When I first moved here, I found a Haralson apple tree already planted. It has barely grown leaves, let alone fruit in the past few years.
This is now my 4th spring here and I am excited to see blossoms on the tree this weekend. It must be into its 7th year or more considering its size when I first saw it.
I sure hope this means some possible fruit this year! But don't apple trees need another tree for pollination?
Yes, apparently most apple cultivars including Haralson require a cross-pollinator. Only a few are self-pollinating. Got any crab apples around?
ReplyDeleteI DO have crab apple trees right beside it. It won't create Frankenstein apples? Cross-pollination is weird with some plants ...
DeleteAnyway, just hoping I'll get apples, even if they are weird.
Hurray - those blossoms look promising!! And you needn't worry about Frankenstein apples - pollination doesn't impact the fruit that develops from the pollinated blossom; only the seed in that fruit would be affected.
ReplyDeleteInteresting fact - did you know that apples don't grow true to type from seed? That means that when you plant an apple seed, you never know what you will get - and that every apple tree of a specific variety is grafted so your Haralson tree is a likely a physical descendant of the very first Haralson apple tree.
OK thanks, I don't seem to get cross-pollination entirely. And that is an interesting fact! I had no idea about apples not growing true to type. Not that apples are overly expensive, but I guess if grafting weren't required, they would be much cheaper ...
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