Some days are better spent staying in bed. I had planned on donating seeds to the international seed bank and made a lot of crosses using Pink Promenade as a pollen parent and and pod parent. This morning I plucked a bunch of pods and brought the seeds in to dry on the kitchen counter. While I'm out back slurping down iced cofee and reading Vanity Fair, number 3 son turns on a fan in the kitchen and seeds went flying all over the place.
This photo is a rebloom on Don't Touch That which has had large cupped sepals on every bloom this year. I don't know what causes this trait but the buds always look like a big dose of chlorophyll settled in the tip. The other issue has been that the buds are so tight that 2 or 3 need to be plucked off for a bloom to have room to completely open. This is actually the best photo of the season and I'm curious as to what causes cupped sepals and whether it's a temporary or lifetime thing.
Loud and Lovely has the same issues. You can see the bright green tips of buds and tight placement.
I sometimes see the cupped sepals on a ffoe or blooms in cool temps but the 2 above have displayed cupped sepals all season so not sure what the gig is with them.
I spent the afternoon flagging registered dormants so this winter I can easily check dormancy without reading markers, especially if it's registered as a SEV or EV and has gone dormant. I find it a more enjoyable winter chore than checking for vole holes. Will add notes to database in spring.
All the foliage is cut back due to rust, dead scapes removed and a few markers replaced. 2013 is a wrap.
Rust
Not Rust
Obviously didn't wash hands well enough as you can still see spores.