Had stopped in a friend's place and his cherry trees are looking the same as mine.

Collin001, these cherries can take their sweet time to produce, many of mine are 6 ft plus and only started flowering in earnest last year. I often see small nursery grown plants flowering and fruiting away, I guess being restricted in pots must induce early fruiting. My friends in Edmonton have purchased many such plants and theirs have continued to produce at an early age, I'm jealous, lol.

Colin, unless you sunk the plum pots into the ground last fall, the plum roots would have been subject to much more severe cold than the grape roots sitting in the ground.

Your cherry looks healthy and is building a strong framework for when it starts producing fruit. This will by my cherry plant's fourth summer, and all 4 or them have bloomed every single year including the year I bought them, but getting them to set and ripen fruit has been a problem. It was really only in year 2 that I got cherries (about a half-litre, after hail wiped out at least half the crop), and those were all from the Cupid. I was hoping for things to ramp up in year 3 but a very early onset of the previous winter meant most of the cherries had almost full leaf cover all winter, and although they flowered well in the Spring, I think the buds were all messed up and I only got 3 or 4 cherries in total. This year (year 4) they are flowering well and they went into last winter fully dormant so I have my hopes up, but who knows. Anyway, I figure a few years to wait for a fruit bush or tree to start producing is normal.

twrosz - did your cherries produce fruit for you last year? If so, how much?

Don, my Carmine Jewel has always had it's leaves killed by frost and then eventually lose them over winter, I think the Evans does the same but so far it is a dud in my yard and I had planted it first. Soon it will be no more. Wayne

Don, after having flowered very heavily last year, a scant total of about seven cherries had been produced in total on the ten large bushes. We had experienced nearly ideal weather throughout the entire season, including June, when much of Edmonton had received wet conditions. I have never fertilized the trees and they've always grown at a moderate healthy pace, now just hurry up and produce!

Wayne,...you might try a very protected place for these, the higher the better, [better hardening off] I'm just
borderline for Evans out in the country,..more of a zone 2, the first 8 years or so I thought that it was pointless,..always freezing back but each year they got a little larger, as the stems grew larger I then got cherries.

My Evans is flowering now low to the ground, [under the snow line]

Thanks Konrad, as some of my trees get bigger I'm getting more protection from the elements but right now it isn't great. I was thinking low wire, lay down and cover. I had tried Frontenac before Valiant and that plant lived through 2 winters than died. Last year the Valiant never produced much, was very nasty last 2 winters, not so much extreme temps but consistently cold. These Brianna came from Northern garden collection (card says -40c to -34c). Looked on line and nowhere could I find it being tested to zone 3. WE ARE THE TESTERS or ....I did a couple of quick grafts from Carmine Jewel to Evans yesterday, just picked dormant to dormant, won't take long to see fail or growth. Both grapes and Evans are near a slope that gently flows off my place.

Sure,..it takes a long time to establish something.

This picture from today,..Evans flowering under the snow line,
above is some dead wood, some look better.

Weird ...don't think I have harvested meadow mushrooms this
early!

Konrad, did many of your Evans trees sustain such damage as the one shown?

mmmm, now I'm thinking I'd love to have some mushroom soup!

Hi thought that I would add my 2 cents. Here in Brandon the pin cherries just starting to bloom in the last couple of days. Both Valentine and crimson passion have sparse blooms ( I took out the other 3 in the series as they were my least favorite in taste and texture). Norda apple, rosybrook crabapple are in full bloom. Morden 359, Morden Russett are coming into bloom. My honey crisp is just budding out( I have noticed that the Minnesota apples always bloom later)this is an off year for the Mn 449. As for the grapes- my brianna is several years old coming into bloom as is Swenson Red, montreal blues, kandiyohi, I lay them on the ground in the fall and snow cover keeps them alive. The original Brianna vine was at my parents place in Dauphin and has produced full crops for over 10 years. It was on the south side of their house. My valiant is budding out to the top. Tulips are in full bloom and the hydrangea are just budding out. I've never had such an overlap of blooming seasons.

Kayakcraig did your parents also lay down and cover Brianna, I would like to get an idea how cold hardy the plants are. My Valiants are just putting out growth at the head of the vine so far but there has been a lot of sap flow out of the canes. The Carmin Jewel cherry also looks like it will have a small amount of fruit this year, last year there was a lot. Thanks, Wayne

Hi Wayne.
For the first couple years we took down the vines and depended on natural snow cover. After that the vines were left up all winter. Never seemed to have any damage. I did thin the crops in heavy set years so the fruit all ripened and the vine would still shut down for winter.

>>Konrad, did many of your Evans trees sustain such damage as the one shown? I find a little more then half.

>>My honey crisp is just budding out kayakcraig 2b
WOW...for zone 2b you're doing pretty good!
I have a hard time getting it going here.

Konrad, you have Evan cherries in the city too, correct? Are they doing OK? How late did they bloom?

In the city, my Evans (single tree) was very late, but did flower well. I've been away for the past week but when I returned today (June 7), the Evans was only a couple days past peak. It's still a young tree, but I have grown Evans in the past also, and I always think of them as flowering in late May. Here's my tree on June 7, first a whole-tree photo that is a bit washed out I think, then a closer shot of the blossoms.

And for the heck of it, here's a pic from today of my Cupid cherry (Romance series). This is the last of the Romance cherries to bloom for me, and it is quite a bit later than Carmine Jewel, Juliet or Romeo, but I think it is further past peak bloom than the Evans, maybe by an extra 2 days or so. In other words, it now has only about half the blooms that it would have at peak bloom.

My Carmine Jewel is really taking it's time, no peak bloom, just a few flowers here and there constantly. The tallest part, south side away from the building is not looking great, it is pushing out some growth but looks like the top is dying, the bottom of that stem has good growth. It is not the first time that I have lost a part of this cherry.

>>Konrad, you have Evan cherries in the city too, correct? Are they doing OK? How late did they bloom? >>

I used to, here in Beaumont but it died two years ago, never had a issue for around 20 years, we replaced it with another from people we know who claim it's a sweet cherry,..but looks like Evans and most likely is.

The Evans out on the orchard are in bloom right now,..looking back from 2012, this year, blooming about a week later, same with other fruits.

Put in a little Cupid and Crimson Passion two years ago but still little,...so they got some old manure! I can tell, not as vigorous then Evans.

It is common for romance cherries not to produce until til year 4 cupid maybe year 5 Although they are said to be self fruitful I believe they set heavier with cross pollination.Years with over lap with my Evans seemed to produce heavier set. of the Romance series Cupid is said to be the genetically the most different from from the rest.I have not tried Rose cherries but I think they also may be good if bloom times overlap

It is common for romance cherries not to produce until til year 4 cupid maybe year 5 Although they are said to be self fruitful I believe they set heavier with cross pollination.Years with over lap with my Evans seemed to produce heavier set. of the Romance series Cupid is said to be the genetically the most different from from the rest.I have not tried Rose cherries but I think they also may be good if bloom times overlap

Okay, this is year 4 for me... fingers crossed!

Your cherry trees look very good Don, if they don't set fruit this year I would say they need more neglect, LOL. Best of luck, they will still drop a lot , maybe half unless you have better pollinators then I get. Wayne

enjoyed reading through all of these notes

From snow the other day to summer temperature,..I'll take it!
Gosh...that deep freeze we had the other day makes trees loosing leaves, 2 weeks early. I was cocking at 29C. picking apples,..they're dropping like flies, and wasp like you wouldn't believe! ..Thank you Diane!

Konrad, yes, the leaves have realllly colored and many are dropping fast since that severe killing frost ... but, now we're in a mini heatwave with near 30 C temps today, enjoy the heat while it lasts, it surely won't stick around for long.

In these parts, it was a very late start to spring and an abrupt end to summer, though pretty much ideal weather in between.

Yes and,.. forgot to mention, on the weekend seen Dragonfly,...they at least had a long season!

My Double Delight raspberries are just kick'n into gear, the forecast looks good for this week so far. I think that I will leave the canes and let them produce again next year to see how they do. Quite a variable taste to them so far, some I picked to soon. This is there second season in the ground.

The weirdness extends into fall. Yesterday i noticed that some Shirley poppies have buds on them, and one of my daylilies has just thrown up two scapes!

Severe killing frost struck my region in early September, while being a disappointment and shock to the system to have that snow and cold then arrive and take out the tender plants, still plenty of color and interest had remained and I was able to do an extra early clean up by ripping out those blackened annuals and proceed with moving perennials and shrubs around and have them re-establish plenty of new roots in the warmth that has dominated afterwards. At times, I've otherwise experienced somewhat poor results or even losses when transplanting late in the season, so I actually wasn't too disappointed with the previous cold snap ... today, it's gonna be close to 20 C and I'll be enjoying the fine weather while continuing the yard clean up.

BTW, if you already haven't begun to do so .... WATER in your trees and shrubs before the ground freezes, it's been soooo dry here! I also have a few more bulbs to get in the ground.

This post was edited by twrosz on Tue, Oct 14, 14 at 10:55

Another weird thing was I had zero aphids this year.

Thanks for reminding us twrosz. Fortunately with all the growth I have had this fall I have had to keep on it.

My garlic, planted not even two weeks ago, is punching through the soil already...

Well out to do yard work....

SCG

SCG, there had been tons of aphids here until late summer when the wasps and yellow jackets came out in droves and cleaned up on them. It was a very dry summer with hardly any storms passing through with heavy rains that otherwise would have helped to knock back the aphid numbers. The new growth on the plum trees and undersides of the leaves had been grossly covered in thick masses of aphids, though by late in the season, the trees were completely free of the pests as they became lunch for the wasps, mother nature does have her ways!

Quite interesting twrosz as they forecasted a big year for yellow jackets but I have to say it was the best year I can remember. Maybe the freeze thaws that got the plants got them too!!!

I am amazed at the number of bees that are still showing up to my flower beds. The 'Bacopa' is going nuts this fall.

SCG

I don't remember this many wasp in the past,...been trapping some because they killed one of my bees hives by cleaning them out of all their honey, I should have checked sooner.

These pictures from yesterday, honey bees cleaning up the honey from left overs when extracting, [some honey in the wax]
welcome food when the nectar source has ended over a month ago at the first frost.

You see the mixed race, from Italian's to Carniolan black bees.

Close up..

Zero aphids here too. But I had (and still have) tons of grasshoppers.

Nice pics Konrad. I am amazed at the number I have on my 'bacopa' flowers right now. Starting to think someone close has a few hives.

This was the best year I can remember for pests. I know I will pay next year LOL!!

This is the first year that my Carmine Jewel cherry is changing color, usually the leaves freeze green, turn brown then stay on the tree most of the winter, they are changing color and dropping. I've noticed this with a few other plants also. Linden's were color less this year again.

I've just dug out the last few things from the vegetable garden - leeks, some overlooked carrots, some carrots and beets that i planted in late July that never did much, and some little shoots of broccoli from plants that won't give up. Amazing. As i walk through the flower beds, i see new growth in a few places. Those plants are going to get a rude awakening in the not-too-distant future.... And next year, i think i'll plant one container with angelonia, lobelia and verbena and see how long it will keep going. All those things are still blooming in containers right now and i don't have the heart to dump them!

Konrad, so had the wasps had entered the bee hives and eaten the honey? I had thought that the honey bees would have been able to fight them off?

Marcia, our weather is forecast to take a bit of a tailspin here after today, so we've also been busy pulling the beets and digging the carrots ... and one thing for sure, I had planted toooo many carrots and am not at all pleased with the 'Sweetness II' and wonder if we had received the wrong variety, cause these are very HARD textured and with an unremarkable flavor, definitely not good for fresh eating, though a decent cooking type. Thank goodness we have lots of 'Rainbow' carrots to enjoy.

Soooo, much to do yet before the snow flies, it's hard to believe it'll soon be November!

Wayne you should get some pics for us!

Marciaz3 I am in the same boat. I was surprised at how much growth has occurred in the past while. I am refusing to pull it all up until I have too. Next year I am going to due way more cool weather flowers AND more asters :)

Twrosz you are a far more diligent, hard working gardener than I. I try to get the most out of the least work possible!!! I also know I won't do everything I should have done before the snow comes before the snow comes. But really, what is gardening unless the ground is frozen and white?

SCG

Our tailspin begins on Wednesday - letting you hang on to it until then! I don't have a lot left to do - rake some more leaves and spread them around when the ground freezes, and dump those three or four containers that are still blooming. I don't always get the in-ground annuals pulled. I'm not overly diligent either.

Our carrots are good and sweet - not that we got a lot of extras. The two rows i planted later, as i mentioned, did nothing at all. Dh is going to build another couple of raised beds next year and we're going to try to plant as much as we can in them. Hopefully we'll get more of everything then because we sure aren't getting much in the way of production out of the ground itself.

>>Konrad, so had the wasps had entered the bee hives and eaten the honey? I had thought that the honey bees would have been able to fight them off? Yes,..usually a strong hive can fight them off, this was a weak hive from a swarm and was building up, it was about a month after I hived them when it happened, bees starved, lots were heads down in empty cells. They had too much room, I should have pushed them into one box. Always something new and still learning,..never ending.

Another weird thing this year, didn't get any carrots!..Seeds never germinated! Looks like I got some old seeds, didn't buy any this year, the ones I still had from who knows how long ago, ...they need a long season, didn't re-seeded because of it.
Do you buy new seeds every year?

I do, mostly. Most seeds are good after a year, but many i replace every year. It was beans for me this year, all new seed and i had to plant them 3 times before any came up!

I usually buy new seeds, although Brassicas tend to be fairly long-lived so I order those once every couple of years.

Well for weirdness we had semi dormancy in September which forced a really early and unripe harvest. Then in October The rhubarb, garlic, parsley and chives all put up new shoots. I have no idea if these plants will survive come spring. For more weirdness, I had a hawk take out a pigeon on my garage for Remembrance Day. The hawk was very hungry. He didn't even look up for ten minutes.

Have to love those Sharp Shinned Hawks! Nice pic.

SCG

I had to rap on the window as the bird was not interested in me but this angle may be the better shot. I wanted a little closer but I was already at max zoom. Then again, for the weaker stomachs I don't need to get any closer to the entrails. lol

This post was edited by Collin001 on Tue, Nov 11, 14 at 11:15

Thank you all!
Grate picture Collin,.. population control at its best!

What i find weird is that this thread is on my list right after SCG's powdery mildew post...... LOL

Collin if you email me the photo full size I may be able to bring it in a bit for you. filimek at me dot com is my address.

Lol Marciaz3, what are you trying to say?

SCG

Great photos Collin, I've always been very interested in birds of prey and am fortunate to see many with living nearby to several small lakes and marshes.