I tried pawpaws a few times when I lived north of Madison. Winters always zapped them
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My neighbor has something like 8 paw paws in his backyard, we’re in Madison and his trees are so loaded with fruit he just gives them away on his front porch. They do so well I’ve considered growing a few myself
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Those trees at Olbrich must be 10+ years old. They also planted some at the UW Arboretum but they are smaller. Just a few fruit. I would think the arboretum has a better climate being up on a hill.
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The next winter 95-96 is probably going to wipe out a lot of this stuff. I’ve read things about people growing Coconut palms in the Orlando area which is pretty far north and only 1 bad winter from getting zapped.
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Mid-late 90s was when I was trying pawpaws and persimmons. Winters were “normal” then. I think it was 2000 when Lake Mendota froze over completely for only a week or so.
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I’m pretty sure that flowering peach is a goner. Seeing more leaf drop and now lots of gum from the trunk/bark. Too bad. Was a nice tree. I have one more in a pot but not sure i want to even plant it //probably die too.
Ordered a 10x14 aluminum/polycarb greenhouse. Clearing out an area for it. I’ll post some pictures if i ever get it together.
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Anyone tried growing Common Witch Hazel (fall bloom) or Vernal Witch Hazel (spring bloom) up in Zone 4? I’m looking for extended season colors because winter is so drab. If Vernal Witch Hazel can survive, it would beat Forsythia to bloom. Actually I’m wondering how deer resistant they are too because it would be nice to remove the tree cage as it gets establised.
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I grabbed a few Dolgo and Northland crabs yesterday
Dolgo fruit
Northland fruit
Dolgo doesn’t get sprayed. Northland had one shot of Imidan/Captan/Indar this year.
Dolgo tree, deer have browsed everything they can reach. This tree grows in my wildflower plot and is maybe 15 yards to heavy cover.
You can kind of see the “ring” under the Dolgo where deer have browsed/beaten down the vegetation while also eating any drops.
Northland tree. This tree grows in my corner orchard. It is probably 50 yards to heavy cover and is in a more open environment than is the Dolgo.
I brix tested a few each of the Dolgo and Northland. All of the Dolgo tested at 10. Northland varied from 12-14. Neither is worth eating out of hand IMO. You do get a small hint of Mcintosh flavor from the Northland (Dolgo x Mcintosh), but it’s only at the first bite. The tannins seem to take over after that.
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What will you do with all your apples? My brother has an orchard on his hunting land of maybe 15 trees but he just leaves the apples for the deer (he has them fenced up). I’ll have to take some pics next time i’m up there.
My container carrots didn’t do very well. I think growing them in pure bark was not a good idea (too acidic). I should have added some lime. They grew, just not very big. Next year i’m going to grow them in pure sharp sand.
Eat a bunch, give away a bunch, make cider, make dried apples…let the deer get fat off of them 
Edit…I’d like to learn how to make baked apples, apple pie, and apple strudel. My waistline doesnt need that stuff though
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I picked the remaining Melba apples today. Also picked a bunch of Northland crabs. Most got frozen for a batch of cider later in the fall, but I kept a few of each out for fresh eating. I’ve been missing out on the Melba. They are very flavorful with a prominent berry flavor in there somewhere. Quite juicy as well. Like most summer apples, the texture isn’t super crunchy. Deer won’t be getting as many of them in the future as they have been getting.
I cut up a bunch of the Northlands and put the tray in the freezer. I’ll transfer them to a ziploc tomorrow. They’re going to get used to make some crabapple/cinnamon infused bourbon. The interwebs told me that freezing them first will help them to infuse their flavors more readily
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I picked a bunch of Zestars today. The tree is still loaded. I’ll likely pick the rest of them next week.
I kept the nicest ones for fresh eating, the rest went into the freezer for a future batch of cider.
This is a wild apple from about 35 minutes southeast of here. It grows in a ditch. I took a few scions from it maybe 10 years ago. It’s grafted to antonovka, it took around 8 years for first fruit. This year it had a decent crop. When fully ripe, they go soft and mealy. With just a hint of red, they are decently crisp, juicy, with a hint of pear flavor. They brix test from 11-13. I have a number of wild apples from this area growing here. None of them are “spitters”
Some have cracked, I assume from all the rain we’ve had this year
The size varies considerably
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Do you like Zestar? Those look nice. Is it normal to have this crop in August? This cool air should really help the local apples.
I used to grow McIntosh, Sweet 16. I tried Honeycrisp at least twice and failed both times.
Zestar is by far the best eating early(ish) apple I’ve tasted. Crisp, juicy, and sweeter than tart. Those that I freeze are great additions to sweet cider later in the fall.
They are ripening about 7-10 days earlier than normal this year. So is the wild apple that I posted pics of, as well as some others. I picked and ate a Chestnut crab a couple days ago. It tasted fully ripe and the seeds were brown. They shouldn’t be ripe for at least another 2 weeks.
My Honeycrisp has a fair crop this year, as does Sweet 16
Zestar is one my favorite apples. I only have 4 left on my tree this year. My tree was loaded early on and most of them dropped or were thinned early on after PC got to most of them. They only picked a few trees to go nuts on and Zestar was one of them unfortunately. Maybe because they size up quicker than all my others…?? At least they spared a few. My HOneycrisp tree didn’t set anything this year, but the leaves are not all yellow like normal years. Either from not having to ripen apples or the heavy amount of gypsum I applied under it last fall. Not sure but it looks healthier than ever this year.
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Im not sure my ‘zestar’ are actually zestar, I got the scion a long time ago from someone and Ive never really like them, also they dont look like yours. I might need to get a twig from you next spring. Where did you get your wood from?
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i got my 1st zestars this year. they usually ripen mid sept. here. one of my favorite early apples y. transparents are just finishing up right now. my williams pride set 6 apples that are just coloring up right now. big apples like zestar. they look to be ready mid. sept as well.
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My Zestar is one of very few trees that I bought as a large potted tree. I got it from a local nursery, its a Bailey Nursery(wholesale) tree as are the vast majority of trees sold in MN
Edit…if you want a scion remind me in February
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