What is going on today 2017?

I had a hummingbird for a while that would come out and bathe himself in the sprinkler when I watered the garden. It was the coolest thing.

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It sounds more like a sign from someone who crossed over that they are OK. usually it’s butterflies.

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You grow spicezee? I believe these are from lasts years fruits (only thing i grow that has purple leaves)…i wondered what i did with the seeds and saw them sprouting in a flower bed (after stepping on them a bunch of times)…must have threw them in the soil there.

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That will be interesting to see how the fruit turns out. I wonder how different each one will be from the mother tree.

@clarkinks (and others, of course)

Yesterday I discovered something that sort of surprised me, but probably shouldn’t. I have an Asian pear tree (20th century) that came from Freedom Tree Farm- a pretty respectable commercial nursery. It had a shoot that was growing up from just below the graft knot (ie from rootstock). I had not paid close attention to it being from the rootstock and by the time I noticed it it was about 3.5 feet long. (I know…I should keep a closer eye on useless growth!). Anyway, I went to cut it off yesterday and I noticed it had thorns all over it, just like new Bradford (and other callery I suppose) pears have. Leaves looked just like my bradfords too. I was surprised to find out that FTF apparently use plain old Bradford or other callery pear for rootstock even on Asian pear trees. Like I said, this may be old news to everyone but me, and I’m not sure exactly what I expected they would be using,. but somehow I thought it would be something more than ordinary Callery pears for Asian pear rootstock! Is this what most places use? Just curious. Its a nice, healthy tree, btw so it works fine.

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I think Spice Zee trees are so beautiful. The fact that your seedlings- especially the one in front- appear to look just like a Spice Zee makes me think it might have similar fruit…but I know its way, way more complicated than that when it comes to seedlings. Over the years I’ve been on this site, I’ve seen many, many posts of people who have potted and/or planted out seedling trees just like you have done here. The problem is that I cannot recall a single case when an OP has come back and reported on whether it ever fruited or what the fruit looked like. The one exception I can remember is @itheweatherman and his peach almond cross. Of course I know this site has just now been around long enough to start getting some results on fast fruiters like peaches, so I really hope you and others will follow up in the years to come and let us know what, if any, kind of fruit you got from seedlings.

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I just had to tell you that you really have quite a life going up there it seems! Let’s see…you apparently have a hammock or something in your orchard (what a GREAT idea!) which you take naps in. While you’re laying there you have beautiful, amazing birds who come visit you and serenade you with song. After you are well rested you evidently go have a nice little game of tennis (I’m going to loose my mind if you tell me you have your own tennis court down by the orchard?). If all this isn’t enough, you get to eat fresh fruit and berries while you’re enjoying it (in a few weeks anyway). Is this heaven or just your property? Thanks, Mike, for making the rest of us jealous! :slight_smile:

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Depending on the strain of callery it could be and probably is. The Asian pear type is a big factor. Chojuro never does well for me on callery so there was a time when I thought no Asian pears would do well because some I tried runted out a callery and needed BET rootstock. I have a runt down in the field now about a foot tall. Korean Giant, Charles Harris and other Asians thrive on callery. The old strain of callery I have which are thankfully mostly grafted now would not grow any Asian pears. So yes the right rootstock callery which well may some BET rootstock lineage will grow some Asian pears. If you use Charles Harris or Korean giant as an interstem you could grow most Asian pears.

Out bagging apples today after work and came across this on my Zestar.

Any suggestions?

Probably way too late, but a hit of Immunox?

Probably apple scab. Zestar rates as susceptible to highly susceptible.

Same tree, something different?

The fruit looks like a curculio or other bug bite… the leaf is CAR.

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I sprayed once with kocide pre bloom is it to late to do anything at this point?

Yesterday me made an addition to our driveway. I still can not believe that we did it.
This is me.

And this is my son helping. My husband is not in the picture but he did a load of work.

Here it is today. Now I have a day off to enjoy my garden.

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Nice work. Do it yourself and save a bundle of money!

Tony

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Yes Tony, we are do-it-yourself family. I am always telling myself that if other people can do it we also can.

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Do either you or your hubs have any experience with concrete? If not, I’m more than impressed with your work, and even if you/he did have some experience, its still impressive. Concrete isn’t as easy as people think! There are so many factors involved and so many things can go wrong. The very top layer/finish can be especially tricky. Not sure if you broom-brushed it or what, but it looks good. It’s very easy to end up with a surface that forever looks and feels like loose sand, or one that is so smooth its like walking on glass when it rains, or one that has little pieces just pop off for no good reason. Looks like you put good joints in. Not sure if you used any concrete “fencing” or re-barb but I’m sure it will be fine and it sure looks good. The reason I wanted to respond is that our public works department pours quite a few sidewalks every year, so I’ve seen all the aforementioned problems and more (none of our guys are good concrete men)… Trust me, your work looks better than many of the sidewalk sections in our little town! BTW…be careful with salt the first year…we’ve learned the hard way that plain road salt can really cause a lot of problems to concrete- especially when its fairly “green”. GREAT JOB Maria!

UPDATE: I just noticed the concrete mixer and rental truck in background. Now I’m even more impressed and so should others be! I figured you just had a concrete truck deliver you some wet yardage. Mixing your own comes with a whole new level of challenges/opportunities to screw up the mixture. You really are a do it yourself family. Way to go. If you ever decide on a career change, we’ll put you on our public works crew! hahaha BTW…I hope you all 3 made the obligatory hand prints and/or initials somewhere in the wet concrete? :slight_smile:

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Antmary: definitely very impressive! It’s amazing how much money so called professionals charge for doing that kind of work. Sometimes homeowners do it just as good or better because they do it for themselves. My hubby and I try to do a lot of things ourselves but it’s hard with two kids under 5. Plus we are not at the skill levels as you are. But we keep trying. Recently a contractor asked for $775 to put up a soffit on top of our kitchen cabinet. Hubby decided to do it himself. It turned out great! Saved a bunch of money not to mention bragging rights! Anyway, it’s great to see when people DIY. Great job!

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Waiting for it to finally stop raining, so I can plant my vegs, have my big holly trees shaped and privet cut. Ugh. Rain and more rain. I also need to spray as blossom drop is now over. Time to get out the new sprayer! Can’t wait!

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