Rose of Sharon 8.13.14



Rose of Sharon Seedling 8.13.14

 This Rose of Sharon seedling continues to grow.  There was minimal deer foraging on this shrub, this year.  That resulted in more bloom.

I think it's a striking flower.  Much nicer than the parent shrub.

Rose of Sharon Seedling  8.13.14

Rose of Sharon seedling parent  8.13.14

Bearded Iris Bed Maintenance. 8.10.14

Bearded Iris Raised Beds.  8.10.14

Trying not to over-do TLC for the bearded irises.  It's hard for me to just leave them alone, even if I think they might be better off without me puttering around them.

We are at the hottest day of the year, so far.  Around 95 F

I crushed eggshells and scattered them one the soil surface.   The eggshells provide calcium, which is deficient in my soil.  I think they don't raise pH.  I am guessing, lower pH might slow some fungal growth, so no more lime.  Eggshells might provide a little slow-release nitrogen, and if so that's all they get this time.

Removed more weeds.  Removed the last of the multiplier onions, which were a disappointment due to attracting deer or rabbits to eat them.

Bearded Iris Raised Bed.  8.10.14

Filled in some soil low spots with dry mole hill soil.  They were bone dry to a foot deep, so I did water them.  The watering might not be needed, and could be harmful, but it's hard for me to not-water.

Last week I also sprayed them all with a generous spray of Neem oil, following the manufacturer's recommendations of 2-4 tbsp per gallon.  I used 4tbsp per gallon.  My hope is that will keep any fungal diseases in check.

Will try not to mess with them more, unless there is a long dry stretch.  The Neem can be applied every 2-3 weeks, and it might be helpful to do that.

No more plants between iris clumps, except a few Sempervivum, which tolerate dry, heat, neglect, and do not spread much at all.  There is a grape cutting and genetic dwarf peach seedling in one bed, those will come out this fall.

Bud Grafting Lilac for a Bouquet Lilac Bush. 8.10.14

Bud Grafted Lilac Bush.  7.25.14

This is a late entry.  About 2 weeks ago I went around the yard in Vancouver collecting Lilac budwood, then grafted 5 varieties onto this young lilac bush.  This is a single-trunk lilac, so far.  I don't know if it will produce suckers of the original variety.  If it does, so much the better.

This bush has stems about 1/2 inch diameter.  This is a young bush, that had its first 2 flowers this year.  They didn't amount to much, so the grafts could enhance it quite a bit.  The bark slipped nicely. 

I don't know the names of any of these lilacs.  They are white, blue, lilac-color, purple, single, double.  The stock is pink-ish.

Checking today, the buds remain plump and green.  Same method as everything else. 

If they grow, that's great.  If not, at least I tried.

I expect, if the grafts take, it will be new growth next year, and potential flowers in Spring 2016.  Long way away.  But why not try?

More from the Kitchen Garden. 8.10.14

Zucchini and Scallop Squash.  8.10.14

Tomatoes.  8.10.14

 In addition to the tree fruits, we have squashes of various types, tomatoes - mostly Sungold -, eggplants, and today had a taste of honey.  Oh wow that honey was good.

Honey.  8.10.14

Dendrobium Nobile in Bloom. 8.10.14

Dendrobium nobile 8.10.14

This Yamamoto-type Dendrobium nobile has been outside on the North side of the house.  I water it about once weekly or when I remember.  I noted buds last week.  Pretty nice.  This one is around 10 years old.

Fruit Update. 8.10.14

Fruit Bowl 8/10/14

Mulberries, Green gage plums, Shiro Plums, Hollywood Plums, and the first of the Oregon Curl Free peaches.  My bowl runneth over.  There are also blackberries but I ate all of them.

Buddleia, Butterflies, and Bees. 7.27.14

Honeybee on Buddleia "Honeycomb"  7.27.14

Honeybee on Buddleia "Honeycomb".  7.27.14

Butterfly on Buddleia "Blueberry Cobbler".  7.27.14

One of the main reasons I planted buddleias was for bee forage.  It turned out, honeybees don't care for Blueberry Cobbler and Peach Cobbler varieties, and not too crazy about the red "Miss Molly" and "Miss Ruby" varieties. 

This year I added the variety "Honeycomb".  They do like this one.

All of these are responsible, sterile, noninvasive, legal varieties in the Pacific NW.

Butterflies and Bumblebees like all of the varieties.

Summer Bud Grafting Cherries, Plums, Peaches. 7.27.14

Cherry Budwood.  7.27.14

Cherry Budwood, trimmed.  7.27.14

Today I am lazy.  I did re-work 2 cherry trees, added new varieties to the established Asian plum, and added a pollinating peach variety to Indian Free Peach.

Why.

I have 2 cherries, in Battleground, that did not produce this year.  The first is North Star, a tart cherry, which is in its 2nd year, about 5 feet tall.  The branches tend to grow horizontally, which results in deer eating them.  Some branches finally took off and grew, but it doesn't look like much and I don't expect much next year.

So for that one, I chose bud-wood from a Sure-Fire I have been growing in Vancouver for 10 years or more.  Sure-Fire has an upright shape, so once the branches get past deer-height, should be relatively free of deer foraging.  There are 3 main branches, with some bifurcations, on the North Start tree.  One looks unhealthy, so I used the other two.  I grafted the Sure-Fire buds onto each ramification of the branches, about 10 grafts.

The Cherry bud-wood is pictured.  I cut it this morning, kept in water, and trimmed off the leaves before using.

The next photo shows the method I have been using.  I slice into the bud-wood making a vertical cut on each side of the bud, a horizontal cut above the bud , and 2 angled cuts below the bud.  I then peel the bud from the bud-wood.  This is not the method most authors describe.  I think it's an easier method for a novice like me, and it gave 100% success on the plums in June.

The 2nd cherry was Almaden Duke.  I bought that variety thinking it might bloom later than sweet cherries, thereby giving a 2nd chance for cherries in late frost years.  As it turned out, it bloomed at the same time as the sweet cherries.  I moved it from Vancouver to Battleground in 2012.  It was looking  very nice, but this year the deer developed a taste for cherry branches.  Again, this variety has a horizontal form, giving the deer fresh salad each time the branches started to grow.  The branches that did survive being browsed, did not produce many cherries.  It's time to rework it.  Ning especially likes Ranier, so I removed budwood from the Ranier Cherry in Vancouver.  Some Lapin as well, to keep it varied.  I bud grafted using mostly Ranier, and a couple of Lapin buds, making use of all of the branches as close to the trunk as I could.  I can let some Almaden Duke branches remain, to pollinate.  They may produce better with the other in-tree pollinators, too. 

Peeling Cherry Bud Shield from Budwood.  727.14

T-Bud Cherry.  7.27.14

T-Bud Cherry.  7.27.14

Reworked North Star -> Sure-Fire Cherry.  Deer Net Added.  7.27.14

I wrap each bud as I go along, for minimal exposure to the elements.

The budwood now has a thin papery cuticle layer.  I do not know if that layer should be removed.  For maximum cambium contact it seems that layer should be peeled off.  It seems to be non-living, peels like paper.  For maximum protection of bud, it seems the cuticle layer should remain in place.  So some buds, I left it on, and other buds, I peeled it off.  It peels very easily, is not strongly adherent to the underlying epidermis.

I replaced the deer net for the re-worked tart cherry.  I have not done that yet for the Duke / Sweet cherry but should.

I also added  some buds to branches of established Asian Plum.  I added Toka and additional Prunus cerasifolia.  I think it would be useful to have In-tree pollenizers because it's so windy when they are in bloom, maybe all pollen from other trees, which are all downwind, blows away.

Finally, I added 2 buds to the little Indian Free Peach.  This is one of the few peaches that is listed as needing a pollinator.  In addition, that little tree is upwind from the potential pollinating varieties. I chose Oregon Curl Free because it was less bothered by leaf curl, compared to Charlotte.

This is my first attempt at grafting cherries and peaches.  I'm curious to see if they take.

Bud grafting is an act of optimism.  Growth is not likely until next year, and bloom or fruit, in 2017.  A lot can happen before

Shiro Asian Plum, Bud Grafted onto unknown variety, at 2 months.  7.27.14

then.

Figs, Okra, Home Office. 7.22.14

Figs.  7.22.14

 When figs start to ripen, first it's one, then another one, then a couple.  Sometimes then, they start to ripen like crazy.  Right now it's a couple at a time.  I like that.  I don't feel like I have to eat more than I want.

The okra is growing like crazy in the new sunroom.  Today I saw the back-sides of the leaves were covered with aphids.  Washed a lot of them off.  Applied neem oil.  That didn't seem to much, at least not immediately.  Tomorrow, insecticidal soap.

For former dining room will by my home office / family room.  The former family room will become the dining room.  It makes more sense, due to the flow from the kitchen.  Also with the entrance to the sunroom.  Forgot  a before photo.  I only have energy for about 30 min at a time.  So after 2 months, ugly carpeting is gone, chandelier gone, walls repaired, sealed, and painted.  Next is bamboo flooring and re-install, seal, paint the trim, and install ceiling fan/light.  Then it's done.  There will be room for a seed starting stand in addition to a place to work on computer.

Figs.  7.22.14

Okra.  7.22.14

Home Office.  7.22.14

The new room feels like a big project, but as long as I don't mind an unfinished room, it's just baby steps.

The room is not about gardening, but it is where I'll write about gardening when not in the sunroom.

Bearded Iris Progress Report. 7.19.14

Historic Bearded Iris Raised Bed #2

Historic Bearded Iris Raised Bed #1

I really messed up the historic iris beds last year.  I gave them lots of TLC, compost, lime, coffee grounds, eggshells, and a small nitrogen boost.  Growth was lush and thick.  They looked great going into winter.

Then this Spring, they grew lush again, then were hit with multiple waves of bacterial rot.  Clump after clump was affected, with some losing almost all of the leaf fans, some losing a few.  A few were lost entirely.  Some have one tiny shoot remaining.

Meanwhile, the irises I planted in the fence-row, and in borders by the house, were entirely neglected and had no bacterial rot.  They bloomed reasonably well.

Realizing the TLC was the problem, but not knowing what aspect of TLC, I left the historic iris raised beds alone for the rest of Spring and early summer.

Meanwhile, this Spring I received an order of several varieties from Old House Gardens, and this week a partial order from Schreiner's.  I would not have ordered them, had I known the bacterial rot would be so challenging, but those orders were from some time back.

Today I weeded and culled Historic Bearded Iris Bed #2.  Culls:  All but one cluster of Cherry Garden.  That variety did survive the epidemic, but blooms too early, in the rain, which destroys many of the flowers.  The bloom time is short.  I still like it, very pretty, so kept one cluster.   I culled Romeo, which may be mislabeled, was ugly, bloomed only in Fall for 2 years, when the flowers are made even uglier by the rains.  Some varieties came through the epidemic like champions - Loreley, Sunny Disposition, and some fans of Los Coyotes.  The new rhizomes of Owyhee Desert and Gay Geisha barely survived, but have some small baby shoots.  The rest were in between.  From the areas where I removed rhizomes, or where there was no longer a cluster, I dug out the soil, replacing with powderized mole hill soil, without supplement or compost.  I planted the replacement Gingersnap  from Schreiners, where the prior one died.  I planted Mrs. George Darwin, Dauntless, and Crimson King where others were removed, in the replacement soil.  Dauntless has a suspicious area, may have bacterial rot.  Will try anyway.  I removed the weeds and all of the sedum, so there would not be plants shading the rhizomes.    I watered them in.  Debated doing that.  The summer days are hot, sunny, and dry.  I hope that means no further epidemic, and the watering helps them establish.  But no other TLC.

I pulled just enough weeds from bed #3 to plant the new variety "June Krauss".  That is also in un-enriched replacement soil.

I pulled some weeds and removed clusters of Chinese Chives from Historic Iris Bed #1. I liked the Chinese Chives there but they take too much room.  I dug out the first row, including the tiny remaining sprout of Shannopin and small sprouts of Flavescens and Alcazar.  I replaced the soil with unimproved soil, and replanted those 3 plants.  They may not have enough growth to bloom next year.  If they produce enough for growth the following year, that will make me happy.  I removed a few more weeds, watered the rest lightly because the soil is too hard to get the weeds out, and watered in the replanted irises.

I don't want to lose the Alcazar.  I hope it survives.

The Chinese chives are sitting in the shade.  They need a new location.  They are seedlings from my parents' yard, so I don't want to lose them.