.   The rhizomes send last spring were healthy appearing, clean, and grew nicely.  And it's nice to see them bloom so soon after planting, even if not full size.  I liked the prior order, and have confidence I will like this one.

Dauntless.  Old House Gardens.

Frank Adams.  Old House Gardens.

Mrs. George Darwin.  Old House Gardens.

Plumeri.  Old House Gardens.

Rosy Wings.  Old House Gardens.

Wabash.  Old House Gardens.

The start of fall color. Sourwood and Buffalo Grape.

Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)

 The first of fall color at the Battleground place.  Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum).  This may be partly the effect of being a new planting.  But sourwood trees are known for red fall color.   It's the reddest tree so far.  Probably the reddest of my fall trees.

Others here that that may have good fall color - the ginkgo trees (brilliant yellow) Blueberry plants (red), and persimmons (expecting red or yellow).  I don't know about the others.

Buffalo Grape

Buffalo Grape

This is the only grape vine that I've seen with such brilliant color.  This is "Buffalo", a blue Concord-like seeded grape.  It grew faster than any of my new varieties.  I think I bought this one at Fred Meyer this Spring.  I doubt there will be grapes next year, but it's now big enough, next Spring/Summer I can train the cordons for grapes the following year.

The newest leaves are not colorful.  At least not yet.  I'm hoping the colorful leaves will be typical next fall, and not the green leaves.

Still in a deer and rabbit cage.  More screening  to install this fall ' winter.

Bearded Irises - Fall Cleanup

Bearded Iris Bed #1.  Heritage Varieties.

Bearded Iris Bed #2.  Heritage Varieties.

This weekend I cleaned up the bearded iris beds. 

I've done much of the cleanup over the past few weeks.  So it wasn't that bad this weekend.

The beds are not purely Heritage vs. Modern.  There are a few modern varieties in teh Heritage beds, and a few Heritage varieties in the modern variety bed. I might sort them out.  One day.

Cleanup involved pulling out some companion plants that overgrew.  Pulling out weeds.  Careful cultivation.  With a dinner fork.  Easy with raised bed.

More crushed eggshells scattered on the surface.

Bearded Irist Bed #3.  Modern Varieties.

I did plant one additional variety.  Dried out rhizome.  "Before the Storm".  Near-black, midnight blue.  I didn't need one more.  I get too much enjoyment from growing dried out looking rhizomes.

I trimmed dead and dying leaves from the iris plants.  Inspected about 4 times.  They look a lot more healthy.

Added Sempervivum and some small growing sedum plants, salvaged from previous gardening efforts.  Idea is for growing companion plants among the irises.  Not as rank growing as culinary herbs.  A few might be on top of bulbs I planted earlier, but that's OK.

I need to make space for heritage varieties I ordered from Old House Gardens.  Those arrive in March or April.  Mrs. George Darwin, Frank Adams, Crimson King, Dauntless, Plumeri, Rosy Wings, Wabash.  Plus additional Flavescens and Honorabile / Sans Souci to flesh out the small starts of those I planted this year.  There is room.  I might have to move a few less desirable selections out, which is OK.

Kitchen garden harvest

 Kitchen garden is winding down.

I appreciate each and every pepper, tomato, and fig.

I picked the watermelon.  It turned out to be underripe.   Very bland, not very sweet.  Chickens got most of it.

Blacktail mountain watermelon

Birds got a lot of the figs this year.  I didn't net the trees.  Next year, I should.  I have the net.  I did not have the energy.

Today I picked and ate, 2 more figs from the Sal's Fig tree.  Those continue to be very good.  It's nice to have fresh figs at the Battleground place.

Not ripe enough for full flavor and color

My Dad's Ginkgo biloba

Ginkgo trunk

 This is the largest of ginkgo trees, grown from seeds my Dad collected about 15 years ago.  They spent their first couple of years in flower pots. 

My Dad collected the seeds from a large ginkgo tree, grown from seed by Herman Deege in a small Illinois town.   He taught me about the origins of gingko trees.  I imagine he's been dead since the 1970s.

This tree is many-fold larger than the other two from the same source.   Other than genetic diversity, different seeds from the same source, this was planted in the ground about one year before the other two.  It is in the yard area where the dogs leave their contributions to nature, over the past 12 years.  I think the dog fertilizer is the main difference.

Ginkgo tree

The smallest of the 3 is now in the Battleground yard.  It's about 7 feet tall.  The largest of my Dad's trees must ba about 35 feet tall now.

It should turn yellow soon.  Beautiful in green or yellow.

Ning's Chickens

This was a week ago.  I pulled out the marigolds and sweet alyssum.  They were too rank and taking over the bearded iris bed.  The hens ate them but not with enthusiasm.  They liked the sweet alyssum plants much more than the marigolds.

Grafting fruit trees. Progress Report.

Pear Graft #1

 All of the pear grafts and apple grafts took and grew this year.

I did not keep track of varieties.  The pear grafts were on the 2 Asian pear trees.  The intent is to have pollinating varieties, on the same tree.  And novelty.

The pollinating varieties were, two from a multigraft Asian pear in the Vancouver yard, plus 2 prunings from newly planted pear trees.  Those were European pears, Rescue and Orca.

Pear Graft #2

Pear Graft #3

 Some of the grafts grew very fast.  Others barely grew.

I grafted the apples on Feb 23rd at the Home Orchard Society grafting class.  Spitzenberg and Suttons Beauty.  Each has 2 strong growths.  Late winter, I want to graft each with an additional variety.  Or with 2 additional varieties, allowing a bud to form a branch below the graft for the originals.  These would be very low branching trees, which is what I want.  I want to get them planted in-ground this fall, so the roots have a chance to grow.  That means I will need deer protection, too, which is more of a chore.  Not too difficult.

The regenerated Honeycrisp broke off near the ground, but above the graft, last year.  I debated re-grafting it.  Instead, I pruned short, and allowed the tree to grow from below the cut.  It has 2 strong growths.  Again, I would like to graft an additional variety onto one or both of the growths.

In the Vancouver yard, I have the Honeycrisp start, Jonagold, Liberty, and Karmijn de Sonneville.  At Battleground, there are the columnar varieties Golden Sentinel and Red Sentinel.  GS had one apple this year.  It's only about 2 feet tall.  That's enough varieties for my test garden.

There is also Prairie Fire crabapple, now, which I hope serves as a pollinator.

Pear Graft #4

Regenerated Honeycrisp Apple

New Dwarf Apple Grafts

Broken Honeycrisp tree Sept 2012

Fall planting bulbs for Spring flowers.

Daffodil hill.  via Commons.wikimedia.org

Today it's raining and raining and raining.  Pacific Northwet.  I love rainy season.  Fire in the heating stove.  Dogs napping in front of the fire.

I planted 100 generic daffodils in Ning's border, clusters of 4,5,6.  Plus big Allium gigantum which I grew last year in the onion bed.  Moved catnip and 2 small raspberry starts out of bearded iris bed#3, and into the bee garden.   Both grow too large to remain among the bearded irises.   Tidied up a little more of that raised bed, and planted grape hyacinth and smaller types of narcissus.  Planted some bunches of daffodils in the bee garden.

That's about all.  Too wet, and I'm tired.   It sounds like a lot, but was only about 2 hours, split into slow 1 hour sessions, one in am and one in pm.

Daffodils - and possibly all narcissus - are considered deer resistant and rabbit resistant.  Last year something ate a few, but left most alone.  Must taste bad.  Grape hyacinths / Muscari are also considered deer and rabbit resistant,  but most were eaten down to the ground. 

Alliums are also considered animal resistant.  Some varieties did well last year, some were sparse.  I planted a few more purple alliums.

A few more small bags and half of a big bag of bulbs, left to plant.

Buddleia progress report.

Buddleia globosa hybrid

Buddleia X Peach Cobbler

 The hybrid Buddleias grew rapidly this year, from small <1ft and="" bushes.="" clipping="" compost="" each="" grass="" mulch.="" mulched="" nbsp="" nursery="" of="" on="" p="" plan.="" starts="" straw="" summer.="" tall="" that="" the="" they="" through="" to="" top="" waist-high="" was="" watered="" were="" with="">
The B. globosa hybrid blooms in Spring.  It was purchased as a 6 inch start.  Lots of growth.  Not as much as the others, but it was smaller.  Expect flowers next Spring.

The Flutterby series Buddleias grew fastest.  The flowers were the largest, but also the messiest.  Bumblebees liked them  There were also a few butterflies.  Those were "Peach Cobbler" and "Blueberry cobbler".

Buddleia X "Blue Chip"

Buddleia X "Blue Chip"

Another Flutterby series hybrid, but dwarf, was "Blue Chip".  I had that in a weedy iris bed that went unwatered until fall.  It did remain small.  The flowers were very nice.  I sort of regret not taking better care of it, but it bloomed and should be fine next year.

Buddleia X "Miss Ruby".  The remaining Buddleia hybrids were "Miss Ruby" and "Miss Molly".  Those were neater.  Growth was not as rampant.  The flowers lasted longer and were more vivid, compared to the Flutterby series.  The flowers were smaller, which is beneficial.  The much larger flower panicles of "Peach Cobbler" and "Blueberry Cobbler" start turning brown at the base before the tips open.  So with those, I either have to tolerate brown dried out flowers, or deadhead before they are done.  Bumblebees and a rare honeybee foraged "Miss Molly" and "Miss Ruby".

From the State of Oregon Department of Agriculture site, the following Buddleia varieties have been tested for non-invasiveness and are allowed.  It costs the grower $10,000 to have a variety tested at OSU, and takes 18 months.  If the grower already has data proving their variety is noninvasive or proving it is an interspecific hybrid, the cost is $150.00 per hour for the state to evaluate the data.  So, it seems wrong for anyone to grow these by cuttings.

A few weeks ago I say one local nursery carried "Black Knight" - a pretty but invasive and illegal variety.  I did not buy it.

ODA Approved Sterile Buddleja Cultivars - this info direct from ODA -

The listed Buddleja cultivars produce 2% or less viable seeds and meet Oregon's standards for sterility. The transport, propagation, and sale of the listed cultivars is approved.   Buddleja 'Blue Chip' Buddleja 'Asian Moon' Buddleja 'Purple Haze' Buddleja 'Ice Chip' (Formerly 'White Icing')   FLUTTERBY GRANDÉ™ Blueberry Cobbler Nectar Bush FLUTTERBY GRANDÉ™ Peach Cobbler Nectar Bush FLUTTERBY GRANDÉ™ Sweet Marmalade Nectar Bush FLUTTERBY GRANDÉ™ Tangerine Dream Nectar Bush FLUTTERBY GRANDÉ™ Vanilla Nectar Bush FLUTTERBY PETITE™ Snow White Nectar Bush FLUTTERBY™ Pink Nectar Bush

Non-Regulated Interspecific Cultivars

These listed cultivars have been proven to be interspecific hybrids through testing and laboratory analysis. They are not regulated under Oregon's noxious weed quarantine and can be transported, propagated, and sold within Oregon. The fertility of these cultivars has not been assessed, though interspecific hybrids generally exhibit low fertility.   Buddleja 'Lilac Chip' Buddleja 'Miss Molly' Buddleja 'Miss Ruby

This is Buddleia globosa, pic via wikipedia.org.  B globosa is not regulated, because it is not invasive.  B. globosa may be more attractive to bees, but blooms in spring or early summer.  The B. davidii and interspecific hybrids bloom later summer and fall.

 

ODA Approved Sterile Buddleja Cultivars - this info direct from ODA -

The listed Buddleja cultivars produce 2% or less viable seeds and meet Oregon's standards for sterility. The transport, propagation, and sale of the listed cultivars is approved.
 
Buddleja 'Blue Chip'
Buddleja 'Asian Moon'
Buddleja 'Purple Haze'
Buddleja 'Ice Chip' (Formerly 'White Icing')
 
FLUTTERBY GRANDÉ™ Blueberry Cobbler Nectar Bush
FLUTTERBY GRANDÉ™ Peach Cobbler Nectar Bush
FLUTTERBY GRANDÉ™ Sweet Marmalade Nectar Bush
FLUTTERBY GRANDÉ™ Tangerine Dream Nectar Bush
FLUTTERBY GRANDÉ™ Vanilla Nectar Bush
FLUTTERBY PETITE™ Snow White Nectar Bush
FLUTTERBY™ Pink Nectar Bush
 

Non-Regulated Interspecific Cultivars

These listed cultivars have been proven to be interspecific hybrids through testing and laboratory analysis. They are not regulated under Oregon's noxious weed quarantine and can be transported, propagated, and sold within Oregon. The fertility of these cultivars has not been assessed, though interspecific hybrids generally exhibit low fertility.
 
Buddleja 'Lilac Chip'
Buddleja 'Miss Molly'
Buddleja 'Miss Ruby

Kitchen Garden. Garlic and Onions.

Multiplier Onions

Kitchen Garden

Over the past month, I put together 2 more raised beds.  That brings it to 10 of the 112 planned. For the final 2, I have all winter to complete them.

Last weekend, I planted the Multiplier onions.  The first 4 rows are Egyptian Walking Onions.  Then 7 rows of Yellow Potato Onions.  Enough for scallions and cooking or slicing onions.

During the past week, I finished filling the 10th bed.  Same mole-hill / compost mix, 50/50.  Today I planted the completed bed with garlic.  12 rows, 8 rose of Inchelium Red and 4 rows of random varieties.  The Inchelium Red is all I need.

The photo is from last weekend, before completing the filling of bed #10.

In the background, a cleaned-up bed for Ning's cabbages.