Showing posts with label Prunus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prunus. Show all posts

Thursday, August 30, 2012

A Peachy future?

Two years ago, to the day, I posted about my peach tree which had gone from being a "flowering peach tree" to something more.  It had begun to produce fruits, albeit very small ones.  I was interested to see whether it was an issue of maturity for the tree or if my tree would never produce edible fruits.

The tree was a gift in 2007, when I was offered my first real job.  At that time it stood about waist high and was covered in little puffs of pink and magenta.  At that point, it was cute.  Today it stands tall and proud, with enough breadth and density to provide shade for our cars in the driveway.

This year I feel like I am closer to having an answer about the likelihood of there being edible fruit in my future.  They aren't there yet, but they are getting larger with a lot more fruit around the seed.

Let's take a look back over the years...

peach_tree
Spring 2008
peach_tree_2009
Spring 2009
peach_magenta_2010
Spring 2010
peach_full_2010
Spring 2010
small_peach
Late Summer 2010
Skip ahead two years and see the difference:

peach_2012
Summer 2012
peach_bundle_2012
Summer 2012
Some of the fruits are getting close to eating size, but none have actually ripened yet.  Everyday there are about 15 fruits on the ground, that I have to pick up and throw away so we don't run over them on the driveway.  I've been taking loads of peaches to the curb on yard waste day.  Some of these peaches and their ground pits will make it back to our garden next year when we go to get a load from the city compost facility.

trash_peaches_2012
Summer 2012
If this year is any indication, I think we'll be up to our ears in peaches next year.  We better start looking up recipes!  Mark your calendars: Next September there will be a peach party at my house.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A Macro View of Spring

After getting a much nicer D-SLR camera, I realized a feature that had been on my more simple point-and-shoot camera.  I am very happy to have the new D-SLR, but I am also happy to know that one type of picture I was always struggling to get with my point-and-shoot is not so hard after all!

There is a macro setting that basically  instructs the camera to use a shorter focal length to focus on a nearby object in the foreground.

I like using this feature to get detailed shots of blooms or different features of plants.  So here's a look at some of the blooms from my last post - only in macro!

saucer_magnolia_up_2010
Saucer Magnolia Tree (Magnolia x soulangeana)
saucer_magnolia_close_2010
Saucer Magnolia Tree (Magnolia x soulangeana)
almond_2010
Flowering Almond Bush (Prunus glandulosa)
quince_close_2010
Flowering Quince Bush (Chaenomeles speciose)
euphorbia_blooms_2010
Euphorbia martinii 'Tiny Tim'
peach_magenta_2010
Flowering Peach Tree (Prunus persica)

peach_white_2010
Flowering Peach Tree (Prunus persica)
mini_rhododendron_macro_2010
Dwarf Rhododendron
violet_macro_2010
Our "wild" violets - Wooly Blue Violet (Viola sororia)
mini_daffodils_2010
Miniature Daffodils - thumb used for size comparison