Update on the tree peonies

After 2 weeks of very warm weather with highs usually in the lower 70s and lows around 50, all the peonies have really taken off like crazy. It is only 16 days after my initial blog on peonies and some of them have gone from barely poking out to being well leafed out. Here's the link to the peony blog from 16 days ago to show the huge difference. http://stevesbamboogarden.blogspot.com/2012/03/tree-peonies-starting-to-wake-up.html

Starting with the tree peony seedlings, most of them are almost fully grown now. They might need protection if we get a late freeze.

Asian pear seedling at different stages of development

Just doing a quick blog on some asian pear (pyrus pyrofolia seedlings).

New seedlings

Signs of spring part 2012, still in winter

With day time highs in the 70s and lows lingering around 50 in the last few days and for at least another week, it is basically May weather up here. I just hope it stays warm so all these plants that are sprouting don't get killed. I can expect a lot of these plants to bloom before April as it almost feels like summer by now.

Musa basjoo banana: Over 2 feet of the psuedostem survived on these guys and all of them seem to be doing great. Let's hope we don't get a late freeze, but spring emerging leaves on basjoo are semi-hardy.

Tree peonies starting to wake up

Ever since the start of February I have started to see tree peony seedlings pop up all over the place, however some of them got frost bitten since it is too early for them to start coming up. In order to survive, they simply need to successfully put out a leaf and take in energy over the summer so they can grow a lot stronger the next year.

Here are some of the TP seedlings from 23 February 2012. These are some of the ones coming out too early for their own good since their initial leaf is prone to freeze damage.

Uncovering the bamboos for spring

Since it is already warm enough with little to no threat of sub zero temperatures left in the forecast, I decided to remove most of the tarps from my bamboos so they can get some sun, and ensure that they don't heat up under the tarps to make shoots too early. They came out of their tarps looking great. The only leaf burn that happened was to the unprotected portions, and that is still very insignificant as our winter low only got down to 0.4F(-17C) which is not enough to cause that much leaf burn on the hardiest species, as long as it is a short exposure.

There was nearly a foot of snow which is nearly gone now after 2 days, and temperatures are lingering above freezing day and night around 30-45F since the warm winter continues and here are some of the pictures.

Phyllostachys dulcis

Some of the new plants I am starting indoors over winter

I'm all about propagation and growing plants from seeds especially during the winter when not much is happening.

Starting with my asian pear seedlings(pyrus pyrofolia) , I started with 10 seeds from a single fruit and scarified them in hot tap water twice, then planted them in a pot, and so far 3 of them have sprouted. I'm hoping for more to follow. They are supposed to require a 90 day dormancy, but they seem to be working fine without it.

cold hardy succulents ready to take off for spring

One of the small plants I like growing are cold hardy succulents like sempervivums and sedums because they look kind of unique and are completely hardy in zone 6. Some of the bigger sempervivum varieties are prone to getting eaten by deer, but it depends on their color and where they are planted. Planting them closer to objects like a house, bricks, or deer repellant plants can keep them away.

Sempervivums also known as hens and chicks usually start growing in the winter as long as the soil is not frozen and continue growing until the summer when the soil dries up, generally producing offsets by around May and they go dormant in the summer when the soil is too dry for them to grow. They will just sit there until around October when the soil becomes moist again, and they get a bit bigger since these are cold weather plants.

Here are some of them from my huge collection