Took a stroll through the garden this morning to start my day. The Iris are just going out of bloom and I hope to deadhead this week. Have a couple clumps that need to be thinned as well.
The peonies were absolutely loaded and beautiful last week. They lasted a little longer than usual this year because we had about 2 weeks of hot dry weather. As soon as last weekends rain came it beat them down so I will deadhead and compost the tops. I wanted to start some new hot compost piles so that will give me plenty of new additions.
The Stella D' Orro day lilies are just opening up and the daffodils are finishing.
Gooseberries are absolutely loaded as well as the black currants. I now have 8 gooseberry bushes. They grow so good here on the place with little to no care thus far other than the yearly pruning.
The elderberry are just starting to set blooms but there are plenty of blooms on my 4 plants. They now reach about 8 foot tall and about 4 foot wide. Two are purchased varieties and the other two are native.
My two little pawpaw trees made it through another winter as did my 3 highbush cranberry and 3 service berry trees. All of these were additions last year and are still very young yet.
The Nanking cherry were loaded for being so young but the late freeze got the berries.
The older blueberry bushes are absolutely loaded. We were afraid we would not get any due to the late frosts/freeze but they rallied through. We dug up 7 sprouts and transplanted in a new blueberry row.
I think all 6 of my fig trees made it through the winter. It is a toss up as to if they have enough time to ripen fruit this year. Last year they did but this year the frosts were much later.
All 4 Cornelian Cherry made it through the winter and look beautiful. Slow growing and too young to produce yet but they are thriving.
We continue to harvest both asparagus and rhubarb for the freezer.
The 4 native plums are absolutely loaded with young fruit.
The grapes are just blooming as are the blackberry.
The young mulberry tree is now about 12 feet tall and has it's first mulberry fruit on it.
We added 2 new Dunbar native plums as well as 2 native Apricots to the garden this year along with a Kieffer pear and an Ayers dessert or sugar pear. Both pears are heirloom varieties that seem to grow well in this area.
Hoping your gardens are faring as well.
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI just love your blog & emails. I feel like a have a friend in you.
I am wondering, where do you get your native fruit trees, like the apricot, cherry & plum?
My place isn't nearly as lush as your area. I'm in central KY, and up on a ridge. My front yard is very rocky with sandstone outcroppings. Where there is soil, in most places it's about 4"-8" deep. My back yard is softer, but heavy with clay and full sun all day. Deciduous trees do well, but not much luck with flowering shrubs. I have 1 apple tree that we planted about 20 yrs ago. It fruits prolifically, but the apples aren't so great at maturity.
Again, thanks for sharing your garden & your life with me. I'm praying that things calm down for you & you have a peaceful & comfortable growing season. Take Care! Laurie
Laurie Hi
DeleteIf you look around there are companies and individuals that sell natives. My sand plum actually came from Stark bros nursery online as well as my Cornelian Cherry which is a native Dogwood actually. The yellow plum and pawpaw actually were a gift from a friend and actually came from the wild. The Apricot and Dunbar plum came from Oikos Nursery online. I also get some of my stock from a local permaculture nursery. My top soil like yours is rocky in places and shallow but I am constantly composting to amend it as much as possible. I don't even try apples here as they do not do well in my area but pears do according to the locals.
Wonderful blessings for all you went through last year. God bless. ♥
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda and good to see you !
DeleteGreetings Canned Quilter!! I'm so happy to see a post today. It always makes my day a little brighter.
ReplyDeleteI'm picking rhubarb and asparagus here in NE Ohio and it sounds like we had much the same weather as you did. I had baby figs on my tree by this time last year. This year I have none yet. Time will tell whether or not o get any this year. Blessings to you on this beautiful day. KimH
Blessings back at ya and we shall hope for figs before frost!
DeleteThis is a very hopeful time of year and your yard seems VERY hopeful indeed! So many good fruits- fruits of your labor- for you to enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI am hoping our blueberries will do better now that we have the mini-horse properly contained in his pasture (he was an escape artist and I suspect the culprit for blueberry bushes not flourishing...)
I am one of the few people who have never had good luck with rhubarb. I have planted it several times and still have nothing to show for it. One year I planted it and that spring I was weeding and weeding around the plants when a neighbor popped over and asked "What are you doing?" I said, "Well, I am trying to weed around this rhubarb...I have never had good luck with it and I am DETERMINED to get some this year!" To which he replied... "Don't hold your breath...because that is burdock you are weeding around!" HAHAHAHA!
I had to laugh! Burdock huh.
DeleteThe first year or so we had our blueberries the deer ravaged them regularly. Finally we got the property completely fenced off and that helped. The blueberries came out then and were able to get some height on them. They are now about 8 to 10 feet tall and we try to keep them at that height.
The rhubarb are like asparagus and very heavy feeders. SO lots of compost and rabbit manure help to keep them happy. I don't think they like heat and humidity that well either. We moved ours around until we found places that had a little shade and they seem to like it much better.
I loved hearing about your corner of the world. I hope you have a great year with all your crops! I am completely re-doing my garden. Last year was it's first year and it did great, but I wanted to get it all set out into beds to make it easier to weed. Lots of work this year, but I think in the long run it will make it a breeze to work in.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Darlene
I would love to see a tour of your garden where you have all of these plants! We have a large backyard but I'm not sure how to arrange it. We have a big wooden fence like yours.
ReplyDeleteI planted around the entire perimeter of the fence leaving grass in the very middle for a small big sunny green spot.
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