Fruit Trees and Shrub Roses Blog
June 28, 2008 8:48 AM
Winnipeg Parks rose is a beautiful shrub rose that was developed in Canada and released in 1990. It is part of the Parkland rose series. This hardy shrub rose is a recurrent bloomer and boasts raspberry red flowers that are fragrant. The flowers are borne in clusters and are extremely colorful. After blooming, a bonus is the development of nice red rose hips. Like many “hardy” shrub roses, Winnipeg Parks is produced “own root” instead of budding it to an understock. While totally root hardy in the North, it often will have some winter die-back on the canes. No problem, as being on its own roots allows this plant to recover by flushing out new canes each spring should this occur. This rose is rated hardy for zones 3-7 and grows about 3’ tall. Here at Johnson’s Nursery we have offered Winnipeg Parks for many years and it always seems to sell out fast once in bloom. It has performed well in our area of S.E. Wisconsin. more
March 19, 2007 9:51 AM
With the 2007 planting season soon to start, now is the time to start planning out any new shrub beds/borders to be installed this year. Or perhaps you have a too well established shrub bed that is in need of renovation. What better plants to use than shrub roses? As long as the space has good sunlight (3/4 of the day or more) then roses can successfully be grown and will provide some awesome color. With so many shrub roses on the market it can be confusing which selections to use. What choice you make will depend on flower color desired, height considerations for your space & disease/hardiness issues for the area of the United Stated in which you reside. Here at Johnson’s Nursery we offer shrub roses that are hardy for our climatic conditions and have good disease resistance. Hardiness is a relative term as some roses are fully hardy for our winters, yet others can be fully root hardy but sometimes suffer winter injury to the tops. Roses in this latter category are still...more
July 31, 2006 1:42 PM
There is a lot of confusion in the retail nursery market about “dwarf” apple trees. What makes an apple tree dwarf? Why would somebody want a dwarf apple? How dwarf is dwarf? Let’s start with the basics. Apple varieties must be cross-pollinated to set fruit. This means that apple flowers must have pollen from a different apple/crabapple variety in order to set fruit. This is why you must plant 2 different apple varieties (unless you have a crabapple nearby). The seeds produced in the apple will be a hybrid of the 2 parents but the fruit will always be the same as the parent tree. Because of this, one cannot plant seeds from a McIntosh apple & have it bear McIntosh fruit! To propagate an apple variety, a branch from the desired variety is grafted or budded onto a rootstock. This is a form of asexual propagation. Years ago, apple seeds were grown out to be used as rootstocks. Seedling rootstocks were variable in rooting characteristics, hardiness, ect. They are still used today...more
July 11, 2006 1:52 PM
Here in Wisconsin we have 4 species of serviceberry common in the wild: Amelanchier laevis (allegheny serviceberry), Amelanchier x grandiflora (apple serviceberry) , Amelanchier canadensis (shadblow serviceberry) , & Amelanchier stolonifera (running serviceberry). All four have delicious black fruit similar in size to a blueberry and are quite tasty! Birds also relish the fruit so the big problem is getting the fruit before they do. Serviceberry is also called juneberry although here in the upper Midwest they usually ripen in early July not June. All have white flowers & great fall color but the similarities end there. Allegheny serviceberry is most abundant in the northern portions of Wisconsin/Minnesota. It grows the tallest (25’-30’) & can be somewhat narrow in youth. Fall color varies but can be copper to orange/red. Shadblow serviceberry is always found as a short, multi-stem plant averaging 10’-15’ tall and 10’ wide. Fall color is usually yellow or orange...more
May 27, 2006 2:27 PM
My Hero rose is a relatively new shrub rose on the market. It was developed by Bailey Nurseries, Inc. of St. Paul, MN in their rose breeding program. Bailey Nursery has taken on the immense task of breeding hardy shrub roses for the North that offer cold hardiness & good disease resistance that are also superior to selections already available in the trade. My Hero is one of several they have recently introduced. My Hero is propagated own root & sold as a container grown plant. It is classified as a medium red shrub rose averaging 3’ tall. The flowers are double and about 3.5” in size. It is supposed to be everblooming & have good resistance to both blackspot & powdery mildew. This rose is still in the trial phase for us here a Johnson’s Nursery. We have tried it for the past two seasons. I am quite impressed with it so far as the reports I get back from clients who have tried it have been very favorable. As to disease resistance, I am very happy with the results I...more
April 27, 2006 2:36 PM
North Star Cherry is a delightful tart cherry that was introduced by the University of Minnesota in 1950. It is extremely hardy and self-pollinating. This cherry is a genetic dwarf that usually only grows 6’-10’ tall. Its short height makes it a favored cultivar to the home gardener as it is easy to reach the fruit for harvesting. One of the parents of North Star is English Morello (noted for its extremely dark fruit). This trait was passed on to North Star. While many other tart cherry cultivars have a dark skin, the actual flesh of their fruit is light pink or yellow, which results in a poorly colored pie. The fruit of North Star is extremely dark throughout resulting in an excellent deep dark red pie when baked. North Star cherry ripens around July 4th in S.E. Wisconsin. Since birds love to eat cherries, the tree will need to be covered with netting as soon as the ripening fruit shows the slightest amount of red color. The tree is very precocious & usually will...more
March 30, 2006 1:48 PM
With spring on the way it soon will be time to give some thought to pruning your shrub roses. I find it fascinating that most gardeners either forget & neglect this important task or falsely assume that there is no maintenance issues with shrub roses. Such sloppy gardening will only catch up with you in time when your rose grows far too big for its space or you eventually end up with a tangle of dead canes and plants with poor shape. Pruning now during the dormant season is done for several reasons. Height control, cane density, & plant shape are all factors that can be manipulated with good pruning. The age/size of the rose & the condition of the plant after over wintering will determine how much pruning is needed. I find it easiest to wait until my shrub roses bud out (usually early April) before pruning so I can easily see which canes are alive or not & I can also prune each cane to an outside bud! Once the buds swell out but before the leaves unfurl is a great time...more
March 2, 2006 1:52 PM
Pruning fruit trees is an often-neglected task by the backyard gardener. Most people don’t know how to prune, what to prune, when or why? Usually the task is thought of but no action is taken. Without the proper knowledge how can one even start? Let’s look at each topic carefully. First why prune? There are many reasons. Some will depend on the age of the tree. With a young tree we want to shape it properly so with age it will have the desired structure to potentially bear fruit of good quality over a long time. With older trees, pruning out any damaged branches, water sprouts, & creating enough open areas for proper light penetration becomes important. Apple trees need lots of sunlight on the fruit to get good fruit coloration & their peak flavor! Tools required for pruning are a good quality hand pruning shears, a pruning saw (for larger branch removal) & a ladder. The best time to prune is February & March but it can be done in spring until the leaves appear...more
January 30, 2006 8:47 AM
Chuckles rose is a short rose (30”) with single deep pink petals. The flowers average 3”-3.5” in width and can be solid pink or sometimes have a white eye. This trait seems to vary throughout the bloom season. This rose is also extremely floriferous and an excellent repeat bloomer. The flowers are born in clusters so immense that sometimes when in bloom the foliage barely shows amidst all the pink petals. I also have this rose in my yard, as it is another favorite of mine. When in full bloom I often cut one cane to put into a vase. A very large vase as some canes will produce an inflorescence 12”-15” wide! My experience with Chuckles goes a long way back. A friend of mine in Minnesota who runs a wholesale nursery viewed Chuckles rose at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. He was so thrilled with it that he got permission to collect cuttings & brought them back to his nursery to grow. I saw the plants in bloom at his nursery & was so impressed that I brought a few...more
December 21, 2005 3:15 PM
Over the years the University of Minnesota Fruit Breeding Station in Chanhassen, MN has quietly developed & released numerous fruit selections for northern climates. While some of these selections have remained quite popular in the northerly parts of the U.S., it is one of their latest introductions that has captured the attention of the fruit industry not only in America but also in other fruit growing regions of the world. Honeycrisp, their somewhat recent release has created an uproar in the apple industry! Honeycrisp apple is everything one could want for a perfect apple. Sweet, crispy, large, juicy & stores exceptionally well. The only complaint many growers have is that they can’t seem to grow enough to keep up with demand! Not only do the apples sell out fast at orchards, even the nurseries selling Honeycrisp trees have a hard time keeping enough in stock! I first experienced Honeycrisp before it had an official name. Back around...more
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About Paul Schwabe
Paul Schwabe is the wholesale salesman at Johnson's Nursery. He holds a degree in horticulture and will be writing about fruit trees (apple, pear, etc) and shrub roses.
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