2/12/2007

I came home for lunch

and took a little walk.

A neighbor's house. He's a hottie fireman.

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Prunus cerasifera, Purple-leaf flowering plum. Not cherry. Cherries are still a month or two off.

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Does this ever not flower?

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Holly Park.

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Do you recognize these seeds? They're like a cross between corn nuts and Kellogg's Corn Puffs. I was soaking them overnight.

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Do you want a little hint?

6 comments:

Annie in Austin said...

Ipomoea alba - Moon vine?

Annie

chuck b. said...

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!

We have a winner.

Annie, you're good!

xo

Anonymous said...

Annie beat me to it! I've grown moonflower vine from seeds for years. I usually scarify mine as well as soak them.

It looks like spring has really sprung in your city.

chuck b. said...

Hi Pam, I read somewhere about scarifying these seeds before hot water treatment, but I noticed the hot water treatment alone seems to have left cracks in the sead coat. And they feel much softer now too. I'm gonna go for it.

Annie in Austin said...

We Austin folks appreciate our Moon vines, don't we!

It might be too early here - the prediction is three nights below 32ºF starting Wednesday night. At least they're not scaring us with "temperatures in the teens" this time.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

chuck b. said...

Frost is an iffy proposition in San Francisco. We had a light one two or three days in a row last month. I'm told the only killing frosts that have ever struck the San Francisco Botanical Garden came in January. And since local gardener-types consider that to be the coldest place in San Francisco, I should definitely be fine.

It can be cold in February and March, but frost won't be a problem.

Instead, I time all my spring planting by when I expect to good, full-sun conditions back in my garden. April 1 is the day that happened last year, so I've got about a month to get as much of my spring planting done as possible.

Although even with full sun it won't be hot until June or July, so timing the heat is an issue too. I'm not even going to sow my melon seeds until May and hope they are early season enough to give me some results by October--our warmest month, and when I begin to lose sunlight.

In that regard, the question about the moonflower for me is, will it be warm enough in San Francisco for it to flower at all? I think the hottest place I have to grow the moonflower is on the deck outside my bedroom window, and growing over my front porch. I hope one or both sites will provide enough sunlight and radiant heat from the walls of my house to produce flowers. And both will be nice places to have the moonflower's summer evening fragrance floating in the air.