April 2019 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Leena]

Finally spring is slowly reaching us.Today and tomorrow the weather is going to be around -5 at night

Kris, it is the same here, still cold nights, but it is nice to see, that there are plants which can cope with that.
You have a very pretty Adonis. For some reason, I have lost almost all my Bulbocodium last year, maybe they didn't like the very dry and hot summer, I'm not sure.

[François Lambert]

Mr. Lambert,

Thank you for sharing the story concerning Prunus cerasus 'Schaarbeekse'.     Very interesting.

Hello Robert,


I'm proud of this unique 'gastronomic heritage', unfortunately these trees are under pressure because it's no longer economically viable to grow these for the fruits - other varieties of sour cherries can be pruned & harvested mechanically.  There used be lots of big orchards of these trees, but nowadays they are more & more confined to private gardens where old specimens are remaining.  In the wild they suffer of habitat loss.  But there is some hope.  The brewery Oud Beersel http://www.oudbeersel.com/ planted an orchard for their own usage - seedling trees - and the agronomic research department of Pamel is trying to select clones that can be pruned & harvested mechanically.  And I have a potfull of seedlings to plant out next year.

Here's another piece of  fruit trees heritage : Pyrus Communis 'jeskespeer', named after the gardener who took care of this tree in the garden of the deanery of Ninove and who made this tree popular in the region (his name was 'Jozef').  That was before the French revolution, so it's already an old variety, but still vigorously growing and very productive.  And I have two of these trees in the garden.  It's one of the earliest varieties to ripen.

I love the blossom of the fruit trees and look forward to the apple trees getting covered by the blossom.

[Robert]

Mr. Lambert,

When I was young I worked in agriculture grafting fruit trees. On occasions, I was called out to commercial orchards to top work the fruit trees to newer varieties. There were often old fruiting varieties that where brought over from Europe (back when it was easy to do such things < 1920). There were some interesting stories surrounding those old trees. Thank you for taking the time to share the stories and history of your local heirloom fruits. For me it is incredibly fascinating and I enjoy the history and stories greatly.     

[kris]

Thanks Thomas.

Kris, it is the same here, still cold nights, but it is nice to see, that there are plants which can cope with that.
You have a very pretty Adonis. For some reason, I have lost almost all my Bulbocodium last year, maybe they didn't like the very dry and hot summer, I'm not sure.

Leena I have the same experience with the bulbocodium. Three years ago I had 3 clumps with more flowers.
Here is the picture of one taken in 2016

[François Lambert]

I planted years ago an orchard with old varieties of plums, pears & apples.  Unfortunately I lost the plan of the orchard, but anyway, most trees are mislabeled in the nurseries so that in the end you still don't know what you have planted.

Anyway, in particular for pears many of the old varieties were wild seedlings found in nature and the variety was often named after the finder.  Quite famous over here is the'Légipont' pear, found in a hedge by Mr Légipont.  This pear was at the origin of a thriving industry of apple/pear syrup near Liège.

I continued this tradition when I found two seedlings on the courtyard when we bought the house, and I transplanted them to the orchard.

One is a weak growing tree producing masses of rather small fruits very similar to the Conference pear.

The other one looks very promising, is more vigorously growing and gives very late in the season large delicious pears.  We had our first fruits last year.

Of course, both trees were named by us, this one with larger fruits we call 'Duchesse de Kwatem'.  Duchesse after one of our cats, Kwatem because that's the geographic name of our place.

And the tree is flowering for his second year, much more flowers of course than last year, mostly on the higher branches, but that is very normal for seedling trees compared to grafted trees.  When a new variety is started from a seedling they always take grafting material from at least 3 meter high in the tree.  Lower branches tend to be spiny and less productive.

[Gerdk]

This is Draba bryoides - selfseeded in a tufa block

Gerd

[Leucogenes]

Fantastic Gerd...  with me this beautiful Draba will probably need at least another week, up to the bloom.

But I have just discovered another tiny one...  Androsace caduca, Tajikistan, Anzob Pass, about 3000 meters...sown 2017

[ashley]

Both very beautiful

[David Nicholson]

Both very beautiful

I'll second those.

[shelagh]

Our Leontopodium nivalis hasn't made it through the winter. Went to the compost heap today.

[Leucogenes]

Thank you Ashley and David...

Shelagh...I regret your loss of Leontopodium nivale. There are several subspecies of it. Which ones did you have? From the Eurasian Alps or the Pirin? I have already lost some. The particularly beautiful form from the Italian Abruzzi likes it very dry...I will harvest some seeds for you...when the time comes.

One should actually give these "queens of the mountains" their own theme. 😎

Despite the cold weather Douglasia laevigata "Gothenburg" shows flowers for the first time.

[Yann]

Verbascum arcturus is blooming non stop for several days, each flower as a short life.
I already pollinated many flowers 

[Robert]

I planted years ago an orchard with old varieties of plums, pears & apples.  Unfortunately I lost the plan of the orchard, but anyway, most trees are mislabeled in the nurseries so that in the end you still don't know what you have planted.

Anyway, in particular for pears many of the old varieties were wild seedlings found in nature and the variety was often named after the finder.  Quite famous over here is the'Légipont' pear, found in a hedge by Mr Légipont.  This pear was at the origin of a thriving industry of apple/pear syrup near Liège.

I continued this tradition when I found two seedlings on the courtyard when we bought the house, and I transplanted them to the orchard.

One is a weak growing tree producing masses of rather small fruits very similar to the Conference pear.

The other one looks very promising, is more vigorously growing and gives very late in the season large delicious pears.  We had our first fruits last year.

Of course, both trees were named by us, this one with larger fruits we call 'Duchesse de Kwatem'.  Duchesse after one of our cats, Kwatem because that's the geographic name of our place.

And the tree is flowering for his second year, much more flowers of course than last year, mostly on the higher branches, but that is very normal for seedling trees compared to grafted trees.  When a new variety is started from a seedling they always take grafting material from at least 3 meter high in the tree.  Lower branches tend to be spiny and less productive.

Mr. Lambert

Another great story.  Thank you for sharing.     

Yes, I have one heirloom pear from Europe. I cannot remember its name, however it is a fairly small pear with a long narrow "neck". The flavor is the best of any European pear I have ever tasted!

[Robert]

More blooming plants from our Sacramento, California garden.



Many of our native California Iris species are in bloom now, or will be coming into bloom shortly.

This is Iris tenuissima ssp. tenuissima. It is a bit slug eaten, but more flowers will be opening soon.



Another Pacific Coast Iris hybrid from our garden.



Camassia leichtlinii ssp. suksdorfii. In my mind, this species has a great deal of untapped potential.



I cannot imagine our garden without Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons. Once the correct conditions are met, it is a long-lived species. The silvery foliage is outstanding during all seasons. The flowers are great! With effort, selections can be made that are truly outstanding.



This is the large flowered flower form of Dichelostemma capitatum ssp. capitatum from the California Channel Islands. All parts of this plant are larger than the typical forms of this species. It may have evolved through semi-domestication and selection by Native Americans (the bulbs were an important food source) or it could be a natural auto-tetraploid – maybe both.

[Leena]

In some parts of my garden snow is only now melting around peonies, while in more early part of the garden Crocus abantensis is flowering (picture from yesterday when it was sunny). I planted it last autumn and it is such a wonderful colour! Also snowdrops are still flowering.
Nights have been very cold this last week so spring is advancing very slowly.