I just love experiments!

I have never done any grafting. Good luck and happy growing.

Thanks. I have had varying degrees of success and failure. Japanese maples are pretty easy. Conifers are harder. I had zero success with last years texas madrone on strawberry tree experiment. But the cool thing is if you graft a scion from a mature cone bearing tree it will start to make cones in a couple years. A pinus remota, or pinus edulis seedling will take 10 to 20 years. Also, pinus strobiformis seedlings are easy to get and cheap and much more vigorous. A pinyon pine might grow a couple inches a year. Strobiformis can grow over a foot a year. And the more vigorous rootstock makes the scion grow faster at first.

I did some graftings on mangoes zillions of years ago in Venezuela. It was fun because you could get several varieties of mango from a single three. I have seen announcements marketing bouganvilleas, peaches and crape myrtles bearing different flower colors / fruits in one tree. Very cool.

Omar

Vulture, I planted a peach tree grafted w/three varieties. This is its first winter so don’t know how well it will do. However, one branch has blooms, yippee.

as to pinion, I ADORE its fragrance when burning it in our outdoor chimenea. Some years back, I remember states west of TX were in a panic due to some pinion pine plague. But it has quieted down. Anybody know what’s going on with that? I’d plant a pinion or pinyon in east TX in a second.

Native stands of pinus edulis were decimated by drought, heat, then insects. Maybe more than HALF of the trees. Even if conditions improve, and some people think they will not, it would take a century or two for that ecosystem to recover. Pinyon logs smell good when burned but I wouldn't burn them myself because they are small slow growing trees. It takes a hundred years of sunshine to make those little logs.

I think they might be a challenge in east texas. The lovett pinetum didn't have any luck. One western pine they did have success with was apache pine. Which is beautiful, but a bigger tree. Similar to long leaf pine

I think that as trees died, a few enterprising people cut them up and sold. I used to see bundles at Christmas time at Lowe’s/HD, which is where I got them. Not lately though.

Todd, have you been to the pinetum? I would love to visit.

No, but they have a website where the document their success and failures . they've tried all kinds of conifers. I do intend to visit peckerwood gardens. There is this guy there named Adam who has tried and accumulated a lot of neat stuff.

My sister told me ( she used to live in NM) that the people go up and harvest where forest fires have been.

Adam is the new director, came from FL. He is quite good and his newsletter is very enjoyable. Peckerwood and the pinetum are faves of mine b/c they constantly plant experimental stuff. I keep up w/their experiments. I wholeheartedly recommend a visit to Peckerwood.