Sunday, June 18, 2017
Snake. 6.17.17
I'm guessing this is a garter snake, and feeds off moles and voles, bugs, slugs, and snails. We saw 4 snakes today while planting beans. They are not particularly afraid of us.
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Grafted Ginkgo Tree. 6.13.17
Here is the growth of my dad's ginkgo tree, grafted onto a rootstock from locally obtained ginkgo seeds. I grafted last year. Then, the scion grew only a small tuft of leaves. This year, it is growing by leaps and bounds.
I think ginkgo is more difficult to graft compared to apples and plums. Of the three that I grafted, one did not take at all, and one fell off this spring, after one year. But this one is clearly thriving. This was a whip-and-tongue graft.
I think ginkgo is more difficult to graft compared to apples and plums. Of the three that I grafted, one did not take at all, and one fell off this spring, after one year. But this one is clearly thriving. This was a whip-and-tongue graft.
More Kitchen Garden. 6.13.17
Sunday, June 11, 2017
Kitchen Garden. 6.11.17
Tomato Plants. 6.10.17 |
Bodaceous is a yellow sweet corn, SE type (sugary enhanced) - not the supersweet type, but remains sweet longer on the plant - matures in about 75 days, has improved disease resistance, and is well adapted to the Northwest. Since I'm not planning to save the seeds another year, I planted the entire packet in 4 rows, and will thin to a foot apart if germination turns out to be good.
I noted that a blackberry plant - Arapaho - had purple leaves. Researching that, it appears to be caused by phosphorus deficiency. I will need to find a supplement for that. In some cases, I read that plants with deficient magnesium in the soil, are not able to take up phosphorus. Since I know from soil test that my soil is magnesium, and probably not phosphorus, deficient, I will apply some Epsom Salts, 2 tablespoons per 2 gallons of water, for more of my kitchen garden plants. When I did that for Saijo Persimmon, the result was dark green leaves, instead of the usual pale green / yellow leaves. So I think it helped. I applied that amount of Epsom salts solution for the tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn, and chestnut tree saplings, then ran out. That kind of gets away from the concept of phosphorus deficiency, but phosphate was normal to high in my soil. Other side of yard, but that I what I have to go on for the time being.
I don't know if I blogged on this - I added another horticultural blackberry, Triple Crown. My readings pointed me to this variety, tetraploid - as is Prime Ark Freedom but I don't know about Ebony King. Triple Crown is described as disease resistant, highly productive, and a delicious fruit that works well in Pacific NW. I bought the plant at a local nursery, already green and growing; bare-rooted it carefully, removed planting compost, and planted in the native soil of my garden. I protected from deer and rabbits, with chicken wire.
I read that primocanes should have the growing tip removed, with both primocane-bearing and floricane-bearing, varieties of blackberry, at around 3 feet tall. My brambles are young, and only two have primocanes that tall, so I tipped them. Tipping means the growing tip is snapped off by bending. That promotes growth of branches, resulting in much higher yield and stronger plants.
Monday, June 05, 2017
Daylily Seedling in Bloom. Kitchen Garden. 6.5.17
Daylily flower, seedling started in early 2015. 6.5.17 |
Currently, this daylily is in a container with other daylilies and lilies. I may keep it there for a while, seems like a good spot.
In the kitchen garden:
-Tomatoes are growing nicely.
-Two days ago I planted the 3rd set of sweet corn. I transplanted the few plants that germinated from the 2st set, to a grouping of 6. The second set had better germination, and I think I will have 4 rows of 5 plants each, when they are bigger. The first batch was Trinity, the second was Bodaceous, and the third was something from Territorial Seeds, but I forget the variety.
-Peppers are growing nicely.
-I planted the Chinese wide beans that I pre-started in wet paper towel / ziplock, last week. Some had the first root, or the beginning of the first root. These beans were seeds that I saved from last year, which I grew for very old seeds, I think more than 10 years - seeds that were in the closet. They are a traditional wide bean, used as green beans, originating from Northeast China. Germination of those old seeds was less than 10%, but I'm expecting something close to full germination from this batch now.
I expect to plant one more batch of Chinese wide beans, and one more batch of sweet corn, in a couple of weeks.
Labels:
Chinese Beans,
Daylily hybridization,
Daylily seeds,
peppers,
Sweet Corn,
tomato
Thursday, June 01, 2017
Thinned "Jonared" apples. 5.30.17 |
This is the time to thin fruits, if it's not already done. The developed the most cells per fruit at the early stage, so thinning them results in better development. Many of my grafts from the past 3 years will have their first taste this year, including Porter (one), Newtown Pippin (one), Baldwin (5), Arlie Red Flesh (6), Goldrush (6), Priscilla (4). For best graft development, better to remove the first fruits, but I'm not getting younger so I am leaving them as if they are understock branches, so I get to taste them. Since I thinned aggressively, they still have a chance for more fruit next year.
Flowers in Bloom. 5.30.17
First Flower on Daylily Seedling. 5.30.17
First Flower on Daylily Seedling. 5.30.17 |
This one was protected by growing with other daylilies in a barrel planter, and today it was the first of all of my daylilies to bloom. It's not an idea spot - shady - but there it is. Nice pinkish color. The tepals are pointed. That might change in future flowers, or not. I didn't bother to label, but I think this is an offspring of a yellow that was incorrectly labeled, or more likely a correctly labeled tetraploid that reverted to diploid. I actually like the unusual appearance and the subtle pink color, with green throat, and shape that makes me think of trilliums. Another is making buds, so this is my year to see some results from daylily hybridizing.
Meanwhile, the first batch of daylily seedlings that I planted out from last year's hybridizing, were all eaten by slugs, except for one that somehow survived. I left the second batch in containers that dried out, noticed this week that they started to re-grow, and planted among peppers and tomatoes in the vegetable garden. If they grow, we'll see what happens.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Bearded Irises. 5.24.17
Sans Souci in front of Indian Chief. 5.23.17 |
Seedling, Immortality X Sunny Disposition. 5.23.17 |
Interestingly, one of the better bloomers this year is a hybrid I made several years ago from white "Immortality" crossed with yellow "Sunny Disposition". This came out white with yellow beard, and the petals are more substantial than either parent. It's fragrant, too. But the leaves are ugly.
Maybe as long as they have full sun, they can be in the most neglected part of the yard. We'll see.
Indian Chief. 5.23.17 |
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