Plant Propagation: The Basics Summer 2016

Today's project: OPERATION SAVE THE TREE
About a month ago I noticed a disastrous thing happening to the anchor tree in our front yard. One of the Y branches was splitting from the main trunk. Of course there is another history story here. I planted this tree shortly after building the house so probably around 1979-80. We were visiting friends at their cabin on a lake. The lake was very low that year and this little Manitoba Maple seedling was growing on what normally would have been under water in the bottom of the lake. It was only about 4-6" high and I dug him up and planted him in the front yard. Yesterday when we were in town I finally remembered to pick up a green ratchet strap to try to hold it together. This must be a common thing to happen to this tree because my daughter in Kenora has a humongous one in her yard that has a gigantic logging chain grown right into it from some previous owner having done the same repair. I couldn't figure out how to get a logging chain tight so settled for the ratchet strap.
Of course I can never get the pictures to load in the order that I want. The first photo shown is a very close up of the separation taken from the ladder as I was climbing up. 4 & 5 are further back shots of the split and 2&3 are me playing monkey and performing hernia surgery.

Sequel:
After shot of tighter split, another surgery shot and shot from the ground of well camouflaged ratchet strap permanently installed in tree. I am surprised the tree didn't get destroyed last night in the high winds before I got the surgery done.
Keith

I had bolts and cables installed in my big elm to keep it from splitting. Wasn't cheap but it has held together and quit "bleeding" at the center

Wow, that's quite the split. Great surgery job! If you pay attention to how the tree is growing when young you can prevent that situation by pruning to make sure you always have one strong leader branch. The Y situation always weakens and splits down the road.

Thanks for sharing your experience wth the elm Gypsi and Robin for your advice. I will keep that in mind for my rejuvenating red maple in the back yard. It has several new suckers developing. In the fall I will thin them down to 3 of the strongest and in the spring I will do some pruning to prevent the Y situation.

If you remember a shot I posted in the spring inside my greenhouse with about 6 flats of very uniform marigolds encaptioned "A few marigolds", this is where most of them went. To give you bearings on where this fits into the big picture, the pond is right behind that row of shrugs in the back. These are Durango Bee marigolds.

You just can't beat mass plantings for esthetics, that's another thing you're good at Keith. It's the smartest way to go if you have the space. Did you grow the Durango from seed?

I like that ,!!! Keith

Robin I agree ,, that is lots of room ,,

Very nice. My version of a mass planting is usually a mix of things that bloom at different times, since I don't do annuals much. Mine don't have the "pop" that this does

Mine look like this so far , no full views and unfinished as to mulch ,,
I will do a wild look photo in a while Like September, lol
7 Tithonia are actually there Annual here , pic2 , This the largest so far
Zinnia , somewhere in the 20's they number There sitting a few feet in front of the Tithonia . Last season a couple of the Tithonia got 8 ft tall

mason bee propagation:

looks like fun Gypsi ,,

I am compost propagating ,,lol
a garden bucket in blue , through the chopper , into a little pail . the big blue bucket full reduces to a 1/3 full little sandpail

Durango were definitely from seed. I would never buy flats of something that could be started from seed. I bought a pack of 1000 seeds last year for something like $9.95 and seeded 2 years crop from them then threw out what was left. I don't keep seed older than 2 years. To buy all those would cost a small fortune.
Ju, tithonia is something I just take a notion to grow every once in a blue moon, but for some unknown reason the last time I seeded them not a single seed came up. But here they only grow about 3 ft. high. I was looking for something tall and orange to grow in ground in front of that 40 foot lattice wall with planter on top. Maybe next year I will try again.
Bee shot was interesting Gypsi

got even better. chasing a 2nd carpenter ant colony happened to expose mason bee larva. I think I got them all tucked in with their pollen store in most of the block in a clear bread box with a damp sponge on my kitchen table. Weird science rules

Keith I have trouble here getting enough heat for them to germinate , so I can imagine there it would be difficult , Seedlings are slow and some difficulty exists because of temperature ,, definitely a sub tropical .

Gypsi I'm enjoying the bee show I have never kept them , have had a few wild ones move in once in a while ..

now I know what mason bee larva look like - a lot like honeybee larva. And now you know too. I carefully used a plastic spoon to line them up between their groceries and reassembled the block and it is now in a clear plastic breadbox on my table. with a sponge for humidity and a couple of tiny vent holes. I have NO idea what I am doing with masons.

just beautiful, all of the flowers and your gardens.

Debra only trying to be Flowerfull ,, As flower full as you I doubt I could ever be lol I love that pillow ,, coool and neeto ,, Yes I'm feeling child like this evening ,,

Nice lively variety Ju!

Thank you Keith ,, outdoors I am having trouble getting some plants to grow and stay a while . so I am trying , blue and pink asters and Fleabane( Erigeron That will go with the white ones , a phlox was there last year but I have trouble telling the difference until bloom time with many ,
The blue and pink should help overcome the common weed look , which i like , But not many do , Butterflies and bees really like those here , so it is good and even great with me ,

Great, now I'm hankering for a home grown Tomato...mmm. Really nice flowers Ju, great colors too.

Gypsi, You and Ju are always into something different. Interesting stuff for sure.

Here's Daylily Black Falcon Ritual. Is the second one Fleabane? Astrantia major, Heliotrope (smells heavenly).

Yes Robin , that is a Fleabane , and it looks like it was suppose to be pink ? Mine here are white ,, bright white . and look like the picture as smaller ,, anything from 2 to 5 ft tall here

oops , Nice Daylily , and super flowers !!!

This message was edited Jul 6, 2016 12:18 AM

Jealous looking at all the day lilies! Going to have to get me some of those. I used to have a very small old fashioned orange one that was my grandmother's in what was my first attempt at a perennial bed. It was a really sick looking bed and always weed ridden so it didn't take much coaxing from the kids to roundup the whole thing and turn it into lawn. Then I backed right off perennials except for Hostas for a while and just wrote it off as "not my thing". Then last year I converted an annual bed in front of the garage to a perennial bed and that one is actually quite a success. I have only one photo of it yet but have held off showing it to you until the lilies (orange Orientals--Forever Susan and another very similar that I have already forgotten the name of) and one each of red, yellow and orange Echinachea are blooming. It is already quite stunning without blooms because of the different colours of sedum in it. I think where I would like to add some day lilies is in the mixed annual and perennial bed in front of the greenhouse where I showed you the non climbing clematis.
Keith

Hey those ditch lilies are edible. Ran across an article this morning. http://ledameredith.com/daylily-foragers-delight-4-edible-parts/
in case mine get out of hand.

The Fleabane was trying to be pink, the buds were more pink than the open blooms. They get about 2' tall.

Gypsi Boy scout Manual use to give instructions on how to foil wrap and ground cook daylily fulva roots Also that is practice for ripening steam heating in the ground a Green Banana ,

Sister and neice are not safe around tools here and they move in a way that scares the cats . This morning my sister was going around swatting flies .
opens my room door opens my window while spraying raid all over the house She scares one of the cats , He jumps over me while I am a sleep and now I am Scratched seriously .
What a wake up ,, Big scar down the side of my chest and three large bloody scratches on my left forearm ,,
Their always freaking out about me hurting myself around the tools and equipment , since I don't although rarely have , I the girl is trying to get even ,, Wow , ow ,,
sorry for the stray ,,

Ju a scared cat can do a LOT of damage, and treat those scratches well. Raid in the house? that is dangerous. I think way more dangerous than tools and equipment

Gypsi My sister is one of those people who can cut her foot off with an electric string trimmer , Cuts herself with a lawnmower that stationary and off ,, The gal ain't safe some days ,
40 yrs ago I might be in Jail for assault or something like that , Cat attack and raid spray from a room invade Is not a nice thing to wake up to ,
I am in a growl mood now as have been for hours ,
she feels bad about it , I feel bad about it , But I am still growling
Kind of starting to laugh a little about it , but it is still not funny ,
Blades , claws , and fangs , are painful at least at first ..
Baby wipes , listerine for now , a little later clean clay and oil I will cover clean the scratches .

I forgot .. and being gassed by bug spray is not where I would be either ,,

This message was edited Jul 6, 2016 1:19 PM

Wow Ju, that was really unfortunate. What a nasty way to wake up. Fumigation should be done when all pets and humans are out of the house for hours. Cat scratches infect really easy, if I even get a nick from a claw I'll wash it with soap and water and spread some Polysporin on it immediately.

You have every right to be in a growl mood (I really like that phrase BTW).

Aha!!! A better idea , Today's ,, blooms ,, flowers ,, anything but a bad mood ,,,!!! LOL !

Syricus
Zinnia
Centaura Scabiosa (Knapweed
Oregano
And ,,,, Fleabane for Robin ,,,

Oh your Oregano sure looks inviting, okay Ju I'm sufficiently distracted. Thanks for the Fleabane! Here's mine when it was just in bud.

Robin , oh well if the pink asters or pink Fleabane are not pink I will add to acidifying the soil for color ,

A steel molded T add blade together for shredder , coated in super glue , except for the blade and bolts , may have to change those someday ,, obviously not done with finesse ,,

Finesse doesn't always get the job done.

fleabane? I thought those were asters in my yard?

Gypsi do they bloom Spring summer ,,, Summer Fall , ?

well my shredder ran long enough to get a Half bucket of soil mix for the greens ,,

Robin , Tough and long lasting , Resilient and Durable ,,Does ,,,, That is the try for

Just fall. Pulled as weeds before I got bees

There Asters , look a bunches alike , Fleabane is late spring through summer ,
Asters are Mostly Fall to hard Frost ,

Well look at that, I think mine is Erigeron pulchellus and the common name is Robin's plantain according to
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ERPU

lol no wonder it blooms for you it got your name , lol
I am already cleaning seeds again ..
Germination testing , Kale , Spinach Mustard , and a few

This message was edited Jul 6, 2016 10:34 PM

I didn't collect any of those...I should have. I'm right there with you cleaning seeds; Columbine, Myosotis (forget-me-not), Rock Cress and Gaura.

I offered some last fall in a trade not many takers ,, Whether I like the greens or not i eat a few , good minerals and rare minerals , combinations ,,
These planted the same time ,
one days difference ,
Pic 1 with mint and Burdock green mulch (rainwater ))
pic two , same to start with , this without Mint and Burdock
one day made a bunch of difference ,,