This is an observation that appears to happen frequently with my Jefferson hazel. Each winter the catkin is damaged before the springtime bloom. Our frequent weather changes from hot to cold appears to be associated with the problem The other hybrid varieties sustain some damage but not nearly as much as Jefferson. With that said the bloom appears to be normal but is in need of a pollen source. Over the last couple of years I have started grafting in some American varieties with the hope that their cankins will perform better. The attached link also mentions this issue.
Of the hybrids I have only the Dorris has any catkins and this will be their first winter. The other two that I bought from Oikos are farther along but I haven’t seen any particular winter issues with their catkins. They have only this last season been able to pollenate anything.
was experimental crosses made by badersett farms and arbor day back 5 yrs ago. they sent them free to arbor day members all over to test them for hardiness, disease resistance. and nut size. all 4 bushes had good production but 1 was exceptional in nut size and vigour. i sent a report to arbor day and will also send them a clone to evaluate once i get one.
All my hazels are Jefferson air layers that were planted in 2021 so I wasn’t sure what to expect this year from a bloom/catkin stand point. Onto these air layers I added grafts of York, Yamhill, and Theta at about 5-6’. The Yamhill had its first bloom 20220208 and York was 20220211. No blooms observed yet on Jefferson and Theta. I only have a few catkins so I’m not expecting the flowers to be pollinated this season.
Experimental projects/fun that I have planned for this year are: Graft in a few wild limbs to possibly help get viable pollen for my hybrids. I also plan to graft in a few hybrids with wild hazel interstems to see if there is a dwarfing effect and to see if it induces earlier fruiting.
I love your enthusiasm, but beware that the OSU varieries from Jefferson to Dorris, etc all rely on the ‘Gasaway’ gene for EFB immunity out west, where the EFB is only 1 strain, where as west of the rockies we have dozens of different strains, which the OSU varieties wont tolerate. Check out Rutgers new EFB resistant releases. I’m in Michigan zone 6a/b
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Rutgers experimental orchard. These varieties, though mostly productive and excellent, didnt make the cut.
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im glad my hybrids didnt get that big. would be a pain to pick. my biggest bush is 8ft. they potentially could get to 12’ but since they’re 5 yrs old i think they’re done going up. if not ill prune them back to 8’.
Sweet! I have some somerset coming. It wasnt available when I visited Don at Foggy Bottom. I have some coming, hopefully, if the labs come through. I was able to plant 750 Raritans, 100 Monmouths, 100 Beasts and 100 Hundertons.
