More photos from the final day of April: hardy lemon and haskap, black elderberry and Asian fir with purple cones.

In order: first buds of blooms appearing on American persimmon at the leaf axils, an early rose, Nanking cherry fruit developing, native holly with old leaves and new leaves and flower buds, early fig leaves on in-ground trunk that survived winter, wild grape clusters forming, and a couple hands of very young pawpaws, with a… Continue reading Spring Mix

High-Bush Cranberry is not a cranberry at all, though the fruit can seem similar. It’s a viburnum with pretty blossoms. Two varieties are needed with similar bloom time to achieve pollination, and therefore fruit.

Juneberry developing – Amelanchier. Juneberry trees or bushes by many names can be very slow growing but are one of the very healthiest and tastiest fruits, with very high ORAC levels. One of the most important and valuable fruits native to North America, also to a lesser extent the northern hemisphere otherwise. Very beautiful early… Continue reading Juneberry

Late April of an on-again off-again warm wet spring with relatively minimal late frosts, the lightest in years, though some damage to blossoms and leaves. Edible blue honeysuckle (haskap or honeyberry) – though not related to blueberry, the color and flavor and size, if not shape, of haskap is similar to blueberry, and with the… Continue reading Perennial Promise

Pawpaw, peach, fig, Asian pear, European plum.

Above: Rhubarb, bush cherry, peach, plum, haskap blossoms. Above: Juneberry, Asian pear, goumi, haskap blososms. Above: Elderberry leaves fronted by haskap blossoms and backed by goumi blossoms. Plus European pear blossoms. Approximate order of bloom: Haskap (blue honeysuckle berry), bush cherry (Nanking), Asian Plum, peach, goumi, Asian pear, European pear, Juneberry. Not pictured, just now… Continue reading Spring 2024

“Flying Dragon” citrus is an interesting plant where non-invasive. Sweet smelling citrus blossoms in spring couple with sweet smelling fruit in fall. The fruit itself is small by citrus standards, tart like a lemon, and very seedy. Hardy to zone 5.

Ranging from golf ball to ping pong ball size or smaller, Flying Dragon hardy orange is beginning to ripen its rind from green to yellow. Seedy with acidic juice, the fruit is in many ways much like a spherical lemon and can be used in some ways like lemon juice. Winter hardy to zone 6… Continue reading Flying Dragon Hardy Orange

The Bob Gordon variety of elderberry seems to be the biggest and best flavored. Autumnberry the most acidic, elderberry the least acidic, aronia the most astringent by taste. Fully ripe, each of these small fruits can be a flavorful delight, even certain strains of aronia, though aronia must be the most perfectly ripe of all.