24 hours later. . .

 

Peony 24 hours later

Once again, I saw this peony from our kitchen window this morning. I decided to follow it every 24 hours until she reaches full. That thought sparked a memory from my childhood. When I was a kid, I would wander around our yard, which was 1/4 acre suburban lot. It was one of those houses that was built in the '50's to accommodate those moving out of the city to the tamer (less colorful) climes of the burbs. Not a lot of land, but boy did I love that backyard. 

Developing raspberries

I loved to wander around, touch the various plants (spirea, forsythia and arborvitae, lined up against the fence line like so many soldiers), and just Look at things. Dandelions were the bane of every homeowner back then, but I found them fascinating. I couldn't figure out how they bore flowers, seedheads, and then a sort of umbrella'd thing that you could pluck all of those seeds out of. How could one plant produce all of those different things? So I started following one plant regularly. I don't remember if it was every day, or every couple of days, but I eventually figured out that first came the flower, then the pluck-able seed head, then that glorious little open fluffy seed structure.

We didn't have the internet then, of course, but we do now. Check this out. Neil Bromhall has made a time lapse video of the whole process. What a world. Be sure to notice the aphids (little green guys) wandering on the stem throughout the video. Dandileon progression

Developing apples

I don't really have a point, except that someone should have figured out early on that I had a serious bent for plants. I'm sure my Mom was just relieved that I kept myself busy out there. 

There was, however, the time when I picked a bunch of the neighbor's roses. . they were growing on the fence between our two properties. My Mom dragged me crying profusely over to Mrs. Bond to apologize for picking her roses. She was most gracious. I was most humiliated. Good times.

Peach Leaf Curl

Other images! There is a lot of fruit developing out there. All looks pretty good, though in the spirit of full disclosure, notice the curled peach leaves in one of these images. 

This is Peach Leaf Curl (inventive name), and I am partly to blame for it. Somehow, putting on the dormant oil spray this spring completely slipped my mind. The fungal spores that cause this disease overwinter in the bark of the tree, and its development is favored by cool wet weather. Lesson learned.

Developing blueberries

Pollination on the apples and peaches is adequate, though I don't think I'll have a lot of fruit thinning to do. Notice the unpollinated flower husk next to the developing peach. We had a lot of bumble bees, but honey bees are scarce in these woods.

Developing peach