I haven’t personally grafted Lawson Dawson but recent posts from @SMC_zone6 and other information I’ve seen indicate it’s a really good option.
I have a few branches of Clark’s Small Yellow and haven’t fruited it yet. Patiently waiting to try it while Seckel and Harrow Sweet begin production (a couple others are still in the juvenile phase).
It is. I thought it might just be hype, but it was probably the best of my mulberries this year.
I’m in west central PA, here are some of my observations on no-spray berries:
Currants and Gooseberries mostly die at my location after a few years. The survivors aren’t particularly productive and the nice goose berry fruits get PC. I wouldn’t bother with them again.
Marion berry and logan berry- seem to die to the ground at my location around -5, so while the bushes regrow and survive, I never get good fruit production.
Red and yellow raspberries, honey berries and blue berries have been the real stars of survival and production with no spray.
One thing no one has mentioned is that you should get a soil test (mail it in to one of the extension labs) and see what your soil is like before getting too attached to anything in particular. I would mostly worry about pH and any really special notable deficiencies (I’ve heard of areas where low availability of boron or zinc or copper are real issues but don’t know about that area of PA).
I really can’t grow blueberries because of my alkaline soil. I can’t even grow them in pots because I’d have to water them, and my water is alkaline. I can amend a bit, but not enough for it matter long term. However, everyone will tell you about acidic soil in VA - but i’m in an area with the opposite. So I’m the poster child for soil testing.
You should also note your drainage (is the soil clay or sandy? does it drain well?) and any hills. It’s actually good to have a bit of a slope for a lot of fruit trees because the cold air will flow down the hill.
I am also a transplant from CA to the east coast! Welcome! I’ve been in VA for about 7 years and I’m not too far from you. When I moved, it very quickly caught up to me how location specific my gardening knowledge was.
The two problems with apricots: 1. they will get caught by a late freezes often in your/my area, which will kill the blossoms and you won’t get fruit. 2. The fruits will get brown rot and/or insect damage (PC likely) so you will have to spray them with something.
That said, I love apricots and missed them so I planted 5 of them. But I know there are many years I won’t get fruit.
There are some cold-hardy quince that do well as long as they don’t get knocked out by fireblight. It seems pretty location specific whether fireblight is a problem where you are.
For any of the stone fruit (plum, peach, cherry, apricot,…) you will probably have to spray them. Due to the dry weather in CA , there is a lot less disease pressure there so it’s easier to grow stuff without spraying. It was a bit of a shock to me how easily things grow here and how easily the fungus and bugs grow too.
I decided it was worth it for me to spray (and to learn how to spray) to get the fruit I liked best. Also, I control what gets sprayed on my plants where as at the grocery store I can’t control what gets sprayed. But spraying is a pain, so I completely understand people who choose to grow things that aren’t likely to need spraying.
You’ve gotten good advice from folks about fruits that don’t need much care and about protecting them from wildlife.
I sprayed my tulips (directly) with a milk/egg/garlic mix that actually kept the deer from eating them. However, I know it wouldn’t work on fruit trees and the instant it rained and the stuff washed off or I didn’t spray for a couple days - the deer ate the tulips. I gave up on tulips and grow daffodils now (fruit trees are in cages, fenced areas or very very tall)
Why are they dying? I would be interested in trying them - but west central PA isn’t too different from me so curious about why they died.
If you’re interested in trying another relative of them - I just got a newberry which is supposed to do a bit better with the cold. So far newberry grows extremely well compared to my other berries. It grows so well you might find it too aggressive if that’s an issue where you are.
That’s weird your GB/currants are dying since mine are doing fine here in hot n swampy Maryland.
Some type of leaf disease, possibly Anthracnose. Leaves turn yellow/brown and fall off late summer and eventually killed many varieties. Consort black and Jonkheer van Tets seem resistant. For gooseberries Jahns prairie , red colossal and red Hinnomaki also seem resistant, but the PC ravaged them this year.