Mandarin hybrids

Mandarin hybrids should have much interest as early-maturing tangerine substitutes. 'Fallglo' and 'Sunburst' are now favored. 'Dancy' tangerines may reach fair eating quality before Thanksgiving, but are usually better later. The 'Ponkan' is an excellent quality, easily peeled tangerine for the home landscape. The homeowner may well decide to substitute a tangor or tangelo for a tangerine when choice must be limited. 'Temple' tangor is superb in quality as well as appearance, as is 'Minneola' tangelo. Many people would choose one of these in preference to grapefruit if a choice were necessary and space were limited. Some of the varieties may be difficult to locate at local nurseries or garden centers. This is certainly true of the newer varieties and some of the older ones that may have fallen out of favor with commercial producers. Satsumas mandarins (often a substitute for sweet oranges) are especially suitable for cold locations (north of Orlando), maturing during late November and maintaining fruit quality on the tree for only about four to six weeks.

Sweet Orange

Sweet orange is the first choice, and if only a single citrus tree is to be grown, it may well be an early variety such as 'Hamlin' or one of the navel oranges. Navel orange selections are either standard orange fleshed or red fleshed. If there is room for more than one sweet orange tree, a midseason variety such as 'Pineapple' or 'Midsweet' or the late season 'Valencia' should also be considered. Selection of a tree from each of these three maturity seasons (early, midseason, and late) will supply fresh fruit continuously from early November to July.

Cherry

Cherries are drupes, or stone fruits, related to plums and more distantly to peaches and nectarines. They have been enjoyed since the Stone Age-pits were found in several Stone Age caves in Europe. The Romans carried cherries throughout Europe and England along the routes of conquest.

Cherries are grown in several regions of this country, but seventy percent of the cherries produced in the United States come from four states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah).
There are two main types of cherries: sweet and sour. Sour cherries are lower in calories and higher in vitamin C and beta carotene than sweet cherries.

Varieties

Sour

MontgomeryThis variety is the best known sour cherry. It is mostly canned or frozen for use as pie filling or sauce. They are grown mostly in the eastern and Midwestern states.

Sweet

BingThis variety is the best known sweet cherry. It is large, round, extra-sweet and has a purple-red flesh and a deep red skin that is close to black when fully ripe. The Bing is available from the end of May until early August.

LambertThis variety is the second most popular sweet cherry. It is smaller than the Bing and is more heart shaped. It has a dark-red skin and a rich flavor. Lamberts are available a bit longer than the Bing, usually until the end of August.

RainierThis variety is sweet with a yellow or pinkish skin. It is milder and sweeter than the Bing. However, this variety is grown in limited quantities.

Royal AnnThis variety has a blush-yellow skin and is often canned or made into maraschino cherries.

Apple Varieties

The apple can be traced back to the Romans and Egyptians who introduced them to Britain and finally to America. Today, Americans eat about 120 apples apiece each year. At least 50% of the domestic crop is used in items we use every day such as, applesauce, juice, jellies, pies and other popular desserts. (Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition, 1992).

Varieties

There are about 2500 known varieties grown in the US. Thirty-six states grow them commercially with the following as top producers, WA, NY, MI, CA, PA, & VA. 56%of the 1999 crop was eaten as fresh fruit and 42% was processed.

	Braeburn Available Oct. through July High flavor impact. The crisp, aromatic Braeburn blends sweetness and tartness just right for snacks and salads. Its color varies from greenish-gold with red sections to nearly solid red.
	Golden & Red Delicious Available year round Goldens firm, white flesh retains its shape and rich, mellow flavor when baked or cooked, making it the preferred "all purpose" cooking apple. The skin is so tender and thin that it doesn't require peeling. The red is the favorite for eating.
	Fuji Available year round Like fine wine, its flavor improves with age. Fuji's spicy, crisp sweetness makes it an excellent snack or as applesauce. Fuji varies from yellow-green with red highlights to very red.
	Gala Available August through March Heart-shaped, distinctive yellow-orange skin with red striping. It has a crisp, sweet taste that can't be beat. Is the perfect take-along snack… anytime. Great in salads.
	Jonagold Available September through April A blend of Jonathan and Golden Delicious apples, offering a unique tangy-sweet flavor. With a yellow-green base and a blush stripe. Jonagold is excellent both for eating fresh and for cooking.
	Rome Beauty Available September through July Baker's dream, but Also a great eating apple. Smooth, blazingly bright red skin with sweet, slightly juicy flesh. Primarily cooking apples, with flavor that intensifies and becomes richer when baked or sautèed.
	Granny Smith Available year round Mouthwatering tartness. Bright green Granny with a pink blush has a crisp bite and a tangy flavor. Its tartness really comes through when baked and sautèed. Enjoy Granny Smiths out of hand or in a salad.
	Winesap Available October through August The apple with old-fashioned flavor. The Winesap has a spicy, tart, almost wine-like flavor that makes it the cider maker's first choice. Violet red in color, it's great as a snack and in salads.
	McIntosh Available October through December McIntosh is juicy, slightly tart, yet very aromatic with white flesh and a rather tough skin that is two-toned red and green coloring. It's a favorite apple for eating, but is also widely used in salads, sauces, pies and is a mainstay in fresh cider.

How to Grow Yellow Plums

Place the cleaned plum seeds in a mix of equal parts of damp sand and dampened peat moss in a plastic bag. Store the bag in the back of a vegetable drawer in the refrigerator for 90 days to break the dormancy of the seed.

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Prepare seed pots by filling 8 ounce plant pots with a mixture of regular potting soil, peat moss and sand. Bury the seeds about 2 inches down in the mix, and drizzle water over it to settle the soil in around the seeds. Put the plant pots in a warm, sunny spot where the seeds should germinate within two to four weeks. Keep the soil moist at all times until the seeds sprout.


Transplant the seedlings to gallon-sized containers when they get to be about 10 inches tall, and use the same potting soil mixture, keeping the soil around the roots. Fill the pot halfway with the planting mixture, and then place the roots of the plum seedling into the soil. Fill the pot the rest of the way up around the roots and tamp it down slightly. Add enough water so that it drains from the bottom. Place in full sun until the temperature warms enough to plant them outside permanently.

Citrus Types & Varieties

Citrus fruits are classified into different groups by the citrus industry according to their characteristics and use. Sweet oranges and grapefruits are distinctive types which are accepted as a regular part of the diet and consumed as juice or eaten in some form practically every day by many people. Specialty fruits (tangerines and tangerine hybrids) are excellent for holiday or dessert uses. Acid fruits (lemons, limes, and others with high citric acid content) are used as thirst-quenching drinks, garnishes on the dinner table, and ingredients for refreshing pies and delicious cakes. For landscaping, fruit trees have additional ornamental value to enhance the beauty of the surroundings, and a specimen tree of some exotic type adds interest as a conversation piece. If the home site is large enough, several varieties of each type may be selected.

How to Prune a Plum Tree

9Plum trees generally are pruned in a vase type format. That means what you want to do is encourage the growth of a fairly short trunk and then encourage three or four major branches to splay off the top of that trunk at about a forty-five degree angle.

Now this is generally accomplished in the winter. In fact the very best time to prune plums is in the very late winter right before bud break. Because at that time, the wounds that you create have less time in which they have to heal before the tree starts to resume growth.

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Now a vase type arrangement is ideal for plums because it allows a great deal of sunlight to get to the interior of the tree and to get to the fruiting wood. And remember whenever you're pruning, whether it's a plum or any other deciduous tree, never ever leave a stump on the tree. You want to prune it right back to the next major, either to the trunk or to major branches.



A stump is a way that insects, disease and fungus can find their way into the tree. In addition to basic winter pruning, which I've just spoken of, you can also do some light summer pruning. For instance if you get over vigorous shoots, water sprouts or crossing or damaged branches, by all means take those out. However the major pruning, the major shaping of the tree should take place in late winter.  Happy growing !