Fruitnut... I hope. These were planted last summer as espaliers. The interesting thing was that on one tree in particular, the first branches (horizontal) leafed out while the main leader and the two that will make up the second tier are still in firmly in barely swollen bud stage. On the others the first level also leafed out much earlier than the others but at least there is some awakening. Mike.

Toronto: I think this is a problem that originates in the roots of the trees, and when that is the case the prime suspect is usually too much/too little water. Given the rainy weather conditions this season, I would say too much, especially if you have been watering the trees in addition to natural rainfall. Soil type and drainage are also factors to consider. Some soils can drain away excess water quickly; others cannot. Apple trees are normally not highly sensitive to soggy soil, but even apple trees have their limits. It is also possible that, if you planted potted or rootballed trees, and added amendments to a small planting hole, you have created an underground water bowl that contributed to the problem. Plant bare-root trees rather than containerized, and loosen the soil in a wide area around the new tree, adding no amendments to the native soil. Then mulch on top if you like. So tell us what the water situation has been with these trees, and whether they are planted in a flat site where drainage is poor. Also, please tell us the source of your trees, and whether they were containerized, rootbound specimens. Given the appearance of the leaves, it is possible that enough root damage has occurred to kill the trees. If drowning turns out to be the problem, next time plant in a better-drained site. And when lots of blossoms turn into lots of apples the first year, remove most of them to give your tree a break from early fruit production. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Appleseed It comes from Kyrgyzstan . (See Trees of Antiquity site) I have it growing at my home in Southern NY. This is its second year in the ground. I will take some scion and graft onto my trees in upstate NY . I have read different descriptions of the fruit. Some say its a crab apple some say the fruit is large and flavorful. So... until I see how the fruit develops in the two locations my plan is fluid. This year I left 6 only apples scattered on the tree to see if I can get some to taste. I will have to do some severe heading to keep the tree at under 7 feet. I guess it was named after the man who discovered it and brought it back to Europe. See what I found in an old Wisconsin Horticultural Society Article (1899): "In eastern Turkestan and western China I found a race of small, sweet winter apples, with flesh and skin red throughout. It is promising as the ancestor of a race of red-fleshed apples. A variety of this type of late found its way into Germany from Turkestan under the name of Pyrus Malus Niedzwetzkyana. The wood, young leaves and cambium layer also show much red. I met Mr. Niedzwetzky at Vernoe, the capital of the Semiretchinsk province; he found the apple in the mountains between Turkestan and China. The name is a trifle difficult for American tongues." Mike Here is a link that might be useful: Niedzwetzkyana - Trees of Antiquity This post was edited by mes111 on Tue, Jul 15, 14 at 8:33

I've had so much RRD that I try to stand back and look for multiple symptoms. What's healthy with the two pictures is that they aren't becoming rosettes- that is closely spaced leaves and she isn't getting hte excessive leaf axil breaks. Those ought to be showing up on the bushes that had the problem last year. (Before I forget, it's not Spring Dwarf. Wrong symptoms.) And the thorns aren't becoming denser. The green color can be RRD midsummer and some cultivars don't go red, even with RRD. Ask her about the distribution of sick roses in her garden. Are they all on the leeward side of a fence? Are they next to each other? (where the problem could have spread root to root)? Then it's time to look at herbicide going from roots of target plants into the roses. It happens. And it's documented in literature. In my garden, it's happened with Tordon; there are at least three published/jury reviewed papers about Round-ups ingredient doing the root-to-root spread and in one of the papers they couldn't get Round up to go volatile even in the heat of an inland California summer. Please come back and talk about the pattern of the problem within the garden. As to where RRD is: It's been in Canada to the north of the upper peninsula on at least five different occassions (not recently reported, however). The reservoir plants are thought to be roses. My deep down worry is that it has a second, as yet unrecognized reservoir plant on which it may not be as deforming. And I doubt that it will be found in my lifetime, unless by luck, someone says...this sick rose growns next to a kerfuffle tree that hasn't been as good as all the other kerfuffle trees I've seen. In China, there's a disease recognized in a rose garden that's a phytoplasma and it's been traced on the molecular level to a nearby pawlonia tree with witches' broom and the molecular patterns of the phytoplasmas of both the roses and the tree are a near match. But the symptoms of that problem include rose blooms that are totally green. Which so far aren't our problem although a lot of the other symptoms would be familiar to folks here who've had RRD in their roses. Could the disease be different in a colder climate? Also a possibility. One test she should do is get some iodine (the kind that sadistic parents used to put on kids' scratches) and cut a slice/thin section across a rose cane. RRD inhibits the formation of starch from sugar. There should be no blue-black color there. (A tooth pick will turn blueblack because of stored starch). You can tell this is a off-the-top-of-my-head answer. Come back with some more info and we'll work this one out. (Please don't post more pictures. My computer is excessively slow this summer ...danged land line.)