Cherry, Blueberries and Frost Peach are opening today
Unknown Cherry
Also the buds are starting to swell on my old Italian plum, (ignore the clutter in my Smithy it’s still in Winter mode).
Grafted some apples on Eml111 rootstock after work tonight. More to come and may have lots of scion wood leftover. Weather to pick up.
Smokehouse
Red Spitzenberg
Pixie Crunch
Surprise Apple
Hooples Antique Gold
Hawkeye
Gold Rush
Saint Edmunds Russet
Sundance
Took some pictures today of Red Baron and Indian free blossoms. Also, a pic of a braided fig we got going.
Wow!!
@growjimgrow, hope things turn out well for you, it’s nice to finally have some decent weather to get out and enjoy doing some things. I spent part of the day taking the chainsaw out, and clearing out some branches and saplings and other brush to make the place a bit more cleaner looking. I’m paying for it now, I could hardly get out of the chair a few minutes ago.
Speaking of circling around your trees, I do a tour of my trees and plants just about every day, seeing what’s starting to green up, and what’s starting to bloom, and checking which of my blackberries I planted last month have poked their heads up out of the dirt.
I love this time of the year. It never ceases to amaze me how a little corn kernel turns into an 8ft stalk, or how that little tomato seed that I started indoors later grows into a 6ft beast of a plant covered with juicy tomatoes. And now that I’m growing fruit, I marvel how that little tree or bush that I planted a few years ago will soon produce some delicious fruit for us to enjoy.
To experience such things makes me appreciate the wonder of Creation.
Beautiful. Those blooms make one almost want to get a Red Baron, just for the blossoms.
First time to graft this year; looks like 4 of my 5 apples took (Grafted February, buds broke March, and good growth now). Lessons learned; the only one that didn’t take had the end bud snipped off, and looks like that dried the scion out… Now I know better and will definitely dip or cover any scions that are exposed. On another note, I dipped one of the M111 clippings in rooting hormone and stuck it in the ground. 2 months later and it still has leaves; so looks like I have another rootstock for next year!
You don’t have to though the peach is just as awesome from all reports. Yes, i want one too.
ahead of me!
Welcome from south of the border! My cherry blossoms are about the same stage as yours. Although we have had a less severe winter than many, I am so delighted to have the occasionaI sunny day twixt the winds and rains. I live near Seattle on the sound. Have you ever ventured over to Salt Spring Island for their famous apple festival? I can’t recommend it enough.
No, I haven’t been to the Island for a long time or seen the festival but I have been to Summerland, BC and got to see a lot of beautiful mega orchards there. When you look at the area from satellite you get an idea of how much fruit is grow there. There’s the local Abbotsford Berry festival if you want to cross the border, we’re the “Berry Capital of Canada” since almost every field around here is filled with currants, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, and other berries. The majority of the fields are Blueberries which can be had for cheap if you want to pick your own.
I’m trying to get my spring gardening done while the sun shines and do my fine wood working when it rains. The days are getting much longer which I appreciate more than anything.
Perfect gardening day! The ground, far from being too muddy, was actually a little dry
Set out the 6 flats of veggies that have been waiting for the weather, plus a new row of strawberries
Now to decide if it’s time to spray copper against the fireblight
Me too!
Why didn’t I think of that! Good observation.
The FedEx truck pulled up, today, with my Isons order. And, man, they look good! I had ordered 4 pomegranates from them. Nikitski Ranni, Salavatski, Afganski and a ‘new’ Grenada. I was never quite positive that my ‘other Grenada’ is really a Grenada. I’m doing a comparison test!
Anyway - got them all planted and they look beautiful! The Grenada is taller than I am! Here they are . . . a couple of the Russians shipped with blossoms! It will be painful . . . but I guess I need to cut them off this first year. Sigh.
I also planted my Pink Lady, which I had heeled in. It came from Cummins. Very nice little tree. It had blossomed while waiting to be planted! Gorgeous flowers! I can’t wait to see it in bloom next year.
I finally understand how to train a vase-shaped tree . . . but these apples are going to be a challenge for me. I’m studying the modified central leader instructions . . . but it hasn’t ‘stuck’ yet. Can an apple NOT be trained as a vase? I have several to deal with. This Pink Lady. A Grimes Golden, Ashmead’s Kernel, and Mutsu whip. (The last 3 all whips.) And a Goldrush, which has to be at least 7’ tall ! When I plant it later this week, I’ll take a picture and ask for advice on ‘what to take off’. It came from Vintage VA Apples and we could barely fit in in our Buick Enclave . . . that’s how tall it is!
The shot of the Pink Lady shows the branches quite clearly. So, what do I leave - and what gets clipped off? All advice will be welcomed ! 
P.S. - Don’t laugh at my bungee staking. They are temporary, until I can get to a more permanent solution. Meanwhile . . . they work great and are easily adjustable.
Oops, I had planted some Mandarin seeds and gave up on them after a month of doing nothing. So I reused the potting soil for my Habaneros and evidently the seeds were not duds over a month and a half after being dropped. This first one came up with my Red Savina seedlings a week and half ago and the other two just broke soil with my Pink Habaneros.
I’m excited to have some indoor citrus trees, the glossy leaves are beautiful.
The last couple days I’ve been preparing the raspberry run down by the old house. I marked off a 35ft long by 3ft wide plot. Then I got the bronco, I mean front tine tiller out, and churned up the soil a few times.
After that, I went to the barn with the wheelbarrow and dug up some garden dirt, then went into one of the old horse stalls, where the soil is quite dark and rich, and dug up some of that. I then took it over and scattered it onto the run, and worked it in with the tiller. Then I took a rake and worked it into a nice elevated mound of dirt.
This evening, hopefully the wind will die down a bit, and I can plant the rasps.
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been putting on Clemson peach bags. If luck holds, I will get five apricots this year (all Tomcots) and 35(!) peaches (a variety). The bags are fiddly to put on and a bit tedious, and it’s hard to do it right and watch out for the surrounding leaves. Unfortunately my two little Moniqui fruitlets dropped–fingers crossed for next year!
I have a couple of apples that bloomed unexpectedly too, since they’re on their second leaf and not on a precocious rootstock. I won’t let them fruit but I enjoyed the sight, they’re very pretty.
My Flavor Supreme tree is growing like gangbusters. It is so fast-growing and has a nice open shape already; it’s a shame it has so many pollination issues. Hopefully it will be worth the effort!
My new Bavay’s greengage is taking F O R E V E R to leaf out. There are tiny buds so I know it’s alive, it’s just taking its sweet, sweet time.
My Harcot flowered and leafed out fine, but now seems to be unexpectedly dead. The trunk looks blackened with yellowish goo, and on closer inspection there are small holes. Borers, maybe? Disappointing but not the end of the world.
I used them last year. I still have a bunch left. They only worked on one peach tree for me that had about eight peaches. Those were gorgeous, but my nectarine tree did work out as well. I baged about 25 or so on that one and the fruit was all killed by moths. I might have bagged to late. I’m going back to ziplocks. I think they work better. Let us know how yours work out.
