Garden Report: November 9

Lots of fruity things going on in the garden, despite it being November and all.

First, I repotted the figs. Primarily because I went to move them the other day and they were sending roots down through the bottom of their containers. I understand why they would do this, but that is not OK, because I definitely do not want three fig trees a) right next to the house, and b) under the Asian pear trees. So I dug them out and repotted them in 5-gallon containers, and they seem happy.

I've also got to get some larger pots for the blueberries back there, which are really suffering for their small pots. I've got a million gallon containers and not many larger ones, though.

In the Hope Springs Eternal category, we have this Fall Gold raspberry setting fruit. Hello, Fall Gold, no need to live up to your name like that. Raspberry season is over. Talk to us next year.

And now the thyme: the Elfin Thyme, that is, growing along nicely even though the Wahlenbergia has been draping over it for a couple of weeks now. This is one of those plants that several people told me would not grow well in Alameda. Everybody had an excuse for why it would not grow, but none of them seem to have born out, because this started out as a 2" division from a 4" pot, and it's filled the area I gave it and is stretching down to the bottom of the rain basin.

I don't water it, feed it, or do anything for it. The first summer it was in I watered it, of course, but not often. I'm letting it spread. It moves slowly and looks pretty.

This year, for some reason, the lemon tree decided to go nuts. We had a couple of weeks of insane flowering (smells wonderful, too), and now the thing is covered in mini-lemons. I don't know how many will even try to make it to lemon adulthood -- none have survived that long thus far. This is not an issue because everybody in the neighborhood has a lemon tree, so we have an unlimited supply of lemons whenever we want them. But nobody has this variety in their gardens, so it'd be nice to have another option.

And out of sight, these oranges have developed. I thinned the branch yesterday, and with luck we may get some oranges from the tree this winter. It is not often hot enough here for oranges, really, but I could not resist planting them anyway. These are Cara Cara, a pinkish navel orange that is a sport of Washington. It's supposed to get sweet even in cooler climates.

Technorati Tags: autumn, berries, figs, fruit, gardening

posted by ayse on 11/09/08