Saturday, September 11, 2010
Today
Today is nine years since I walked to Queens from 17th and 5th. I will always be thankful for the company I had that day and the kindness of a friend who had volunteered to let us stay with him.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Sweet Cherry Demise
My Black Gold sweet cherry is dying a slow and horrible death from THE CANKER. Canker is a bacterial infection in the bark that can be pruned out and the tree survive, if the disease is in a twig or branch. However, my tree is the Mimi of the garden and is dying in a big dramatic opus of oozy sap and an infected trunk. koff koff hack hack big finishing aria and dead. I will be surprised if she makes it through the winter.
A piece of advice that I have taken is to always plant disease resistant trees because they are such an investment of time and money, and Black Gold cherry from Starks is not an exception. I do think because it is a Zone 5 tree, instead of my preferred Zone 4, it suffered winter bark damage which made it susceptible to Canker.
sigh.
So I spent many hours researching sweet cherries that were not only disease resistant, but hardy to zone 4 and happy on the east coast.
My results are as follows:
Kristen - zone 4, very winter hardy, good to moderate crack resistance (where the cherries split, not the cocaine-based drug. either way, it's good) It's an early season bearer and the fruit is moderately sized and firm, dark red. - my concerns are that it is an early season fruit, which usually means it blooms earlier in the spring and we can have frosts all the way to the end of May.
White Gold - zone 4b, well adapted to the North East, low susceptibility to cherry leaf spot and bacterial canker (CANKER!), self-fertile, mid to late season bloom. The fruit is light yellow and has a good flavor. - my concerns are, well there really aren't any. it's hardier than any other cherry, specifically resistant to the disease we have here and it pollinates itself! but it's yellow. and I kind of love red cherries. It's a stupid reason not to choose what would otherwise be considered a perfect tree, but still...
Sylvia - zone 4, good bacterial canker tolerance, cracking resistance varies widely, late season bloomer and the fruit is dark red, large and firm. It sounds great! Except it needs another late season bloomer to pollinate it. So there would have to be another hold hardy, late season disease resistant sweet cherry nearby
Hudson - zone 5, bred in the Hudson River Valley in NY, it is listed as very good winter tolerance, canker and crack resistant, late season bloomer, fruit is large, firm and mahogany red. it's zone 5! how winter resistant could it be? but if it could survive here, it would be a perfect pollinator for Sylvia. Sylvia and Hudson would make such a handsome sounding couple, but I may only have room for one tree.
On top of choosing a new tree, there will have to be a new planting site, because the bacteria can harbor in the soil. So, if I am choosing a new site on our property, maybe I can plant TWO sweet cherry trees! Sylvia and Hudson could be together with their branches lovingly entangled , and I would cover them with bird netting to give them privacy from those nosey crows that tend to hang about.
A piece of advice that I have taken is to always plant disease resistant trees because they are such an investment of time and money, and Black Gold cherry from Starks is not an exception. I do think because it is a Zone 5 tree, instead of my preferred Zone 4, it suffered winter bark damage which made it susceptible to Canker.
sigh.
So I spent many hours researching sweet cherries that were not only disease resistant, but hardy to zone 4 and happy on the east coast.
My results are as follows:
Kristen - zone 4, very winter hardy, good to moderate crack resistance (where the cherries split, not the cocaine-based drug. either way, it's good) It's an early season bearer and the fruit is moderately sized and firm, dark red. - my concerns are that it is an early season fruit, which usually means it blooms earlier in the spring and we can have frosts all the way to the end of May.
White Gold - zone 4b, well adapted to the North East, low susceptibility to cherry leaf spot and bacterial canker (CANKER!), self-fertile, mid to late season bloom. The fruit is light yellow and has a good flavor. - my concerns are, well there really aren't any. it's hardier than any other cherry, specifically resistant to the disease we have here and it pollinates itself! but it's yellow. and I kind of love red cherries. It's a stupid reason not to choose what would otherwise be considered a perfect tree, but still...
Sylvia - zone 4, good bacterial canker tolerance, cracking resistance varies widely, late season bloomer and the fruit is dark red, large and firm. It sounds great! Except it needs another late season bloomer to pollinate it. So there would have to be another hold hardy, late season disease resistant sweet cherry nearby
Hudson - zone 5, bred in the Hudson River Valley in NY, it is listed as very good winter tolerance, canker and crack resistant, late season bloomer, fruit is large, firm and mahogany red. it's zone 5! how winter resistant could it be? but if it could survive here, it would be a perfect pollinator for Sylvia. Sylvia and Hudson would make such a handsome sounding couple, but I may only have room for one tree.
On top of choosing a new tree, there will have to be a new planting site, because the bacteria can harbor in the soil. So, if I am choosing a new site on our property, maybe I can plant TWO sweet cherry trees! Sylvia and Hudson could be together with their branches lovingly entangled , and I would cover them with bird netting to give them privacy from those nosey crows that tend to hang about.
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