More Apple Blossoms. 4.24.2021

 I went around and photographed more of the apple blossoms.  Almost all of the apples, whether early, mid season, or late season, are blooming now.

 

And Redlove Era

Apples in Bloom. 4.21.21

Going around the yard, I think most of the apple varieties are blooming now.  It's interesting - sometimes such a big deal is made about having the same bloom times for pollination.  Right now, only a few are not in full bloom.  Some flowers might not get pollinated.   Then again, thinning the set fruit is a pretty big chore, so that's probably a good thing.  

Finished blooming - only Dolgo Crabapple.

More or less full bloom:

Gravenstein, Airlie Red Flesh, Rubinette, Northpole columnar, TastyRed Columnar, Golden Treat Columnar, Jonathan, Jonared, Priscilla, Prima, Queen Cox, King David, Jonagold, WineCrisp, Zestar, Sweet-16, Redlove Era, Akane, Sutton's Beauty, and probably some I've missed.

More Apple Bloom Times. 4.24.19

Liberty Apple on M27 Rootstock.  4.24.19

Most of the apples are blooming now.  I think we are in early to mid blooming season.  Since these are all in bloom, there should be good pollination this year.  I'm not seeing many bees.  Maybe small pollinators can help, within the multigraft trees.

I have Jonagold on M27, a dwarf tree, and on a multigraft.  Last year, the Jonagold on M27 bore very heavily, and this year there are no flowers.  The Jonagold on the multigraft is blooming for the first time, so I should get some fruit on that one.

Golden Sentinel, which I like, is not blooming.  Nor surprising, I pruned it significantly when I moved it to this location on 10.6.18.  There was major root loss and major loss of tree.  I'm surprised it survived.  There is also significant deer damage to the trunk, from the prior location.  Still, this tree is a trooper, is growing, and maybe next year will be up to bearing again.

This is the first significant bloom for Winecrisp, and the first bloom for Milo Gibson, King David (not pictured).

I think there should be a good apple crop this year, with some interesting heritage varieties, new varieties, novel ones and mainstream.

Airlie Redflesh Blossom.  4.24.19

Northpole, 2nd leaf after moving.  4.24.19

Winecrisp Apple Blossom.  4.24.19

Jonagold Apple Blossom.  4.24.19

Baldwin Apple Blossom.  4.24.19

Not Blooming.  

Golden Sentinel, 

1st leaf after moving.  4.24.19

Sutton Beauty.  4.24.19

Baldwin Apple Blossom.  4.24.19

Milo Gibson Apple Blossom.  4.24.19

Jonagold Apple Blossom.  4.24.19

Apple Blossoms and Pollination Times. 4.23.19

Apple Blossoms.  Dolgo Crabapple and GoldRush.  4.23.19

 Apples have a wide range of blossom times.  Earlies can't pollinate or be pollinated by lates, because their flowers are not open at the same time.  So it's interesting to see which ones bloom, when.  There may be some regional differences for each variety, so tables of blossom times may not reflect that cultivar's performance in a given area.

Now is the time that the early bloomers are in full blossom here in my BattleGround, WA backyard orchard.

Gravenstein*
Dolgo Crabapple
GoldRush
Rubinette
Airlie Red Flesh


I don't remember all of the varieties that I have but here are some in bud:

Apple Blossoms.  Gravenstein.  4.23.19

Granite Beauty*
Porter*
Jonagold
Jonared
Johnathan
Keepsake*
Priscilla
King David*
Opalescent*
Winecrisp®*
Scarlet Sentinel
NorthPole
Liberty
Akane*
Baldwin*
Honeycrisp.
Milo Gibson*
Chehalis

*Indicates this is the first year of blossom for those grafts.

Apple Blossoms.  Airlie Red Flesh.  4.23.19

 While I'm listing, here are grafts that have not bloomed yet.  Most are too new.

More Honeycrisp grafts.
Sweet 16
Hawkeye

Here are the grafts that I did this year, so of course no bloom for a year or two or three or four.

Prima
William's Pride
Pristine (I recall this is early, these are salvaged from previous branch of Pristine that broke off)
More Honeycrisp
Bob's Red Crab
HeyJack Crab

And here are my new trees that might bloom in a year or two or three or four:

Apple Blossoms.  Queen Cox.  4.23.19

Urban Apple® Tasty Red®
Urban Apple® Golden Treat®
Redlove Era®

That's a lot of cultivars.  Some of the trees have as many as 8 so it's not as many trees as one might think.  Still, I get to try many types of apple from my own yard.  They taste better than store bought, have a wide range of ripening times (July to November), and I get to taste varieties that are not found in stores or are historic, some fating back for centuries.

Apple Blossoms. 5.7.17

I lost track of apple blossoms due to continuous rains.  I think the early ones may not have pollenized as well, due to rain, chill, and fewer pollinating insects.  The later ones might be better.

Completely done blooming:
Gravenstein
Pristine
Airlie (Arlie?) Red Flesh (same as Hidden Rose)
Golden Sentinel
Red Sentinel
North Pole.

At peak or a past peak:
Liberty
Jonagold
Sutton Beauty
Baldwin
JonaRed
Priscilla
Queen Cox

Early to mid peak bloom:
Rubinette
Prairie Fire Crab (purely ornamental, no usable fruit at all)
Chehalis
Goldrush

A couple of grafts have just one or two clusters of flowers, so probably not good to judge, but are blooming now:
Newtown Pippin
Porter
Akane

Of grafts from 2015, there are some blooming this season -
Priscilla
Porter - one or two clusters

Grafts from 2015 that have not bloomed yet-
Granite Beauty

Grafts from 2015 that did not thrive, looked sick, so I removed:
Redfield.

Grafts from 2016 that are blooming - this is fast!
Goldrush
Arlie Red Flesh - nice dark pink flowers.  Rubinette also has dark pink flowers.

Apple Blossom Time. 4.25.17

Gravenstein.  4.25.17

 Apples have a wide range of blooming times, and there are a lot of triploid apples that not only require a pollinating variety, but do not pollinate others in return.   Only the diploid ones can provide pollen.  So if there is a triploid, you need two pollinating (diploid) varieties that overlap bloom time with the triploid.

Here is how my varieties look so far this year.  The numbers are my guess, and the designations are (triploid) for triploid and (d) for diploid, based on my memory.  I might be assuming some as diploid for lack of better information.  I spell out "triploid" to make it stand out better.  I might be missing some.

Full bloom.
Gravenstein (triploid).
North Pole (d)
Golden Sentinel (d)

Many open flowers, 25% to 50%.
Pristine (d)
Queen Cox (d)
Liberty (triploid)
Priscilla (d)

Golden Sentinel.  4.27.17

Some open flowers, less than 10%
Ornamental Crab Prairie Fire (d?)
Rubinette (d)
Airlie Red Flesh (d)
Sutton's Beauty (d)
Jonagold (triploid)

Buds present but none open yet.
Baldwin (triploid)
Chehalis (d)
Summerred (d)
Akane (d)

North Pole.  4.27.17

Prairie Fire Ornamental Crab.  4.27.17

Airlie Red Flesh.  4.27.17

Priscilla.  4.27.17

Jonared.  4.27.17

Pristine.  4.27.17

Queen Cox.  4.27.17

Rubinette.  4.27.17

Liberty.  4.27.17

Liberty on M27.  4.27.17

I don't know if Prairie Fire can serve as a pollinator.  The tiny crab apples are worthless, but it's a beautiful tree when in full bloom.

Some of these are 1-year old growth from grafts, such as Airlie Red Flesh - covered with flower clusters (also sold under trademark name "Hidden Rose"), Baldwin with lots of flowers, and one flower cluster at end of stem on Newtown Pippin (not open yet).

With daily rain and chill, I feel some concern that none of them will pollinate.  Considering how early Gravenstein was, I cut off a stem of flowers from North Pole and left it in the Gravenstein tree.  I don't know if that will help. 

Apple Blossom Log. Plum Blossoms. 4.19.17

Of the apple trees, the first to bloom, is Gravenstein.  About 10% to 20% of blossoms are open. 

Gravenstein is the first apple to bloom.  4.19.17

Of other varieties, the next are North Pole and Golden Sentinel, each of which has a few open flowers.

None of the others in my yard are open, although there are some buds that look close.

Of the plums, virtually all of the Asian and Asian x American hybrids are done blooming.  Ember is winding down.  I have what I think is Prunus americana, but might not be, grown from seeds.  That one is just starting.  I don't think it will do much good as a pollen source if it waits until the others are done blooming, before it starts.

Green Gage Plum is a little past peak bloom, and Stanley Plum is at peak bloom.  They may boost each other by cross pollinating, although both is considered self pollinating. My other European plums probably wont bloom for a couple of years, so time will tell.  Or not.

Fruit Tree Blooming Notes. 4.16.17

Gage Plum.  4.16.17

Stanley Plum.  4.16.17

LaCrescent Plum.  4.16.17

Hanska Plum.  4.16.17

Ember Plum.  4.16.17

Sweetheart Cherry.  4.16.17

Vandalay Cherry.  4.16.17

Ranier Cherry.  4.16.17

Hamese Asian Pear.  4.16.17

Hosui Asian Pear.  4.16.17

Maxie Asian Pear.  Front white flower is graft of unknown Asian Pear.  4.16.17

Multigraft Asian Pear, Branches Tied Down for Better Bearing.  4.16.17

Shinseiki Asian Pear.  4.16.17

More documentation of fruit tree blooming, for pollination matching.

By now, the earliest have dropped almost all of their petals, and can be considered done blooming.  Those are:
Ornamental Plum Crimson Pointe.
Hollywood Plum.
Sweet Treat Pluerry.
Nadia Plum Cherry Hybrid.

Methley Plum looks done or nearly so.

At peak or slightly past peak:
All of the hybrid Asian/American species plums.  These include Toka, Hanska, Ember, Lacrescent.
The unknown Asian plum is also past peak.
Shiro is past peak.

At peak bloom:
Stanley European plum
Green Gage (European) plum.
Vandalay Sweet Cherry.
Sweetheart Sweet Cherry.
Ranier Sweet Cherry.
Asian Pears including Hamese, Shinseiki, Hosui, Mishirasu, and unknown that might be Shinseiki but appears slightly different.
Maxie Hybrid pear is not quite to peak.
I have a graft of Rescue pear on the Maxie tree, which is at peak, but the original Rescue pear has barely begun blooming.

Apples are not blooming yet, but Gravenstein will be the first, with the first pink flowers now almost open.  It looks like Liberty and Pristine will be close behind, and maybe Jonared.  I don't know which of those I'm anticipating more.

Pawpaws have swelling buds, but I think it will still be a month or so.

Among the peaches, Charlotte is almost done blooming.  Same for Mary Jane.  Q-1-8 is at peak bloom.

The bottom 3 photos are my main orchard, although I have about as many other trees spread around the 2 acres in various groups.  It's nice seeing so many trees blooming, and thinking about watching the potential fruits develop.

a month.