I've always removed the flowers on young potted nursery stock but but this year I'm doing it alittle different. Last spring I got a bunch of tiny tissue culture plugs and they grew very strong so I'm going to leave a very light crop on them this year. I pruned out all the small twiggy wood and any branches that grow in ward to the middle of the plant. From there I left only 2 fruit buds on the the tips of the remaining branches. Hopefully it's not a mistake? We shall see! It won't hurt my feelings if I lose few anyway cause I got too many as it is. Emerald is great plant but will need protection in your zone. I put up a PVC frame around mine and cover with plastic if I need too. It only takes a few min to assemble and then place a small propane heater in there with it. Here is recent pic of my Emerald and it's just about in full bloom now. How much fruit can expect from a Emerald this size? It's 6ft x 5ft and loaded with buds. I will thin it some but I know Emerald is in a class of its own production wise. It leafs out very strong and can handle huge crops. This will be my first real harvest on this plant. Does the 5 or 6 bud rule per branch still apply here to this variety???

I'm in Rocky Mountain foothill Z5a, which would be pretty different from Midwest 5. My hit list: "Glenora" grape. The only thing fruiting this year after the terrible cold snap of early February. Produces second-rate fruit for a couple of years before it gets going. "Polly" white peach. Cold snap killed the blossoms this year, but otherwise its in fine shape. Its available as a special order from Bay Laurel Nursery. It was slow to come into production, but faultless once it did. "Redhaven" yellow peach. A little marginal for my area, but it seems to almost have a will to produce fruit for you. Its widely available, and very high quality. I am pretty sure you can get one and plant it this weekend. "Rosy Gage" plum is shaping up to be a VERY good plum. A little shy bearing so far, but its still a new plum, and I had pollination issues to solve. I have an idea once it hits maturity it will produce well in a good year. Pollination is an issue with Euro plums more than other trees. You have to make sure you have the right combination. "Castleton Plum?" My fall planted [a mistake in z5] "Castleton" died in the Big Freeze of course. I'm not terribly satisfied with the pollinators I have for "Rosy Gage" I would double check to make sure it cross-pollinates with "Rosy Gage" If it does I would go for it. This is in the realm of speculation and reputation rather than experience, however. Apricots: If you live in an area where you can even occasionally get a crop, you should grow an adapted apricot. There is just no comparison to a store-bought apricot. None. Furthermore, apricots if it grows well in your area are extraordinarily attractive trees that deserve a high-profile spot in your landscape. I like the taste of Wilson Delicious from Stark's best of all. 'Moorpark' works OK too. But as I mentioned, in my area the crop is an afterthought. Sorry, not enough luck with apples or pears to make a recommendation. As I mentioned, if you live Back East, these recommendations don't mean much.

It could have been from Wednesday, it was kind of warm then here, and was probably a little warmer where you are. Today too is nice, I need to get outside. If the stems are ok on the plants you could try to remove the crispy leaves, maybe open your containers more during the day. Alberta

No it is not much more expensive than ordering from a Canadian source and Mr. Shirley has over 100 different species available as cuttings. Mailing cuttings is not expensive but mailing potted plants is, it all depends on what you are looking for. You can also trade with members here or on the Hoyas.ca site if you have plants that are large enough to take cuttings from. Many of us rely on group orders from overseas to get the less common Hoyas and I am sure once you exhaust the Canadian sources you will want to look elsewhere. Believe me hanging around this site will have you neck deep in Hoyas in no time. Mike Here is a link that might be useful: Paul Shirley Succulents