Hand Pollination for Sugar Apple

Two years ago I saw sugar apple at oriental store close to my area, they have 2 different color, green-yellowish and reddish sugar apple, I bought one each of them with hope that I'll planting the seeds and have my own sugar apple tree.

I'm growing up eating sugar apple almost every week, at my parents yard, we have 4 big sugar apple trees, they are all the green yellowish type.

With my surprise, the seeds easily to germinated, since I believed this plant can't handle our winter cool, so I only keep 3 of them and toss the rest but still keep some of seeds if I need it later on.

On winter, every time the temperature below 50F, I'll moved it to my sun room, they still look suffer, loosed lot of their leaves but soon after the temperature get warm again, the new grown will start coming and after the third year, following with flowers... only few but made me excited and can't wait to see the tiny fruit at my trees, but it not happen ... after all the bloom falling, still no any tiny fruit.

At that time I though probably the trees just too young to bearing fruit and this spring it's happen all over again for 2 months, still no tiny fruit yet. So I looking at internet for the answer, I need do a hand pollination !

Sugar apple have a unique flowers, first open, it will be a female flower for about 24 hours and the next day it will become a male flower for only few hours. So you should be know when the male flower mature and ready. On beginning May at my zone, the male flowers mature about 2-5 pm but soon after the temperature getting hot, they mature earlier.

Female Flower Sugar Apple

Male Flower Sugar Apple

For beginning I'm using small brush for hand pollination but for some reason it doesn't work good for me, the pollen didn't really sticking at my brush, you need a natural brush maybe like from feather. So I'm trying used a cotton bud, just tuck and rubbered gently around inside male flower to pick up pollen and than stuck it into the female flower, also gently please and it worked !

With only a few left over flowers at the trees, and only for 2 weeks, my trees has have 12 tiny fruits, yeaaay..! For now, I need to stop hand pollination them until next year. 
Thanks to 'eggo' at Gardenweb for his awesome explanation on how to hand pollination for cherimoya, you are rock :)

Since my trees still young and small, I hope they can handle take care their 12 tiny fruits until become mature.
And can't wait for my cherimoya seed to germinated, has been a week, still no sign yet.

Happy father's day for all wonderful fathers wherever you are !

Clematis and Hydrangea

I planted my H.F.Young Clematis on my back side flower bed on fall 2011 and this spring he is blooming very nice, lots of blooms, some got so big and semi double ! On this our hot spring, the colors become very pretty blue.with purplish stripes.

Looking such a beautiful, breathtaking climbing vine, make me want buying more.. and I'm lucky to found a  Clematis at Lowe's this spring, I bough Dr. Rupel and Carnaby.

I'm not really happy with Carnaby Clematis, she can't handle hot, the flowers fade soon after they bloom and become white, less than a week, her most of her leaves turn brown. I need to moved her around for couple weeks to find a good spot for her and make sure she can growing better. Glad finally she can adjusted and start showing new growth and showed some her pretty flowers. She get full sun until mid day and partial sun until 3-4 pm.

Dr. Ruppel Clematis so far his climbing nicely and repeat bloomer. Got full sun until 3-4 pm and the color of his flower ca handle our summer hot very nicely, it's red-purpelish flowers with deep red stripe, few days later, they will become purplish.

First day

3-4 day later

Another surprise this spring I got it from hydrangea, I bought it on sale at WMart last summer, a very healthy plant but without flower or tag. And this spring she have bunch of bloom and the color so beautiful, bright pink.

Today, I bought another hydrangea, at another store and gotit on sale also but this time have a tag on it, it's call Peppermint hydrangea from Forever & Ever hydrangea, hope she will re bloom for me this year or I will waiting patiently until next spring :)

Before, I though take care hydrangea will be very complicated and every time I'm really hesitate to try it until I found a very cheap hydrangea on sale and decided to try and glad I did. so far my Hydrangea only need little bit pruning, keep the soil moist and morning sun only at our zone, and they happy as can be...