Monday, July 20, 2020

Flowers and Some Honeybees. 7.20.2020

A lot of flowers bloomed while I was in the hospital.  I had decided to leave the artichokes, because I don't know how to cook them anyway and they have cool but weird looking flowers.  It turned out that the honeybees like them, some had 6 or more bees per flower.   It was like a honeybee party among strange blue trees.

Artichoke with honeybees.  7.20.2020

Artichoke with Honeybees. 7.20.2020

Dahlia.  7.20.2020


Mixed flowers.  7.20.2020

Home Made Daylily Hybrid.  7.20.2020

Petunia, Grown From Seeds.   7.20.2020

Peach Bud Grafts. 7.20.2020

I was hospitalized and had abdominal surgery last week.  Last night was the first time I was able to get into the garden for a look and not much else.  Here are the "Sunny Day" leaf curl resistant Peach grafts on Lovell rootstock.  They took.  I unwrapped them.  It was a little late, and my wrapping technique might have been a bit tight or uneven but they might be OK.  I can't believe I was able to graft peaches.  Its hot and dry outside so they will need good watering.

Peach Bud Graft, about 4 weeks later.  7.20.2020

Peach Bud Graft, about 4 weeks later.  7.20.2020

Sunday, July 12, 2020

Babycakes Blackberry. 7.12.2020

Here is how Babycakes Blackberry is doing for me.  I bought the plant last Spring at Tsugawa.  It already had blossoms at the time.  Those fruits did not fill in well.  If I remember correctly, the later fruits, on new floricanes, filled in better.

This year, the floricanes again seem to have less than complete pollination on at least the earliest fruit.  The earliest fruits, again, are not well filled in at all.  This may be due to chill and rain when they were first blooming.  The seller claims they don't need a pollinator, but did they really test that?  If they do need one, then that could be a factor.  This Babycakes bloomed long before any of my other blackberries did. 

It looks like the later berries will be better filled in.  We will see.  Plus, there are new primocanes growing.  I want this one to work out.  It is small enough to have in my miniature tree garden, which is nice.

Babycakes Blackberry.  7.12.2020

Babycakes Blackberry.  7.12.2020

Flowers. 7.12.2020

Lots of flowers blooming now. It's turning out that a lot of them are from seeds I saved myself, but also seeds I bought, and plants that I've grown over the years.
Oriental lilies.  I don't know the name any more.  They only survive here in containers.  7.12.2020

Echinacea, grown from seeds about 4 years ago.  7.12.2020

Cosmos from 3rd generation volunteers, cilantro from saved seeds.  7.12.2020

A daylily I created by pollinating two varieties that I liked, a few years ago.  7.12.2020

Chives, wild petunia, cilantro, and rose moss.  7.12.2020

A flower basket that Ning put together.  7.12.2020

My first attempt at growing poppies from seeds.  Now I know how.  7.12.2020



Crocosmia, descended from some I planted 20 years ago.  7.12.2020

Saturday, July 11, 2020

Grafts That Didn't Work. 7.11.2020

The vast majority grafts this Spring worked fine.  The apple - on  - apple were all successes, except for Pristine on Geveva 222. 

Pears on odd rootstocks generally didn't work out.  It looks like Bartlet-type on Chinese Haw will be OK.  The same pear on Serviceberry, Bud-9 with Winter Banana Apple, or Aronia, did not take. 

I grafted 3 chestnuts cultivars onto the Marisard seedling.  It may be too soon to know, because there might be delayed graft failure.  They all grew.  When I unwrapped Marivale, it still looked OK, but when I unwrapped Marigoule, the graft fell off even though there was a foot of healthy looking growth.

Cleft Graft of Small Pristine Graft, onto Geneva 222.  There was good growth, but it fell apart when unwrapped.  7.11.2020

Whip & Tongue Graft Marigoule Chestnut onto Marissard Seedling Chestnut.  It grew well but fell apart when unwrapped.  7.11.2020

Whip and Tongue Graft of Marivale onto Marissard Chestnut Seedling.  Looks OK.  7.11.2020