First Buddleia to Bloom. Miss Molly. 6.21.14

Buddleia "Miss Molly".  6.21.14

The first of the buddleias to bloom this year.  Miss Molly is much more compact, compared to the "Cobbler" series.  Nice fragrant flower.

Bud grafting. Progress Report. 6.21.14

Shiro Plum Bud Graft at 3 weeks.  6.21.14

Shiro Plum Bud Graft on Older Wood, at 3 weeks.  6.21.14

Hollywood Plum Bud Graft at 3 weeks.  6.21.14

These are some of the plum bud T-grafts at 3 weeks.  I read they should be unwrapped at 2 to 3 weeks, so I did.

The Shiro graft on new wood looks very good.  Still green, plump.  So I'm confident it took.  The bud portion also looks viable.  I pruned the branch back some more, about 6 inches above the bud graft.

The Shiro graft on older wig - many 3 years old - is less  green looking, but maybe OK.  I think the younger wood is much better, when there is a choice.

The Hollywood graft is burgundy, so harder to see if it is alive or not.  I think is it alive.

The second batch of bud T-grafts look OK.

I think I'll wait for July or August before grafting more.

Grass Clipping Mulch. 6.21.14

Creative Grass Mowing.  6.21.14

 Yesterday I mowed around the raised beds, and other areas of the second acre.  Most people in this area have tightly trimmed, golf course - like yards.  Some are more like pastures.  This area is on a 30 foot wide  easement that we anticipate will be paved soon, by a neighbor with attitude.  We don't know how much of the 30 feet will be paved, or when.  Meanwhile it's grass, organic, no chemicals added.  As a result, used for mulch, the clippings are coarse and dry to a nice straw-like consistency. dont mat down too much or turn sour.  The golf course-like lawns in the neighborhood get fertilizer, water, chemicals, the grass is green and lush, then they collect clippings and burn them.  The smoke is nasty.  Seems insane.

I cut "crop circles" in an attempt to be whimsical.  There is a lot of clover in the grass, now, for nitrogen and bees.

Peppers in raised bed with grass clipping mulch.  6.21.14

I had newspaper and food package cardboard mulch for the squashes, just compost for the peppers.  Now that is covered with an approx 4 inch thick layer of grass clipping mulch.  Will keep them weed free and not as dry for summer.  Like any organic mulch, they will break down to add orgsnic content and life to the soil.

Potato "well" with grass clipping mulch.  6.21.14

The potato planters also got a thick layer of grass clipping.  About 6 inckes thick.  That is on top of a few inches of aged maple leaf mulch.

Mulch also went into some flower borders and around shrubs.  I view cutting the grass more as a harvest of quality organic mulch, than as grooming.

Sunchokes.  6.21.14

 The sunchokes already had a generous mulch of weeds, pulled from raised beds.  I topped that with grass clipping for a cleaner appearance and better weed control.

We recovered these sunchokes from Ning's meadow.  He planted them there last year when I was in surgery.  They didn't do so well there.  I found 3 of the plants.  We ate chokes from one, and I moved the others to this location.  With some added organic nitrogen, and lots of mulch, they are flourishing.  The shorter plant is shorter due to local herbivores.  The taller had a screen.  The herbivores seem to ignore them now.  Although they like to surprise me.

Cherry Pruning & Harvest. Backyard Orchard Culture. 6.20.14

Today I pruned the cherry trees in the Vancouver yard.  I cut back all new growth to about 5 buds, trimmed back a few older branches.  Cut off dead twigs.

These are in backyard orchard culture style.  Trim in summer to maximize the dwarfing effect.  That removes most of the photosynthetic biomass.  They are still quite vigorous.  Much of the new growth was 3 feet long and very leafy.  I dont fertilize them at all.  Not even compost.  

All if those leafy stems were laid on the ground around the trees, to make a nice thick mulch.  They will quickly become brown and crinkly.  From a distance it looks like bark mulch.  I have read not to do that because of potential disease, but Ive been doing so for 10 years without problems.

A backyard cherry did not getruned last year or two.  Must have removed 15 feet of growth this time.  Now back to workable size.  i also trim the center so the branches are like an empty bowl.  That allows good light penetration for buds cherries and health.

The bowls are the last of the sweet cherries.  The blue bowl is Surefure pie cherry.   Nice and tart.  Also some strawberries

Starting Morning Glory and Hollyhock Seeds. Also some deck Plants. 6.19.14

Morning Glory Seeds at 2 days.  6.19.14

Hollyhock Seeds Sprouting at 2 days..  6.19.14

 The seeds toweesprouted quickly on the heating mat.  I read it can require weeks.  These were soaked in water for about 12 hours, then placed on moist paper towel in ziplock bags.  The bags are sealed and set on the heating mat.  This morning I saw they were sprouted, so added a little more water.

Now I filled plastic flowerpots most of the way with potting soil.  Watered the soil.  Placed the sprouts on the soil.  If the root was long, I gently made a hole for the root with my finger.  Then barely covered them and gently watered.

The temp outside is 60s night, about 80 day.  They are on the north side of the house so they don't overheat.

I think the black ribbed Japanese eggplant makes a nice decorative plant.

The black calla lily is about 3 years old.  I overwintered it by letting the container dry out, then placed in garage in October before first frost.  Super easy.

Japanese Eggplant.  6.19.14

Black Calla Lily.  6.19.14

The four O'clocks are almost blooming.  They have little hint of color in the flower buds.  Might need another week of warm temps.

Greenspire Linden progress report. Two years old. 6.17.14

Tilia cordata "Greenspire" 2 years after planting.

Here is the Greenspire linden I planted in Sept 2012.  I'll also add a photo from the day it was planted, for comparison.

Flower Seeds in June. 6.17.14

 I started some flower seeds today.  I read hollyhocks should be started in summer to fall, for next year's blooms.  I saw these by accident at Lowes.  They are Alcea rosea varieties, which may mean they get a lot of rust here.  I have room for several varieties.

These are Carnival mix.  I also started a packet of Fordham Giant. 

I soaked them about 12 hours, then placed them on moist paper towel, then into zip lock bags.  That method worked nicely for 4 O'clocks and okra.

Doing the same for morning glories.  This is Zeeland Hybrid mix.  Might be too late to start them.  If I don't try, I won't know.

They are on a seed starting heating mat.  Same as I did for seeds this winter.

Sunroom. Budding. 6.17.14

Homework day.

Not bad.  The sunroom makes for a more tolerable time.  The tile floor warms up nicely, even on cloudy day.  Under the floor, is 6 inches of insulation, so it should be warm in winter, too.

I did take an hour break for garden project.  I grafted new buds from Shiro and Hollywood plums, onto the existing plum trees.  I imagine if they take, it will be 2016 when they first bloom and bear.  That will help with pollination, so I don't have to run form tree to tree with a little paintbrush.

I used Hollywood and Shiro because those are what I have.  I think they are good choices - easy to see the burgundy leaves of Hollywoodo, so I easily know those are grafted, and easy to identify which plums are the small bright yellow plums of Shiro, and burgundy of Hollywood, for harvesting.

It rained Sunday and Monday.  Today drizzled.  So the tree tissues were moist, the bark slipped easily, and the grafts were not too difficult for a novice.  I don't know if they will take and grow.  If not, there is July and August budding as well, and now I have more practice.

Ning's Meadow. 6.15.14

Sterile Buddleia. Progress Report. 6.15.14

Sterile buddleia "Peach Cobbler".  6.15.14

Sterile buddleias at 17 months after planting.  They grow rapidly.  Nice fat flower buds forming now.  Probably open in about 2 weeks.  These were about 1 foot tall, if that, when I planted them.  I can see why nonsterile buddleias are considered invasive.

There were some dark blue - nonsterile -  varieties at Lowes.  Unfortunately, I don't think those are legal to plant here.  I want to be a responsible  gardener.  So I will stay with the sterile ones.

This is a bit of a windbreak  The photo faces west.  There is a near-constant wind from the west.  This buddleia hedge should give the little orchard a break from some of the wind.

Edit:  2/4/2020  I am trying to remove these buddleias now.  They are way too vigorous, messy and, frankly, ugly.  The flowers remain on the plant after they dry out and become brown.  It's difficult to catch them at the flower catalog "perfect" stage. At that moment they are nice.  I cut some of these down to about 1 foot tall last year, and they grew at least 12 feet in one year.  That is much more than the nursery claims.



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