Paul's Point of View
July 22, 2011 10:45 AM
Harvesting cherries is over, at least for me anyway. While the cherry harvest in Door County, WI is just starting (July 18th) my North Star cherry tree is now stripped clean of its fruit. What a bountiful harvest it was. My tree is now 8 years old and bore a heavy crop this year. After pitting, I ended up with 28 quarts. That’s a lot of pie! What to do with all those cherries? I gave more than half the crop away to family and friends. I never have a problem with any excess fruit as I always seem to find willing participants who are happy to share in the harvest. Picking dates vary year to year based on the weather, heat units accumulated, etc. I started picking on July 4th and finished the last picking on July 19th. My little cherry pitter got a real workout this year handling such a large crop. All the cherries are bagged, frozen, and waiting for a slower time of year when I have time to turn them into pies, cobblers and jam, usually the winter months. If you bought a cherry...more
May 23, 2011 8:46 AM
Late last July, Johnson’s Nursery put on a seminar on chip budding. I happened to be working that Saturday morning, so I attended the afternoon session. Michael Yanny, our propagator, taught the class. I had previously done a small amount of t-budding and lots of bark grafting of upright junipers, but never any chip budding. I was a bit apprehensive as Mr. Yanny made it look so easy, but he is an excellent teacher. I recall a friend of mine who learned the art of whip and tongue grafting apple trees from Mike. Mike had told him that “even a monkey can learn to graft”. With that thought in mind, I was apprehensive about my success rate. What if none of my buds turned out? Hopefully I could do a better job than a monkey. I tried my luck by chip budding 5 trees (4 apple and 1 ginkgo). Last fall, I wrote that I would keep you posted on my success or failure. Budding is done in late July or early August when the bark is slipping from the cambium. At this time, either chip...more
April 1, 2011 10:53 AM
Anyone who grows peaches in the upper Midwest should be warned that NOW is the time to spray for peach leaf curl control. This disease is caused by a fungus (Taphrina deformans). The fungus overwinters on peach trees bark and buds. Once the bud scale swells and crack in the spring prior to leaf out, the fungus gets into the meristem and is impossible to control. Developing leaves will be puckered /twisted with red or yellow coloration to the infected area. All new growth will show distorted leaves for months. While this disease is primarily a foliar issue, it can indirectly cause the fruit to be smaller and even weaken the tree if the number of infected leaves is severe. The only time to control this disease is to apply a preventative fungicide to the entire tree (branches, trunk etc.) while the tree is still dormant in late fall or early spring. Here in SE WI, I find it difficult to spray my peach trees in late fall as they tend to hold their leaves until the second...more
January 10, 2011 1:24 PM
For the past several years Johnson’s Nursery has been propagating and growing a unique small willow that is somewhat uncommon in the plant industry. This willow is Salix repens ‘Bridal Rice’. Bridal Rice Willow has short gray-blue foliage and tiny pussy willow flowers in the spring. It is called ‘Bridal Rice’ because the tiny flowers resemble white rice grains. However this plants main attribute is its short spreading stature. It usually grows 18” tall x 8’ wide. Bridal Rice Willow is also drought and salt tolerant. It makes an excellent groundcover for roadway median strips or in any other place where a drought tolerant groundcover plant would be desired. Tired of Grow-Low Sumac? Use Bridal Rice Willow instead! We find it best to prune Bridal Rice Willow back in spring prior to leafing out to promote a denser plant. Pruning back 8-10” works best. Worried about snow load damage? No problem, as this plant is best pruned back hard in spring anyway. Next time you...more
October 22, 2010 8:46 AM
The fruit harvest for 2010 is now over. With the vast array of fresh crisp apples currently in season at the market or local orchard, now is when many people suddenly remember that they wanted to plant out that home orchard but never got around to it. Did you get your fruit trees planted this spring? Or is it still a dream waiting to happen? The best time to plant was last year (fruit trees take a few years to grow before bearing a good crop). If you are part of the group reading this and realize that you COULD HAVE, WOULD HAVE, SHOULD HAVE but somehow the time slipped away, then the next best time to plant is spring 2011. Now is the time to plan out what you want to grow and how many. Spring is always a busy season so best to prepare now. How many trees do you have room for? What kinds of fruit (apple, plum, pear, cherry, peach)? For spring 2011, we will have a good selection of container grown fruit trees available. All carefully chosen varieties on suitable rootstocks, so they...more
August 4, 2010 10:41 AM
It is once again time for the hardy hibiscus to make their dazzling appearance during these long days of summer. Unlike their tropical cousins, they are easy to grow, hardy through zone 4 and come in an array of colors. The large flowers are sure to please and always seem to draw attention. Actually, like everything else this season, they are blooming about a week and a half ahead of normal due to the unusual early spring we experienced here (warm and dry in March). It seems everything got a head start this year. Hardy hibiscus is notoriously slow to emerge in spring. Sometimes, the Fantasia Hibiscus planted in my yard does not emerge until early June! This year it surprised me by leafing out in mid-May. Patience is required each spring when growing hardy hibiscus. Often, gardeners will assume their hibiscus is dead as all else has leafed out, but the hibiscus shows no sign of life. They give up hope only to be amazed a few weeks later when they discover their hibiscus has...more
June 5, 2010 8:39 AM
About 20 years ago, I took a road trip to NW Minnesota for the purpose of visiting numerous nurseries/garden centers along the way. At the time, I was living in Minnesota and employed at a large bare-root nursery. Hence this was supposed to be a business trip not a plant collecting foray. Sometimes the best of plans work out differently. One of my stops was at Bergeson Nursery in Fertile, Minnesota. Paul Bergeson was gracious enough to show me around the nursery started by his father Melvin. After we finished our business matters, Paul told me about a wonderful red-stemmed dogwood they had selected from the wild near Fertile, MN. Bergeson Nursery was growing it on a very limited scale. Paul felt it had so many good attributes that a large wholesale nursery should start growing it. They had named it Gary Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea ‘Gary’). I took a few small liners of this plant back for trial and found that Paul was correct. This dogwood was far better than the...more
March 30, 2010 11:44 AM
Buckeyes and horse chestnuts are magnificent trees that deserve more prominence in the landscape. They are quite under-utilized and have much to offer. While there are differences between the two groups, they are similar enough that many people tend to refer to all of them as “buckeyes”. Both are in the genus Aesculus and share similar leaf form (compound leaf) and flower form (panicle). Buckeyes tend to have 5 leaflets in their compound leaf while horse chestnut usually (but not always) has 7 leaflets in the leaf. Both produce large showy flowers in the spring and interesting nuts in the fall that are highly prized by squirrels and inquisitive children. A few selections exist that produce no nuts (sterile flowered) or produce very few nuts. These are desirable selections should the nuts be a problem at the growing site (near side walks or patios). Here are three of my favorite buckeyes: Yellow Buckeye - Aesculus...more
January 8, 2010 2:29 PM
The recent December snowstorms in our area have really changed the winter landscape. The wet, heavy snows have blanketed the ground and the plants as well. At first glance, it seems as if nature has stripped the landscape bare. No leaves or flowers to contend with at this time of year! A few remaining fruits persist on some trees (coffeetree, hawthorn, crabapple) gently reminding us of the past growing season. With all the bright colors gone, the interesting bark of many plants really stands out. Their unique bark was there all along but perhaps was not as noticeable during the growing season with all the foliage or flowers commanding our attention. Winter is the season when unusual bark finally steals the show and takes center stage. There are many trees, shrubs and even evergreens that have beautiful bark. Here are just a few as examples. The next time you venture outdoors, take time to stop and admire the bark on your plants. Exfoliating...more
October 19, 2009 3:57 PM
Many people think that once October arrives the yard and garden season is over. Not true! There are many plants that are at their peak performance at this time. Sadly most people do not plan for a fall landscape and miss out on such exciting plants. We can divide plants for the autumn landscape into two categories: plants with great Fall leaf color and plants that bloom in Fall. Those with great leaf color are easy to spot and are generally quite well known (maples, barberry, burning bush, etc.). Plants that bloom in autumn are not so common and not used in the landscape as much as they should be. During the height of the busy spring/summer planting season, fall blooming plants are often ignored by people when selecting plants since they are not in bloom at this time. What a shame so many people are missing out on fall bloomers in their landscape. Here are just a few of my favorites: Samurai Toad Lily ...more
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