Apple Whip and Tongue Graft at 6 Months. 8.24.14

Almost 6 months.  I grafted these about March 1.  The graft is nearly invisible now.  Vigorous, 5 foot tall tree.  Another I did at the same time is about 2 feet tall.  I think the difference is, the taller one was grafted onto a more vigorous shoot.

Apple Whip and Tongue at 6 months

Apple Whip and Tongue Graft at 6 months.

Old Charlie. 8.23.14

Charlie.  8.13.14

He's 13 years old now.  The best friend I ever had.  His eyes are rheumy, and his joints are stiff in the am.  Once in a while he'll fall down for no apparent reason.  He can't handle the heat.  Neither can I.  He breathes heavily with minimal effort.  Even so, he runs up the stairs to greet me, barks at the cat, wags his tale all of the time, rests his chin on the computer keyboard, and stays not more than 5 feet away from me whenever I'm home.  He's comfortable and happy.  I wash his rheumy eyes every day.  His aging breaks my heart.

Garden Harvest. Bud Grafts. 8.23.14

Garden Harvest 8.23.14

Not much chance to garden this weekend.  All work via internet.

But here are the items Ning picked in the kitchen garden, raised beds.

Really nice.  We have a bunch of zucchini already.  I like the yellow supper squash better.

I did remove polyethylene tape from a few of the 3 weeks old bud grafts.  They look pretty good in general.  On some, the buds are hard to see, on others the buds are large and plump.  A couple might not have taken, but most are promising.  Also on the lilac that I budded.

Hollyhocks, Carnations from seeds. Saving Four O'Clock seeds. 8.21.14

Four O'Clock Seeds.  8.21.14

Collecting 4:00 Seeds.  8.21.14

 I collected seeds from the Four O'Clock plants.  They might grow fine from the roots.  I collected seeds just because I can.

They are open pollinated.  There is a good chance they may not come true from seeds.  That's fine with me.

I just lean the seed-containing tips into a labeled envelope and shake.  The ripened seeds fall in with no effort at all.  In fact, moving the plants, lots of seeds fall off.

I labeled the envelopes with the color of the plant I collected from.  Even if they don't come true, If I start them next year that should give me a diversity of types.  I can grow separately from red, yellow, white, yellow marble, and orange marble.

This is about 6 weeks for the carnation seedlings.  I just sprinkled the seeds on top of the potting soil, scratched them in a little, and kept them watered.  I didn't know they would grow so easily.  Soon I need to divide them and pot them up either separately or in much smaller bunches.

The Hollyhocks are ficifolia  "Happy Lights".  I started them about 8 weeks ago.  I have other plants in containers, either Fordham Giant or Carnival Mix, that are almost ready to bloom, from seeds started mid June.  I mixed the varieties so I don't know which one.

Saving 4:00 Seeds for Next Year.  8.21.14

All of these are new to me.  It's great trying new plants.

Carnation Seedlings.  8.21.14

Hollyhock Seedlings.  8.21.14

Fresh Tomatoes. Okra. Pears. 8.21.14

Lemon Boy, Cherokee Purple, SuperSweet 1,000, Sungold, and one I forget.  8.18.14

Burgundy Okra.  Container Grown.  8.21.14

 Now I know you can grow okra in the Pacific NW.  It takes effort, but it can be done.  Like anything else home grown, fresh is best.  The varieties that are working best for me are Burgundy, Dwarf Long Green Pod, and Baby Bubba.  Contrary to a lot of gardening advice, they can be started inside, very early.  They don't mind transplanting at all.  For me, container growing is clearly the best way.  The deck is as good as anywhere.

Nice looking plant, too.

Tomatoes are the best ever for me.  The seeds were left over from previous years.  The Lemon Boy were many years old.  Pee-fertilizing gave me the biggest, lushest, more productive tomato plants I've had.  I did not spritz them - the shine is their own juice.

Pears.  8.21.14

I still lose a lot of pears to spoilage.  But the ones I get before spoiling, I love.  I don't know the variety here, it's a multi-graft I planted 14 years ago.  I think this one is Bartlett.