Christmas in mid-June

Mid-June is when I peel off the lunch bags I use to protect new grafts and get a good look at the tough-to-graft species I am trying to propagate.  It feels like Christmas morning 'cause I am not sure what I am going to get.

2-for-2 on Saijo persimmon.  Saijo is probably not fully hardy here but I intend to give it the old, college try.

I am 1-for-11 on Heartnuts so far.  I might have more push later but only time will tell.  You have to be fatalistic and stoic when grafting walnuts outside in the upper mid-West.  The upside is that I have one more heartnut in my collection than I had last fall.

On chestnuts I am about 4-for-12.  I now have Kyoung, Ness (2 takes) and Patterson and  growing on the property.

Image copyright Michael Nave.  Source of images HERE

Image copyright Michael Nave.

 

Image copyright Michael Nave.

 Grapes

I tagged some female grape vines that interest me.  I intend to take cuttings and propagate them.  I want to plant along the edges of my woods.  I marked them with surveyor's tape and gave them a healthy dose of nitrogen so they will throw enough growth to fully ripen the fruit and provide sound wood for propagating.

This is an image of a cluster afflicted with Downy Mildew....I think.

Image from Cornell Lab of Ornithology tracing migratory patterns of +100 species of birds.  It would be interesting to plant selected "wild" grapes near the Straits of Mackinac and Sault Ste Marie and allow the migrating birds to disperse them southward.  The western tip of Lake Superior is another migratory funnel.

Hazelnuts

I am propagating some of my hazelnuts by stooling or layering them.  I ran into a fascinating urban gardener on the west side of Lansing and intend to interview her later this summer.  I want to throw in some edible landscaping plants to sweeten the deal for her.

All of the suckers on this Yamhill hazelnut came off the south side of the plant.  That made it easy to cut the bottom out of a five gallon pot and use it to contain the sawdust/sphagnum moss mix.

Scouting out a travel route

Sports complexes.  I need places where I can park my vehicle for +8 hours and it will not be a bother nor will it be molested.

Several cemeteries.  I get along well with dead people.

This party store was on the list but does not have enough parking.  There is a cemetery 1.4 miles further west that I will use instead.

A church.   They are NOT good places to park on Sundays but usually have ample capacity all other days of the week.