Grafted apple trees are cool! My inlaws had some.

My kids would always eat the mulberries (don't know the variety) where we use to live...and we had pear and peach trees there too.

Cool link...Thanks!

Took a quick drive to get something to eat...stopped to take a pic of a bluebonnet field near my home. If you're not familiar with them, they are a big thing here in Texas (much like the cherry blossoms in DC).



They grow along the highways as part of beautification programs, even in Dallas/Ft. Worth...and people are always stopping to take pics of their kids sitting amongst them.

Bridge posted:

nothing better than fresh berries prag! I pick blackberries (we call them black caps) all the time @ my father-in-law's house.

The blackcaps are probably actually black raspberries, since true blackberries are bigger and more like clusters, the bushes/canes are much larger, and blackberries don't detach from the plant in a dome shape that's whitish on the inside like blackcap raspberries do.

Of all the blackberry and raspberry varieties, black caps are definitely my favourite! *drools a little* I dug up my two black cap/black raspberry plants after finding a large cluster in the wild and transplanted them into the yard since the garden centers don't seem to sell black caps, at least up here.

psss: I find the plum trees get covered in aphids which then spread to the apple tree, and the trees grow like weeds and have to be aggressively pruned every year (more than once). Since I refuse to use pesticides I just cut off the aphid infested areas (which is almost always new soft growth that needed to be cut back anyway) and I also buy a bag of live ladybugs to release that help keep the aphid population at least partially under control. With live beneficial insects you need to be patient as it takes time for them to go through their lifecycles. I haven't had my fruit trees long enough to get a full robust harvest from them, just minimal; they're still in the getting established phase in the first 2-3 years after planting. From 5+ years I expect they'll be producing a lot more fruit.

Birds don't seem to be a problem with my particular trees. I've heard they tend to attack cherry trees voraciously. Perhaps those pest nets draped over the tree would help, but if birds get tangled it takes a long time to untangle them from the black netting.

One problem I've had is blackbirds getting caught in rat traps, and I've had to amputate a bird's leg which it had nearly pecked in half. I recommend putting rat and mouse traps inside some sort of box if you have them outside. We have a hoarder who lives a few houses down whose messy place attracts rats so I have to keep those traps out.

My tomatoes last week.

I used some of my fresh cilantro today! And to think I use to hate it and now growing/eating it.

OMS-Nice pictures! Love that field of flowers!
Pragmatica-Thanks for the info.
It's pretty interesting reading about/ seeing pictures of...plants etc. from people in different areas of the world. I'm amazed. We're still trying to shake old man winter here, and you've got tomatoes!