This is the first year that my male kiwi is starting to show signs of the stunning leaf color it is capable of.
Last year I started figs via cuttings in two batches. One had a rooting hormone treatment and the other did not. While the treated batch did do better, the untreated batch did well enough that I didn’t treat any of these cuttings. This batch was taken from the plants last fall after they went dormant and placed in plastic bags in the vegetable crisper drawer in the fridge. They are simply stuck into soil and kept in the shade.
I may lose half of them but since I haven’t a clue what I will do with the half that should live I am ok with that. The batch on the left is light brownish fig and the batch on the right is a smaller deep purple fig. Bother were labelled as brown turkey but obviously one is not. I’ll post some detailed pics of the leaves and the fruit once they start producing and maybe someone can help me identify what I have.
Eric’s Hakuro-nashiki willow is so pretty. Last year there wasn’t as much variation in the leaf color as there is so far this year.
I saw a hummer visiting our tulips this morning which reminding me of the hummingbird feeder that I picked up on Monday. Time to get that bad boy out and filled with some sugar water.
I picked up two stevia plants last night while at Lowes getting plumbing parts to fix the broken faucet. One Stevia went on the side of the house and the other went in the herb bed. I am going to try to see if I can get the one by the house to overwinter. I have had it happen a couple of times before and the area where I planted it is somewhat protected. I am going to try planting a fig there too.
If half the blueberry blossoms get pollinated I should get a great crop. Typically I see a lone bumblebee doing the pollination but so far this year I haven’t seen any bees of any kind in the yard.
Karen’s ajuga plants are blooming and spreading.
I picked up some Stevia the other night too. I’d never seen it before the checkout line was long, and the taste lingered on my tongue.
Do you use it for anything in particular? Because although I thought it was cool, I have no idea what I’ll actuall DO with it!
Stevia has been used as a sweetener for hundreds of years in its native area of South America. I’ve used it in teas for the most part. I know there are recipes out there for use in baking but sometimes those are for the extract. You can make the extract yourself, try googling homemade stevia extract or something similar. It doesn’t last long in the fridge but I would image it would last in the freezer, perhaps frozen in those really small ice cube trayes. I generally cut mine back when it first begins to show flower buds. I hang the stems to dry the leaves then strip and keep the leaves in a mason jar in a dark cupboard. It lasts for a long time this way. I have had it come back the following spring with a heavy leaf mulch but typically it is an annual in areas that freeze during the winter.
If you find any good stevia recipes for the leaves please send them my way.