Upright Fruiting Offshoot (UFO) Sweet Cherry Training
Many visitors to Cloud Mountain are intrigued by our ‘cherry tunnel’. This upright fruiting system (UFO) is an unusual way of growing sweet cherries. It was initially developed for commercial growers, but can be adapted to home gardens and market farms as well. The Upright Fruiting Offshoots (UFO) system for sweet cherries was developed to: […]
Pruning Sweet Cherries
One important note: always prune cherries when you will have at least 2 days of dry weather. This can help reduce canker. Most people grow sweet cherries as freestanding ‘bush’ shaped trees. In a future post, we’ll talk about growing sweet cherries as an espalier or fruiting wall form called UFO (upright fruiting offshoot). Cherry […]
Frost and fruit buds
With our mild winter and early spring, most fruit trees are breaking dormancy a bit ahead of normal. This time of year when the forecast is for sunny days and clear nights, it’s possible we’ll get some frost. Should you worry about those fruit buds? Critical Bud Temperatures As buds begin to swell, frost damage […]
Plant of the Week- July 30
Plant of the Week- Sea Buckthorn aka Seaberry Hippophae rhamnoides or Seaberry is a large, thorny, deciduous shrub native to Europe and Asia. It is a member of the family Elaeagnaceae, which also contains Autumn Olive and Goumi. The yellow to orange berries are extremely high in vitamin C, and is also high in malic acid, […]
Plant of the Week- July 3
Plant of the Week- Currants & Gooseberries Currants and Gooseberries are all members of the genus Ribes. This large genus includes all the fruiting black, red, and white currants, gooseberries, and hybrids including Jostaberry, as well as many flowering ornamental shrubs (including our native Red Flowering Currant, Ribes sanguineum). For many years, the planting of […]
Plant of the Week- June 25
Plant of the Week- Diospyros kaki Asian Persimmon The Asian persimmon is native to China, and has been in cultivation for more than 2000 years. There are many varieties in commercial cultivation, but most of them are unsuitable for the Pacific Northwest due to their need for summer heat. Most Asian Persimmons require long, fairly […]