Thursday, May 28, 2009

Garden Glimpses : Late May 2009

One of the great things about gardening is that every day, there is something new to discover. Lately I have been too busy during the week, so doing major gardening (mostly weeding) sessions on Saturdays. But I try to get outside every couple of days to at least walk about and see what is new. This evening did not disappoint.

A number of plants have seeded themselves among our stone-faced steps and gravel pathway which connects the lower yard to the upper yard. I pull the ones which look out of place or are too weedy, but have left some where they fit in nicely. This one found a very cozy and natural-looking spot:
Flower on the pathway
I plan to relocate these weedy daisies when they are finished flowering, but even these "common" flowers add some charm to the pathway:
Daisies on the pathway
This tricolour honeysuckle is filling in nicely against our cedar fence, and it loaded with blooms this year:
Tricolour honeysuckle
I discovered that the rhodo which is tucked in the corner against the shed, now almost hidden behind the Italian Plum tree, is just coming into bloom:
Rhododendrum flower
I found the first bloom of the year on my white iris, a treasured gift from my friend Irene:
Beautiful white iris
The first flower has appeared on my tomato plants. I have 2 "sweet 100" and 2 "sweet 1000" tomatoes this year. So if all goes well, I guess I can expect approx 2,200 fruits:
First tomato flower
My climbing hydrangea, which started as a tiny shoot less than 5 years ago, and now completely covers its concrete retaining wall, has finally shown 2 flower heads (umbels, I guess?) this year. Not that I was anxious about flowers, since the twisty vines in winter and the lush foliage in summer is more than enough to earn its spot in the garden:
Climbing hydrangea flower
I don't have the name of this orange flower handy, but its yellow relative grows as a native weed in this area, some of it just beyond my fence on the ravine side. I sure do like this cheery orange version, though:
Pretty orange flower
The smoke tree is getting ready to smoke:
Smoke tree about to start smoking
There were lots of fruits to discover also, such as these Bartlett pears. I am amused by how they grow "upside down" until they get heavy enough for the fruit to drop to the orientation I'm used to seeing pears in:
Tiny pears growing upside down
The espalier trees always perform well with fruiting, mainly due to all other growth being so restricted, the tree has nowhere else to expend its energies other than into producing fruit. This is one of our espaliered apples:
Espalier apple tree with fruit
...and espaliered asian pears:
Espaliered asian pears
I try to thin the espalier fruits to only 1 per clump, and even then that may be too dense, I should probably thin more aggressively, and try for one fruit every 4 inches.

I started grapes against the shed a couple of years ago, and they are really filling in nicely this year:
Grape vines growing on shed
And for the first time ever, I see lots of tiny grapes forming:
Closeup of tiny grapes forming
The Italian plum tree, which bore 5 fruits last year, seems to have dozens of tiny fruits, hiding among the leaves (and hard to photograph well):
Tiny italian plums
But the biggest and most exciting surprise tonight, which prompted me to call my husband and kids out to see for themselves, was our peach tree. Do you remember how we just got the peach tree last year, and it played dead for a long while after it was planted? Then this year, it showed that single flower? Well, that single flower has produced a tiny, fuzzy peach! It is so small, you still need to use your imagination on this one, but it is for sure a little peach!!:
The first tiny peach on my peach tree

2 comments:

O.I.M said...

the garden looks great. I am so in love with all your fruit trees. Last year a neighbour passed along a small plum tree. it will take a while for it to produce any fruit. It's all of two feet tall. I am toying with the idea of starting some grapes. Yours look good. congratulations on the peach.
irena

Gardenista said...

You do have lots of nice edibles going there! I have grown the sweet 1000 and their yellow sister, sweet gold. I found the yellow ones to be the very sweetest. The sweet 1000 are a type bred to be superior to the sweet 100's. The difference between them is that the sweet 1000's are more resistant to splitting of the skins (often a problem with lots of rain). I'd probably just stick with the new and improved one, but you'll be able to do a direct comparison!

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