Hi, I am looking for larger Contender peach stock, they announced that they will grow, hopefully, for me on my farm. when I contacted my supplier, they said it would be 2-3 years before they can get me some trees. (No, don't send me to the 'Big catalog' companies. deep adversion to their products. I had some of the new MINNESOTA SNOWSWEET apple trees this spring, and some have fruit started, will leave one or two apples per tree. I know i shouldn't, but I have waited a long time for them. Very late spring, I am about halfway between St. Paul, Minnesota and Lake Superior! after last summers extreme drought, am looking forward to a good crop. I am also looking for some GINGER GOLD apple trees. If you are in the 'northern' climes, I hope you have checked out the Zestar from the U of M. I have had 3 smaller crops from mine, fantastic. I put in some Prarie Magic trees this spring too. Deer, bear, and little old ladies from town do in most of my crop. Can't resist a challenge. Anyway, after running into fresh Colorado peaches at Gilettte, Wyoming last summer, I am hooked, and want to get some going before it is too late for this old farm boy. Never knew a peach could taste so good. Our pears, plums, and apples are about 2 weeks behind, due to late spring. so if you can direct me to a grower of good peach and apple stock, thanks. George

Ravenh that is positively decadent, even by the standards of some of my wealthiest clients. I've seen 100 year old trees that might be worth it if you think of the trees as a living sculpture but I've never seen a 50 year old that was so extraordinarily beautiful to be worth that investment. In the neighborhoods of Greenwich, CT and parts of Westchester, NY (my main work domain) rich folks often purchase 10-20 year old trees from distant commercial orchards. I was called onto an estate owned by a leading fashion-designer- clothing manufacturer where a 50 tree orchard like this had been installed at about 3 grand a tree and after 3 years the trees were completely stunted. The high end nursery responsible for the installation failed to solve the problem even though it was quite obvious when I poked around. The holes had been dug by the same tree spade that dug up the trees so they were the same size as the root ball. The soil was a silt that compacted from pressure from the tree spade and roots could not cross the glazed walls of the planting holes. I proscribed breaking up the soil with shovels from the edge to a few feet beyond the original root ball and didn't hear back from the contractor who subcontracted me for the consultation. A few years later a friend on mine got the contract for the property and subcontracted me to tend the apples and they were in great shape, having completely recovered. I'm taking full credit, of course, although none of the trees were left untreated as a control. In this business when things go well you better take credit because when they don't you will certainly be blamed.

The text is pale gray, the tiny headings that say 'Garden Forum Garden Topics Garden Junk' that you might use to navigate are pale green. You probably missed that altogether, it is so hard to see. The improvements are that you don't have to use code any more to insert a photo or make your type bold. There is a tiny line at the bottom of this page where you should be able to switch off the emails -- tiny green letters: Click to switch off notifications. We can go or we can stay.

Pam, the magnolia tree in the picture was the champ for MS before they found a tree in Jones County that got more points - it isn't as tall as the Benndale tree, but it has a considerably bigger spread, and is the national champion. I've seen the picture of the Jones County tree, and it looks to me like two mag grands that have merged, so, as far as I'm concerned, the Benndale tree is the national champion, at least it was before the hurricane, when it had a huge canopy. I took this picture of what was left of the canopy after the storm - pitiful! Once hunting season is over and it's been dry long enough that I won't bog down on the dirt roads you have to drive on to get to the tree, I'll go see how many and how big its new branches are. Another giant swallowtail has emerged today. I keep my chrysalids in my unheated guest bedroom with the door shut, and I think the very cold weather we had followed by this warm spell has made a few of them "think" it's spring! Giant swallowtails start off life as eggs on the leaf of a member of the citrus family, which can be cultivated fruit trees, or cold hardy host plants like hops tree/ptelea trifoliata, hercules club/zanthoxylum clava-herculis, prickly-ash/z. americanum, and rue/ruta graveolens. The egg hatches out a caterpillar, which eats the leaves of its host plant until it grows to a certain size, at which point it pupates and becomes a chrysalid. Caterpillars usually wander off the host plant to a nearby tree or shrub or other structure, so chrysalids are usually found in nature somewhere close to the host plant, but my chrysalids come from caterpillars I raise myself in ventilated cages on my porch to keep them safe from predators. When I find an early instar (very small) caterpillar on the host plant, I cut the leaf with the caterpillar off (or sometimes an entire small branch) and put it in a water pick, which is a little plastic thing that you put water in to keep the cuttings fresh, sort of like little "vases." They form their chrysalids on the inside of their roomy cages - outside, a big percentage of chrysalids are lost to the ravages of the weather and predators, so keeping them inside gives me plenty to release each spring, more than would naturally occur. By keeping them in a cool/cold but not freezing room, most of them don't emerge until late February, March or April, but there are always a few that emerge too soon, like these two. Here's a picture I made last year of some pupating giant swallowtail caterpillars - the first and third things from the right are giant swallowtail chrysalids, which is what the butterfly in the picture came out of. The brown and white scrunched up caterpillars are pupating, soon to become chrysalids. Once spring has set in for good, I'll be working outside a lot, but I'm sure I'll still post on the Butterfly AND Tree Forums. Hurricane Katrina really got me into the 'tree business' and I know I'll continue to want to ask questions and share my experiences with other tree lovers. Most butterfly host plants are trees, so the two go together. On another thread on this forum where elm trees are discussed, a poster asked me why I chose one type of American elm over another type - well, shape doesn't matter too much in the woods, but elms are a host plant for question marks and several other butterflies and moths, so shape was the last thing on my mind when I ordered mine! :) And I sure hope you'll keep us posted about your big tree project, Pam! Sherry