If your tired of the cold weather my friends move south. My recent scions from Kansas love it here. These scions were added about a week ago. I’m always excited to see buds emerge on grafts especially when I don’t have backups. We have plenty of problems in this world but I think we sometimes forget the small things that are going well. Scion exchange is a good thing in my life. Thanks @clarkinks.
Wild Native hazels
It would be nice to live down there and be able to play tennis outside practically year round!. . .not to mention gardening year round
Looking great @Auburn ! Scion exchange is great and lots of fun! I was very fortunate to receive this year and also fortunate to help a couple other out myself 
I have to agree. There is no substitute for the feeling you get seeing a graft take. Especially when it comes to special scion. Last labor day I was vacationing out of state when I ran across a unique pear. I cut a piece of wood and did a late summer graft. The odds were against me but I picked off the leaves and the buds stayed dorment. It budded out this spring and is growing great. I smile every time I look at it.
i have 3 pear scions that i grafted last spring on to my 8ft. mtn. ash. all 3 took and put on 12in. of growth! first time my grafts were successful.
Moose, you’ll get better with every graft. You will find out what works best for you.
so far I’ve just used the cleft graft. its easiest for me to do. i have shaky hands due to meds I’m on and aren’t confident trying anything else. but hey at least its working!
Cleft is easier and safer in my opinion.
That’s mostly what I do. Also I focus on getting good alignment on one side rather than compromising with poor alignment on both sides. Some people like to put the scion in at an angle so both sides make contact. It’s whatever works for you. I also go against convention and graft earlier than most. I like to graft a little before bud swell. In my opinion the cambium is active but there is no load on the scion. At least it works for me in my climate. Mainly just have fun.
I’ve tried that here and lost every graft. if i wait until the buds just start to show green, they all take. did my mulberry just as the last snow was melting and grafted my mtn. ash at bud break. all the pear scions took. none of the mulberries did.
I imagine it is a climate thing.
it very well could be. snow keeps everything really dormant until its gone then things wake up very fast here. almost like a on / off switch. in your zone it does so more slowly i imagine without a persistent snow pack. one of the reasons why we never have a problem with buds freezing here. imagine if we had a snowless year it could but I’ve never seen or heard that happening.
@Auburn, I’m curious to hear how those grafts work out for you. I’m a bit further south and don’t get as many chill hours, but what I’ve found in grafting wood from higher chill to lower chill is that they may not flower. I’ve tried this with pear, apple and peach. I’ve got several higher chill varieties grafted to my pineapple and Leconte pear trees (golden boy, Ayers, orient), I don’t think a single one has blossomed, maybe you’ll have better luck. It was the same with the apples, I tried, pink lady, fuji, sweet 16, wickson. Out of all those I think the wickson was the only one that would blossom. keep us posted.
