Purple Flowering Raspberry

Behold my purple flowering raspberry!  Just in this one photo we have new buds, a soon to open bud, a breathtakingly gorgeous flower and a berry-in-waiting.  Actually I'm the one who is waiting.

Let's take a really close look at that berry.  The male parts  form a light brown circle and sort of look like pieces of barley on little stems.  The female part, the berry, is light green.  Clearly pollination has taken place.  Now I wait for the berry to ripen.  I am expecting all of that brown stuff to fall off. Compare this to the center of the beautiful purple flower and you can see progress is being made!

Here is an average sized leaf on my Rubus odoratus.  It is big enough to substitute for a fig leaf if you know what I mean.  I know it looks a little like a maple leaf, but it is not.  

It was Mother's Day 2017 when I was plant shopping with Amy  at the Catskill Native Nursery.  I was totally drawn to a single purple flowering raspberry in a  large pot.  It was just slightly shorter than me.  I put in on our wagon of plants to purchase.   I finally realized that there was no way I could fit the plant into Amy's car.  There was a tear in my eye when I told them that the plant would have to stay.  It made me so happy when the man said "Oh, I have smaller  purple flowering raspberry plants would you like one of those?"  Obviously my answer was "Yes".  Before he could put the plant back in stock he and the next woman in line were having exactly the same conversation.  They say you can't buy happiness, but that day I did.

That summer the plant did well. but we soon learned that if we were to ever see flowers on the plant it would have to live in a cage.  Like me, the deer found this plant irresistible.  Ed made a nice tall  cage and last summer the plant made a fabulous comeback.  It was as tall as me and even wider! However it did not flower.  Again I had to wait.  This spring a new larger, taller cage was required.  It worked great and after just a little over two years you can see the results.  They say these berries are dry but that's fine.  My mouth is watering already!

Something New

Cardinal Flower has been with us for many years.  As a native plant that grows abundantly both to our north and south, why it is rarely seen in the Catskills remains a puzzle.  Perhaps the early spring weather here that features Alabama hot days followed by Arctic bitter freezes is what kills this plant.  Each year we pot up evergreen plants that look great when the snow first melts.  These plants are carried into the basement when a hard freeze is forecast.  72 plants made those in and out trips this year.  They are individual plants that will produce but a single flowering stalk this summer.  We always recommend that at least three plants be set out fairly close together to improve the presentation that these plants will make but their natural growth habit does far better than that.

Having more potted plants than are needed has never been a problem before but now we have several still waiting to be set out.  We decided to place one plant in each gallon pot.  They will be left in the ground to see how well they grow.  If they grow and flower normally, we will be able to lift the pots and carry them inside next spring.  By then each single stem will have produced up to six daughter plants that will grow out next summer.  Six flowering stems growing close to each other is the natural habit of this plant and they will look tremendous.  The cluster in the upper left corner of the photo has held that spot for several years.  More than one dozen flowering stalks will appear there this year.  If this method of potting up Cardinal Flower is successful, we will discontinue late winter potting up.  What will we do with all of that extra free time?

Each year we buy a ten cubic yard truckload of reground hardwood bark mulch.  Today saw these tiny orange mushrooms beginning to grow in the mulch pile.  Their growth should be rapid so we will have a chance to both watch and record just what grows here.  Kidney damage is a frequently listed risk for eating mushrooms taken from the wilds so we simply steer clear.  We will watch them grow and take their pictures but will not eat, smoke or otherwise ingest any of them,

Old age has taken from us our ability to work outside on hot clear days.  We started work in the garden early today but rather soon felt the need to get out of the sun.  Our retreat to the developing shade garden allowed us to work outside until nearly noon.  The white field in the background is how our camera records grass in full sunlight.  Actually the bright green grass just beyond the stone lined path continues to the tree line.  Our primary task here at this time of year is to remove grass and weeds from soil that will soon grow mostly native shade loving plants.  Today stones were set to define the paths that will make walking among the plants without stepping on them possible.  More stones are needed here but they will be collected only during the cool of the day.  This will likely be our last new garden so there is a strong desire to create a special place here.