I’m starting to hate the summers around here as much as the winters. I love this fall weather. Lots of snowbirds around here. I’m so sick of summer i’d have to wait until the 1st of the year to flee and i’d just need an area that is 50Fs and 60Fs… Gulf Coast or Texas would be fine. I hate the snow more than the cold.
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I’ve never seen a Bradford pear in these parts.
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I’m similar to Smith in that I’m about 70 miles from Park Rapids but southwest instead of straight south. I’m not growing quite as many varieties as him but I’m in the realm of 50 apple varieties, 8-10 plum, 6 cherry varieties, 5 different honeyberries, a handful of raspberries, a pear tree and an apricot. Most of the apples are newly grafted so I can only comment on about a dozen but if Chestnut crab and Trailman crab are not on the list you’ve already mentioned then I’d suggest adding them as well. Toka is a must for plums as far as I’m concerned as well as Aurora for honeyberries.
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Thanks for your suggestions.
A funny thing about Toka; I have grafted a few for family in zone 4 and they have done well. The ones I have in Nashville grow like weeds but just won’t pollinate. I have plenty of pollinators too.
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Oh yeah Black Ice plum as well
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I have grafted Black Ice for family in Zone 4A and they had a bit of die back. I’m suspicious of my rootstock not putting the tree to sleep properly. I will still try it. Maybe put it on local American plum rootstock or a rootstock suggested by you local guys.
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Yup, me either. I dont think bradford/callery/hybrids will survive much north of 5a. I grew out some “wild pear” seed from northern Iowa and mid Michigan my first couple years here. They grew like crazy during the summer, then winter would zap them to the snow line. One year we hit -20 or so with no snow cover in mid November. That killed the roots for good. That same winter nuked my giant miscanthus rhizomes
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Call me Stu.
I wouldnt avoid growing Honey Crisp at your new location, just be aware that a test winter could damage or kill your tree.
Frostbite and Keepsake should be on your list for sweet, juicy, crunchy, winter hardy varieties. They both share some genes with Honeycrisp. Zestar is a fantastic early September apple for fresh eating and sweet cider. Honeygold has proved itself as hardy as well. Its juicy, crunchy and sweet. Not complex in flavor though. Prairie Spy has seen -38 or lower with zero damage. We like them for fresh eating in November. Also good for cider and baked goods. Tolman Sweet is winter proof. Sweet, crunchy, and weird. I’ve got a wild apple (Smitty’s s
Seedling) that was here when i bought the place. Its a great multi purpose mid September apple. NW Greening is winter hardy, easy to grow, and great for pies and baking. I could ramble on and on, but will spare you.
The vast majority of my trees/varieties are yet to bear fruit, but most all have seen temps to or around -30.
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Yep, agreed. Both are super winter hardy and delicious. Chestnut in a good year is about as good eating as an apple/crabapple gets.
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Great information here. You guys are going to save me a lot of heart ache or heart burn. It was so easy in TN zone wise. We sure have the pests though.; insects and fungus.
Step one for me is to get or propagate some rootstock. Are you guys grafters? If so what do you use?
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in colder environments you are better off keeping with cold hardy standard rootstocks or larger semidwarf ones.
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I harvest ginger yesterday. This all came out of a 25 gallon pot that i planted last spring with ginger that i harvested last year. Crazy simple plant to grow. I pretty much did nothing except watered when it got really dry.
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That is a great idea. Will have to try it!
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how do you store long term? do they need curing?
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I graft. I stick to standard/seedling rootstocks as much as i can.
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Are you saying that your rootstock is coming from seeds of cold hardy eating apples, not a named rootstock?
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I use antonovka, dolgo, ranetka, and wild apple/crab seedlings.
I am saving seeds from my fruit this year. I will plant those in a styro growing block in early November and bury the block in our garden. Next spring I’ll pull it out and see what grows.
I have trees that I’ve grafted to b118 and m111 as well. I want big old trees at some point, so standards/seedlings are what I will use from now on.
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i just keep them in a basket thing with open sides and they shrink some and turn a brown/gold color. Seem to keep for a long time…just keep them out of the sun.
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Well, one thing I’ve learned is to take scions from found wild trees as soon as you’re able. I waited to get scions from this roadside tree until yesterday. Guess what I found?
The tree was gone, ground up into sawdust with only a few limbs remaining. The township had gone through and gotten rid of a whole bunch of trees/shrubs growing in the ROW.
I did find a few possibly graftable scions so I gathered what I could. I talked to a couple who lives near where the tree used to grow and they informed me the trees had been cleared a couple weeks ago. I have no idea if the scions I gathered will still be viable, but I sure hope so. It would really suck to miss out on being able to continue growing this wild variety.
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i bet some of those will take. id cut, then soak to rehydrate before storing. one time id pruned off one of my grafts by mistake and that branch layed in the sun on ground for 9 days before i realized what i done. i took some scions off and regrafted even though the tree was leafing out. both grafts took! apples are amazing.
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