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Tuesday, October 31, 2017

No Frost on the Pumpkins.......yet.

Happy Halloween

No frost on the pumpkins, I was walking around last night at dusk and I thought for sure the chill was settling in good enough for a hard killing frost. But I got up this morning and the outside thermometer was reading 40 degrees. Oh well, I'm fine with the killing frost holding off for a bit longer. I mowed the grass in the field last night because I didn't get to it on the weekend and now I guess I do wish it would freeze up a bit so I can put the mower away for the winter. The average first frost Date for my location is October 11-20th. so It's not likely to be far off now. But  good long growing season is fine with me.
Colchicum 'White Waterlily"


I hope it's ok to repost something off the Pacific Bulb Society archive, because I was trying to find some details on the above shown cultivar and I ran across this gem from Jim Mckenney posted on the PBS in 2009.

" Colchicum 'Waterlily' itself is said to have resulted from a cross between Colchicum speciosum 'Album' with a double, white-flowered form of C. autumnale in a effort to get a large double-flowered white colchicum. 'Alboplenum' is not a sport of 'Waterlily'; if anything, it might be the double white autumnale form used to produce 'Waterlily'. However, as you noticed, it has only a few anthers. Bowles recorded another less double white-flowered form of autumnale; and if that form has more anthers, then perhaps it was used to produce 'Waterlily'.  It might be worthwhile to re-do these crosses using the white-flowered Colchicum 'Innocence' aka 'byzantinum album' instead of Colchicum speciosum 'Album'. "
Jim McKenney

Sunny and highs in the 60's for the Trick or Treating kiddos this Halloween.
Cheers,
Mark

Thursday, October 26, 2017

This is worth seeing



I swear it's not click bait and there is a story to it;

So I harvested some honey from the bee hives a few weeks ago and in the process I moved some frames around to a dead hive, that put a whole bunch of bees in an unknown location so they took a few days to reorient to the home hive, in the process a whole bunch of them ended up in the greenhouse, that evening it got pretty cold so they got stuck there. In the morning when it warmed up there was probably 800 bees in the greenhouse and a few  of them found there way to the Crocus cartwrightianus 'Marcel' Click on the video to see what it looks like:

Crocus with bees:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/0lLvhf0B8oN7T9E63


It's 70 outside right now! Crazy for almost November.

Cheers,
Mark

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Crocus goulimyi and shades of Autumn

“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

Douglas Adams



Crocus goulimyi
I'm pretty sure this is subspecies goulimyi but I didn't have time last night to dig around for the label in the fading light. Daylight savings is coming and everyone knows how I feel about that. I'm really trying to cherish these last few days of Autumn where I can get home and take a few pictures of the fall bloomers before the sunset. In a week or so that won't be the case.

Said to grow in Olive groves in the Peloponnese region of Greece, this one is a strong grower here in Western Oregon, needing very little care other than a well drained soil and a dry summer rest period. I'll have to move some out to the rock garden as this patch has nicely filled it's spot in the raised bed and needs dividing. Interestingly enough there is the remnants of an olive orchard on my drive down to Keizer Rapids Park where I sometimes go for work related field trips. I don't know that it was ever a hugely profitable endeavor here in Oregon to grow Olives but I did notice they had some fruit hanging the last time I drove by. Anyway, it stands to be stated you can grow both Olives and Crocus goulimyi here in Oregon.



Crocus banaticus
So I've been getting home every evening and going straight to the raised beds trying to get a pic of the Crocus banaticus open, but lately I've been getting home when this portion of raised bed has gotten shaded out, they have mostly closed up. I'm hoping they stay up until this weekend so I can get some actual camera shots and not just the quick phone shots.


Probably one of the nicest fall weeks I can ever remember in recent memory, it's been in the high 60's every day this week, sometimes a thick fog is hanging around for the morning commute but it's been mostly gone by the time the sun starts earnestly cresting over the Cascade range. It's really showcased the fall colors well since often times by late October we have been hit by several pineapple express weather systems (fast moving pacific fronts that shoot up out of the mid Pacific carrying what the weatherman love to call "atmospheric rivers" of moisture and often accompanied by windfields strong enough to denude the fall foliage this time of year. But this year, despite a system or two over the last few weeks it's been so amazingly beautiful. Last night you could walk around in a t-shirt until well after dark. 

Cheers,

Mark




Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Crocus thomasii



"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. "Thomas A. Edison


So much of growing plants and especially plants well outside of the native range or habitat, is learning what doesn't work. There is the classic mantra "I killed that plant a dozen times or more before I really figured out how to grow it". Maybe that's one of the things that keeps people motivated to be a better gardener, most success comes from learning from mistakes, correcting them and moving on. 

Crocus thomasii
 The saffron production continues with C. thomasii doing it's thing, An Adriatic coastal species said to grow on thin, stony soils in scrub habitat. Mine has done very well in a raised bed, with mostly pumice and some occasional top dressings of composted cow manure.
Crocus thomasii fading colors in the late autumn light.

Rhus typhina 'Tiger Eyes'
The fall colors are really just starting in, but you can see the little white puffballs of mushrooms emerging now as the temperatures have dropped consistently into the low 40's over night. I have to upgrade the temperature unit for the greenhouse, as the remote sensor wont talk to my indoor unit anymore.

Cheers,

Mark

Monday, October 16, 2017

Crocus kotschyanus



"Sometimes I wonder if the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it"

Mark Twain

My god, does nothing in politics really change in this world? Some people say it's a missatributed quote to Mr. Twain, not sure that it really matters, it's poignant today, especially if you drop the wonder, and smart people out of it, Essentially we are left with it's all a put on and the world is run by Imbeciles.




Crocus kotschyanus 'Reliant'
 This one gets described as almost "weedy", I find that a bit of a stretch, while it is a vigorous grower, that tends to migrate around the garden, it's hard to call anything with the delicate lilac flowers and wonderful golden ring centers weedy. Especially when they peak into bloom as the frost is trying to find it's way into the valley. Speaking of which, I had a little ice on the windshield this morning and I noticed that some of the summer squash had melted into black goo over the weekend, it was certainly chilly, but I guess I didn't get up early enough to see any actual frost. Certainly not the big killing frost yet, but with the snow piling up in the mountains, I'm sure it's not far off.
Crocus kotshcyanus 'Reliant'
I don't know the full story on the selection 'Reliant" but it's aptly named. I notice this one spreading around much of the bulb frames and some of the spent bulb soil piles

Another weekend, where I had a huge list of fall projects to tackle and I barely touched them. Oh Well, it was beautiful and I made the most of the weather which was cool but dry. Got to start winterizing the hose bibs and irrigation valves soon though. 

Rain coming this week. 

Cheers, 
Mark

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Tears of rage, tears of grief

"The size of a misfortune is not determinable by an outsider's measurement of it but only by the measurements applied to it by the person specially affected by it. The king's lost crown is a vast matter to the king but of no consequence to the child. The lost toy is a great matter to the child but in the king's eyes it is not a thing to break the heart about."
Mark Twain

Deeply saddened to learn some family members suffered terrible losses of homes and possession's in the fires that raged through Santa Rosa, California this weekend, nothing that I can write can make it better or ease any suffering. Glad that no one got badly hurt, and knowing the constitution of the California family members, they will rebuild bigger and better then before.




Crocus cartwrightianus 'Marcel'
The autumn crocus species bloom progresses, the rain is returning this afternoon, so while I moved a few of the pots into the greenhouse to get them to open a bit better, I wasn't able to get much in the way of photo's because they seemed to want to stay closed. I did manage to get a pretty good video of the honey bees absolutely destroying a Crocus mathewii plant for whatever pollen or nectar it could provide. I think they know that winter is coming.


More seasonal color 

Lows in the 40's, and partly cloudy with rain in the forecast.

Mark

Monday, October 2, 2017

Sternergia sicula and the harvest season

"The secret of life is to let every segment of it produce its own yield at its own pace. Every period has something new to teach us. The harvest of youth is achievement; the harvest of middle-age is perspective; the harvest of age is wisdom; the harvest of life is serenity."
Joan D. Chittister



Sternbergia sicula
Did you know this species has been studied for it's antimicrobial and antifungal properties? I wish I could access the scientific journal it's published in, but unfortunately, you have to have a paid subscription to access that sort of knowledge. Sad really, that the world has been so capitalized, marketed, monopolized, bought, sold and traded on the stock exchange that now you can't get science unless you pay for it. 
Sorry to the beautiful plant for using it as a vehicle for a rant, but I really did want to find out how effective it is as an antifungal agent, and how someone thought to test it?

Sternbergia sicula grows on limestone hills, from Greece, Italy and into Turkey. Said to require a warm site, I always wonder what they mean when they say that? Warm in Greece is different than warm in Oregon. Again, science and access for everyone. 






The harvest season is in full swing now, These are the days of fine eating. Fresh bounty everyday just a short walk across the yard. October, if it stays warm and dry has to be one of our most bountiful months in Oregon.. The salmon are swimming into the rivers in large numbers. The bow and arrow are slung by the door for afterwork pursuits in search of venison in the woods down by the creek where I grew up and the chill in the air, adds just a tinge of urgency to those autumn pursuits of game, and the preservation of this years harvest.

Warm days ahead, 70's for the day and 40's for the nights, perfect autumn weather for the harvest season.

Cheers,
Mark