A blog of my botanical misdeeds and potentially interesting floral photos. All Photos Copyright Ross Kouzes

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This is a blog dedicated to interesting flora and the yard projects I undertake to make their cultivation possible.

2009/07/25

2009-07 Late July around the yard

Just a couple of pictures before I shut down because of the heat! It's going to be 100F out this week. Fortunately, Portland usually only has two weeks per year that it ever hits 100: the last week of July and the First week of August... right on schedule. And I have so much work to do too! Stupid Summer.

I've built all the bench frames for my greenhouse, though some need some slats for the top still. Here's one...
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One of the tiniest flowers I've grown, Eschscholzia caespitosa (I think).
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Another of the tiniest flowers, Mimulus guttatus (I think), the tiny kind.
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Another tiny one, one of my Neo's, 'Shoujou'.
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Last, something that isn't so tiny, the orchid I've had the longest: Oncidium 'Sherry Baby' (I think). I took a single rootless pseudobulb out of the trashcan at Maplethorpe Orchids in Santa Cruz in Spring 2000 when I was a penniless college student. Now, it has 13 spikes, up from 11 last year, and it desperately needs a bigger pot.
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Now I just have to keep all my plants alive through the deathly heat to come... How soon is October!? (That's not soon enough!)

2009/07/15

2009-07-15 Mt Hood

After finding Drosera rotundifolia on Mt Hood, I began a foolhardy quest for the other Drosera, D. anglica, that lives in the area. With the help of the Oregon Plant Atlas, I embarked upon the key site in the Mt Hood Region: the Government Camp Bog.

This is an absolutely beautiful meadow filled with wildflowers; never-the-less, prepare yourself to endure my airing of grievances: Unfortunately, this wonderful bog is right next to skiing and the town of Government Camp, which pose Immediate threats! There is a small horse stables new to the town directly next to the bog, imposing obvious pollutants. There is also a lot of construction and property sales going on. Why is the hymn of the eco-nut "Protect our forests"? The forests on the west coast were meant to BURN! Let them. Wildlife (and seedlings!) needs vast meadow and prairie, of which well less than 1% remain. The meadow itself needs to burn to remain healthy, which is being suppressed. Let it burn.

People drive up to the mountain to drive around on go-carts directly next to the bog, oblivious. Why has my mantra of late always been, "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi"?

Enough of that. Here's some pretty pictures to make you forget the danger.

A fantastic field filled with thousands of Castilleja.
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A first for me, if a bit bedraggled. Pedicularis groenlandica! I've seen some of the less impressive elephant flower species, but I've been looking for this one for years. There were hundreds in this meadow.
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Interestingly enough (or not) both Pedicularis and Castilleja are hemi-parisitic on grasses.

Some Mimulus guttatus.
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Some Platanthera dilatata. Probably the most of this species I've seen in one place! I liked the photos I took from this trip the best :-)
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Triantha occidentalis ssp. brevistyla
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So I wandered through acres of bog and didn't see a Single Drosera! The grass was all too high and I couldn't find much surface area in terms of mossy patches. I'm guessing that the plants were either seen around the periphery or have been inundated by grass. A good burn will fix that :-)

Crestfallen, I receded to a familiar site: Trillium Lake.

The Drosera rotundifolia were getting ready to bloom on twisted spires. Is this one of those plants whose infloresence is a panicle supported by a peduncle whose florets sit atop pedicels? I don't remember.
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Nuphar polysepala. Reminds me of a lotus.
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A Utricularia I put in my lunch warez for ease of viewing. Looks like U. macrorhiza to me, but the Oregon Plant Atlas puts only intermedia, minor and ochroleuca at this local. The only one it could be out of those is intermedia, but I don't think it is. For anyone unfamiliar, this is called and aquatic bladderwort (wort means plant), and is carnivorous by sucking tiny animals into the little sacks you see around the plant.
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The day was absolutely beautiful, but I was forced to head back early because I started having back cramps (really random: it's been 10 years since my first and only other time) and the day wasn't fun anymore :-(

2009/07/11

Greenhouse Progress or "There goes a year of my life, in greenhouse form."

Here's a chronological of my primary project in our new yard over the past year. In case you haven't heard from me in a while, this is why.

2008-08-22 When we moved in, the previous owners left us a topped Liquidamber for some reason. Right where the greenhouse goes. Thanks.
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2008-08-23 After the tree came down. We also had a ton of other random projects including getting the vegi garden up for Spring 2009, and moving tons of rock. See the concrete wall in the picture, it's getting moved two pictures down.
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2008-08-24 Move the shed. Ugh!
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2009-03-25 Ok, there are 7 months btwn these pictures. Please note that the Awful Arborvitae (Thuja awfullus ssp disgustingii) are gone and in their place a 4 ft concrete retaining wall. Total weight 7 tons. Yah. That was me and Lisa, for 7 months. Greenhouse outline shown.
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2009-04-03 So many roots...
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2009-04-25 SO Many Roots!
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2009-04-26 Cleaned up, finally.
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2009-05-17 Cleaned up, really. With the help of Egyptian leveling technology, I can guarantee the overall accuracy to within 0.1 remen of error.
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2009-05-31 With foundation frame. The exterior of the mold is 22ft by 9ft, making the interior of the GH about 21ft by 8ft. 22X9 is an area of 198 sq ft. A permit is required for any project over 200sq ft ;-) which is how we decided on the dimensions.
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2009-06-06 Pouring Foundation. With the 4 of us, it only took 1h30m to mix and pour the 30 bags of concrete. Thanks Terry and Emily!
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2009-06-23 After the foundation cured, a row a day.
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2009-06-24 A row a day. So tired of lifting blocks!
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2009-06-25 Almost there....
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2009-06-28 Done! Take that, 220 blocks and 8 bags of morter. I'll stucco the facade next spring.
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2009-07-03 Framing marathon. Thanks Dad! I'd still be framing cluelessly without you there.
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2009-07-04 Framing Marathon!
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2009-07-05 FRAMING Marathon!!! Both of us were exhausted by the end!
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One Roof Panel up. Hazz-ray. Notice that the right hand side overhang is substantial. This will provide an outdoor rain protector for truly hardy alpine and rock garden type plants.
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2009-07-07 Now there are 8 roof panels up. Up the ladder, down the ladder, D.C. al coda.
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2009-07-11 Oh, my various gods: It's done!
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Here's my first plant bench and the first plants in the GH. The frame is 2x4's, but the top is part of an old fence from my neighbor's yard.
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Here're the first plants in the GH: Pygmy Drosera (this is D. callistos). A single hail ball could destroy it! ;-) Lucky it's protected by a fancy GH.
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This week I will caulk all the cracks, do the irrigation and get another bench or two built. By winter, we'll hard wire it for a heater and I'll seal it with double walled poly. It'll get heated to 35F, so it's really more of a cold frame over the winter. All of my true tropicals can live in the house's sunroom.

In the next few years, I'll get 4X4 windows to replace the plastic. If you have any that you want to donate, let me know :-)

This GH is primarily for my various obsessions that aren't quite hardy sometimes: South African plants (in particular Proteaceae), semi-hardy carnivorous plants, assorted seedlings for the yard, Vireya Rhododendrons, bonsai, hardy orchid seedlings, alpines and rock garden plants that don't like the wet winter, and anything else that catches my eye. I'll start some vegi's in there in early Spring, probably, if I have space.