One thing you could try is to girdle the branch right above the bud, cut off a ring of bark most of the way around. That could convince the pear to sprout the bud; if you have a "dud bud" then the branch will eventually heal. I have many times taken the tape off too early. But if its been 2-3 weeks you would probably be OK to gently take it off (cut the wrap all the way through with a knife on the opposite side), and re-wrap after inspecting it. Scott

olpea, I'm thinking that the bucket alone would allow too much temperature difference since it's not insulated enough. I had good luck with putting a cage around the tree (after protecting it from vermin with hardware cloth) then filling it with leaves. I went another step and wrapped the cage with metallic bubble wrap insulation. I only did this to two baby peaches, O'Henry and Silver Logan, but it got them through a tough winter just fine. Maybe putting reflective bubble wrap around the bucket would do the trick, but alone my feeling is it would allow too much heating and cooling. Tony, You are the king of winter protection, whatever you do to your kaki's should be fine for a t-bud:) I just budded a few peaches as well so now I know to check to make sure they aren't swelling. Funny, but my first attempts to bud were more successful than I thought, but I thought they were goners because they didn't swell in the fall. I ordered replacement trees instead. When they arrived I dug out the budded rootstocks and they were swelling. Live and learn, and thank God for all those here on GW who share!!!!!

I'm going to shovel prune mine this fall, just not worth the space. My Peacock and Blue Chip were really slow to get going this year, and I can deal with that if eventually the plant is worth the wait. The Peacock is finally getting some blooms, but no flowers on the Blue Chip, don't even see any buds yet. Also, truthfully I just don't think the flowers are all that pretty - they are quite stubby compared to other BB flowers, and the color is nothing to rave about. So, out she goes during fall cleanup. Re: container: I have a Peacock planted in a good-sized container, and one in the ground. The one in the container (which is new to me this year), is really pumping out the blooms while the one in the ground is finally revving up, as mentioned above. So, I'm definitely enjoying the potted one and am considering potting up the other one, too, and placing it in a sunnier spot (the one in the container is in full sun all day, while the one in the ground gets about 1/2 sun - so that is probably making a difference). Will have to over-winter in the garage, though.

While it should be possible to bud to either of your choices, the Gloire des Rosomanes would likely be the better choice. I don't know if the Tea and Californica would be genetically compatible. There can arise an incompatibility issue where the buds simply won't knit because they are genetically unsuitable for each other. Judge Henry Fonda who operated a small nursery in his retirement in Mar Vista, CA, by Santa Monica, tried unsuccessfully for many years to use his huge Cl. Cecile Brunner for standard stocks. The thing refused every scion he tried on it. He was skilled at budding, but Cecile was more obstinate than he was skilled, leading him to theorize she was just genetically incompatible with anything slid under her skin. You don't have to have "young" stocks for budding. I have successfully budded to three year old stocks this summer. Ones I had intended to use for other ideas, but never got around to them, so they sat there, waiting for the need. As long as it's possible to easily slice into the bark to expose the cambium, it's possible to use. When they become so "barky" you can't easily work them, that might possibly be too old. Another reason you probably don't want to mess with the Californica is it suckers MADLY, all over. Rose producers in very cold climates tried Rugosa stocks for cold hardy standards decades ago. They worked, but they also colonized the gardens in which they were unleashed. Ragged Robin won't do that...or won't anywhere nearly as as badly. You'll want to de bud your Glorie des Rosomanes cuttings, all but the top one or two growth buds. You may leave the growth tip on them as one of the upper buds. You want the stock to continue pushing foliage on top to keep the sap flowing and feed the plant. After that, it's a simple matter of inserting the buds and tying them in. If you're using Parafilm, you may want to wrap it over the bud several times to keep it tightly in contact with the cambium of the stock. Sealing the bud in with the Parafilm also can help prevent it from drying out as quickly until it knits and begins absorbing sap from the stock. Parafilm will split as the bud swells, so you don't have to worry about it girdling the stock or strangling the bud. A couple of hints about bud selection...you can use almost any bud you wish, but selecting those closer to actually growing will often result in faster growth. This is probably the most elegant job of budding I have ever accomplished, but the danged bud is dormant and will probably take until next season to mature sufficiently to grow. Notice how flat it is against the shield (the portion of wood sliced from the bud stick or plant stem). It will work, but it isn't going to push any new growth this year. Selecting buds which are closer to growth, such as these, will result in much faster response after you cut the top of the stock off above the bud or buds. You can even use them about to this stage of development, but they are more likely to fail due to water stress because of the developing leaves. As long as the growth is still tightly contained within the bud, water stress isn't as easy to encounter. Once they start forming thin foliage tissue, they can dry out quite quickly as there is thinner tissue and greater surface area to transpire water from. It takes about three weeks for the buds to knit to the stocks. Keep them well watered all that time to keep forcing sap up the stocks to keep the buds irrigated and the growth pushing. From more swollen buds as I've shown above, you could easily see them begin to push out like this... as early as about the time you "head them back", cut off the top of the stock above the bud. This image is of a bud I inserted on July 1 and cut back a week or so ago. It was when I was posting about not being able to stop the stocks from 'bleeding'. This one wouldn't stop with the Elmer's Glue, so it is sealed with a cool melt candle dripped over the wound. Pruning sealer or grafting wax will probably work, too. From July 1 to August 13 is all it's taken from a bud stick to this amount of growth. Good luck and have a ball with them! Kim