Garden Plans

[hrj]

I guess the seasonal cycle must be stirring something within me, because no sooner have I finished the rose pruning (still have a lot of other pruning to do) than I start getting antsy about ordering bare-root plants. I generally don't have to worry about "last frost" (heck, don't worry much about "first frost") and there's an advantage to getting things planted when the ground is nice and wet. Easier to dig and more chance for the new plantings to get a lot of good soaking.

So last night, almost on impulse, I looked through my rose vendor bookmarks and ordered two each of Rosa gallica and the "Ispahan" Damask rose. These will be going in the formal garden, one in each corner. That was always the intention, but I didn't have the last corner bed ready in time last winter, so I filled in with squashes and cucumbers instead. The general plan is to surround the formal garden with fence-like plantings, so the roses will anchor the corners with the berry canes forming the "walls", with an opening in the middle of each side. Currently the berries are supported by stakes and string, but I've gotten some redwood to build something more sturdy. Energetic boysenberries get a bit heavy!

The next shopping task will be to order a few more fruit trees from Trees of Antiquity. I was reminded last year that the Black Tartarian needs a pollinator. My other cherry is a Morello which is self-pollinating but won't pollinate the Tartarian. I'd love to get another old variety, like a Montmorency, but alas the suggested Tartarian pollinators are more modern: Bing, Coral, Napoleon, Rainier, Lapins, Van. I'll probably go for the Napoleon, which dates to the 1700s (yes, for me, that's "more modern"). It's tempting to toss in a Montmorency as well.

I have room for a few more trees in the designated "orchard" part of the yard and I'm dithering on what to commit the space to. Given my love for plums, there's a temptation to put in a damson, except that I'm 80% convinced that the established plum is close enough to a damson to make no difference, and I'd rather not double up just for the certainty. Pears are tempting, but all the older varieties require a pollinator, so I'd be committing to two trees. Still lots of old apple varieties, but with four apples already (the established tree, the two old varieties that fruited last year, and the multi-variety espalier) I think maybe I have enough! So I'm still dithering there.

Comments

[joycebre.livejournal.com]

Not that my vote counts, but Montmorency Cherries are delicious. And peaches are too. Especially the older yellow ones. Everyone has white peaches now, which can be boring in presentation.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

It *is* tempting to add Montmorencies as well. I do worry that eventually the birds will tell all their buddies about the cherry feast. I keep thinking, if I plant the cherries in a single block, I could rig a temporary net-cage around them during ripening season. I have this vision of using a couple of those "EZ-up" frames, covered with netting.

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

My nursery guy is very emphatic, by the way, that one must never prune plums during the wet season, so as to ward off fungus. Since he's pretty sure that the mysterious malady that affects my plums is a fungus, I'm following his advice. I already do a pretty thorough summer pruning on it anyway. He says summer pruning is the only pruning for plums! (he called it June pruning but that is senseless with my Satsuma, which ripens the first week of August--or the last week of July these last few years).

In A Mediterranean Feast, Wright mentions many intriguing fruits of especially the Medieval Arabic world--Moorish Spain & the Maghrib are not far off climatically--the most intriguing of which to me was a sweet quince edible without cooking. But alas unless we undertake the heroic task of removing the flowering quince, which is a favorite of the birds here so I'm not eager to do it, there is no space here for a new tree.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

Huh. I've always pruned the plums in the winter like everything else and don't know that I've had problems. But I'll try to remember to do it in the summer next time. Harder to do with the ornamental red-leaf plums, though.

[kareina.livejournal.com]

I love living in the far north, but, occasionally, when I read your garden posts, I am a bit envious of the yummy food that grows in your area which is unlikely to like living here at all, even if I had the time/energy/requisite knowledge to try planting it.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

We all have our envies. And when it comes down to it, I wouldn't trade my growing season for snow!

[beanolc.livejournal.com]

You inspire me to pay more attention to the greenery around my home.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

*votes for a quince*

[hrj.livejournal.com]

I *have* a quince. It's been in the ground for two years and gave me two nice sizable quinces last season. I expect good things from it.

[hudebnik.livejournal.com]

We've got two dwarf quince trees in our front yard that are in their fifth or sixth year. This year we got at least a hundred fruits, but every single one was largely worm-eaten, probably by Oriental fruit moths. Cutting apart every single fruit for salvageable bits, we got about six cups of clean flesh this year.

We've got room for another two or three small trees on the lawn and/or sublawn, and have been debating what to put in. I was leaning towards one each of two old apple varieties, e.g. white Pearmain and Newtown Pippin (a variety created about three miles from here), but shalmestere is concerned about apples dropping on parked cars, and favors a Montmorency cherry (which sounds good too).

[hrj.livejournal.com]

I should think that cherries dropping on parked cars would be a different problem! I have issues with worms in my established apple and keep meaning to do the research necessary to address it. I still get plenty of good apples, but I don't advise biting into one randomly without cutting it open!

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I loved our Montmerency cherry at our previous place. They make far better pies than Morellos. Our damask rose we named "Audrey Two" because of its thorns and wild growing, though.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

I'm not so much into pies -- they tend to involve too much sugar. But when I actually get enough cherries to worry about it, I may reconsider.