Mountain Gardening

hello to all we have a golden delicious apple that isn't producing much. i've read that a pollinator can help, even though it is self-fruiting.
we think a Jonathan will work well. Has anyone tried that variety up here??
it's suppose to be highly susceptible to many problems...so i thought i'd check here first.
what apple trees have done well for folks up here? maybe we can find one that pollinates our golden delicious.

p.s. we put in a Butterfly Weed last month....and it's colors are holding up great in this cold.

p.s.s. i heard it's suppose to get down to 31 degrees by tues or wed night !!

Happy Fall Gardening....

http://www.fast-growing-trees.com/YellowDelicious.htm#

follow the link apple info

Hi. I have a big old Jonathan tree in my yard. This year was down, but it often produces a thousand apples a year. I don't spray it with any pesticides. Some years the apples might have a little scab, but they are still edible. I tend to have more of that when there are more apples. If you wanted to spray it, I don't think you would have any pest problems with this kind of tree. Mine has to be at least 25 years old and is still doing well.

Do you mean butterfly bush? We have two apple trees that seem to take turns producing well. Don't know what type but it seems like apples are the easiest up here. Maybe Coral knows.

dr.pookie....thanks for the info on your jonathan. i'm glad to hear they do well up here, and don't need to be sprayed ! it looks like that is the best pollinator for our tree, we just wanted to make sure it wasn't susceptible to disease/bugs.
does yours get a lot of sun, or partial sun?

nuthatch....it's butterfly weed and it's beautiful right now, with yellow/orange/red blossoms. here's a link
http://landscaping.about.com/cs/forthebirds/a/butterfly_p...

anymore input on jonathans would be appreciated

It's in a pretty sunny area, but it gets a little shade from a giant cedar nearby and probably from the house.

I forgot--the apples are good too!

We have a Macintosh and it did the best it ever has. It was so loaded this year and they were very juicy and sweet. This is the first year we had actual bees. I hope they come back next year. The bees also loved my Mt.Laurel. Maybe someone in Dart Canyon has a bee hive now.

thanks for all the advice. we bought a Jonathan, and will plant it near our golden delicious. hoping to finally get some apples. although the blooms are beautiful, i want some apples
we have the pretties peach tree, a Peppermint Flowering Peach, that i put in the ground about 6 years ago. it's suppose to only flower....but this year we got a lot of fruit.
now i'm wanting to add more fruit trees. what other fruits have worked well up here for others??

that would be "prettiest"... peach tree

I've heard that fruiting crabapples are a great general pollinator for apple trees that need a pollinator. Anyone else heard this?

Yes, I have heard the same about certain crab apples. I ordered a Whitney crabapple, and a two-in-one Granny Smith/Arkansas Black a few weeks ago. To be delivered in spring. Hope to get crabapples to pickle, big apples to eat and dry.

My micro climate is quite harsh. However, I planted a Moonglow pear, a Seckel pear, and a Sugar Pearl apricot a couple years ago - and they are still alive. Too small to fruit yet, but maybe in a couple years. The Starkrimson dwarf cherry I planted a few months ago grew amazingly well over the summer. Waiting to see how it handles winter.

I chose the Sugar Pearl apricot because it is supposed to be unusually hardy, and blooms late in the season. Hopefully that means a late frost will not cause the fruit to drop. (My frost season is usually Sept 10- May 25. Lost my squash and pumpkins when it froze June 21 this year.)

There's a great pear tree in front of Tony's restaurant in Cedar Glen. Does anyone know what type it is? It really seems to put out the fruit.

I don't know what kind of pears they are, but our tree is VERY productive also. Could be bartlett.

nuthatach, your pears were delicious !! i wonder waht kind they are. they do look like bartletts. your are lucky to have so many pears and apples !!
i planted a pear tree 6 years ago, and no fruit yet. Do pear trees need other pears around ????
my golden delicious tried to fruit this year...but the apples fell off quickly...still the first apples since planted 6 years ago...it's a good sign

ronnieBB, what do crabapples taste like? i don't think i've ever had one.