Why I Oughta...

I planted a 1# Cascade Hops Vine in early Summer 2021 that I bought at The Growing Place (Aurora Location).  At that time, the plant was pretty mature; based on the bulging, root-bound container.  So, it wasn't a surprise that I saw hops (fruits) that first season .   Then, in year two (2022), I was surprised to see that the very same vine that fruited so easily produce no hops in the following year.  Here's the vine a year ago - with no hops on it anywhere.  This year, we're back in the hops-producing mode as the vine has some larger, mature hops and some tiny, small ones.  Before I show the hops, let's talk about the vine.  I created a wire (attached to the fence) trellis a few years back , but I believe that hops vines want to REALLY CLIMB.  This goes to six-feet-tall and appears to have been cut-back at the top.  My hunch is that I didn't manage the vine enough and it started to climb over the fence and the neighbor trimmed it back...

The Cascade Hops Vine (Humulus Cascade Hops) has grown up the small, temporary trellis and is covering a good-sized width of the fence behind the plant these days.  Below, is a photo showing the Hops vine as it stands today - happy foliage and plenty of vines seeking upward growth. I planted this vine in Summer 2021 , so this the third growing season and last year, I added some wire (screwed to the fence) as a trellis for it to grow up .   The vine quickly consumed that trellis and wants EVEN MORE. In terms of fruit, it threw off some of those beautiful hops in the first season ( August ), but struggled last Summer and started to turn yellow by early September .    I'll watch this August to see if we get any hops.    One thing that is certain - I have to do even more trellis-wise on this next year.  Maybe it is up a wire?  Or around a hoop?  

I recently took notice of this pair of hostas that are planted right in front of the hops vine in our backyard (photo below) and thought that they were a really nice shape and foliage structure.   Why?  Because, I didn't divide these last Fall.  Last August, I included these in a roundup of 'dividing candidates' , but it appears that I left these as-is.    What variety are they?  They had white and purple flowers last year .  And they turned 'green apple green' color, too.  So....know that and using the "What Hosta do I have?" tool, I'm *pretty sure* that these are Honeybells Hostas .  I have a bunch of what I'll call 'ratty' or real common Lancifolia Hostas in the borders that I'd like to replace over time - and these beauties (ahem...Honeybells Hostas) are (once again) 2023 candidates for dividing and popping into the location of the 'ratty' ones.  

What a difference one year makes.  At least that's the case with our Cascade Hops vine that is growing in our backyard.  Last August (the first growing season) the vine threw off fruit (hops) by mid-August.  In that post, the vine was happy and thriving .   This August?  Not so much.  First...there are no hops.  And, second...there's quite a bit of yellowing and browning on both the vine and the leaves.   Below, is a photo showing the current - late August - view of the vine: I have NOT fed this, but I'm thinking that's a step that I need to take going forward.  I've also not paid much attention to this water-wise, but I'm also thinking that's something I need to do next season. The other dynamic here is that I did trellis this up (somewhat) , but it needs to be trellis'd higher because I'm pretty sure the tips of the vine were/are leaking OVER to my neighbors yard.  I'm thinking that means I need to create taller (and likely w...

#6 on my 2022 to-do list included the need for providing a more robust structure or trellis system for our one-year-old Cascade Hops vine that was planted last year.  Last year, I used a small, metal ornamental trellis that allowed the vine to get up about three or four feet off the ground .  This year, I was planning on providing a true, stand-alone trellis.  But...the growth of this vine thought otherwise.   Why?  Because it grew like crazy and by the time I was getting around to thinking about which trellis to buy, it was too late.   But, my 2022 to-do list still stood.  What could I do?  I decided to take the same route I took with the Belgian Fence frame:  attach some deck screws to the fence and wire up a grid on the fence to provide for the vine to grow up.   I put in a dozen or so screws and wrapped green, outdoor wire around them in a box-shape and some cross-wires to make various ways for the vine to grow. ...

This is just year two of the set of Cascade Hops vine that I have growing in our backyard, but that's a little like providing ages for some of the kids in the Little League World Series.  I'm not sure it is accurate.  That's because I bought a SUPER root-bound plant that was more mature than traditional nursery stock, so I'm thinking that it is one year older than I 'consider' it to be. Besides the container it came in, what's another indicator of the REAL age?  It fruited last year - in year one - of being in the ground .    As I wandered around the beds peeking at what is coming to life this Spring, I noticed the tips of the vine emerging from the mulch and was surprised by the color:  they're purple.  See below: Feels like I'm NOW on-the-clock with a portion of #6 on my 2022 to-do list:  install a proper trellis for the Hops vine .  Need to find one and bring it home BEFORE the vine takes off this season.

I added a Cascade Hops vine (Humulus lupulus) to our backyard earlier this Summer when I bought what seemed like a very mature (root bound) 1# nursery container at the nursery.  I had an existing (small) trellis and figured that I didn't need anything more significant this year.  That plant had a rough transition and suffered from some transplant stress because I beat up the roots pretty good.  But, it recovered by July and started to grow up and out . So, imagine my delight when I went out to the garden this week and saw that that this vine had fruited and we have some hops in this - our first growing season.    Why am I surprised? I've grown hops before.  Back in 2012, I planted a similar sport of hops vine - Golden (vs Cascade this time) back in Elmhurst.  And, according to this 2013 post , it didn't produce any fruit that first year.   And, didn't get any fruit in the 2nd growing season (2013) according to this post from 2014 . ...

Earlier this Summer - in early June - I planted a Humulus Iupulus 'Cascade' Hops vine in a sunny spot of our backyard.  I posted about it in July and mentioned that it was a very mature vine that was 'bulging' in the container that I bought from The Growing Place.  It suffered some tremendous transplant shock, but with a little bit of attention (and water), it recovered.  The photo below shows what it looks like mid-Summer - just about 40 days or so after planting it.  You can see that one of the vines is edging over the six-foot-tall fence. I put up a small, thin metal trellis that I found on our lot when we moved in, but you can quickly sense that it needs more.  Back in Elmhurst, I had these wooden trellises attached to our fence that I think would be worth exploring in this spot next year.  I'll have to put - adding a real trellis or vine system - to my 2022 to-do list.  For now, I'm thinking I'm going to drive a couple of screws into the fence ...

Back at our old house in Elmhurst, we had a pair of Hops growing on trellises along our fence in the backyard.  We had both Golden and Cascade Hops and I really liked how they added a vertical element to our landscape.  In our current plan, we don't have any trellises planned nor does the plan call for Hops vine in any location.  But, when I came across this REALLY full 1# nursery container of Cascade Hops (Humulus Cascade) at The Growing Place, I grabbed it and decided to figure out a good spot for this later.  Here's what the container looked like when I brought it home below - very vigorous and healthy.  The container was BULGING - you can see it below.  And It seemed like this Hops vine was VERY root-bound.  So, it took some time to get this thing out of the container.  And when I did, I had to trim up some of the roots to get it from strangling itself.   As for the location, you can see below what it looks like after being planted f...