If any woody plant the scion was taken from has produced seed/cones and you graft it, then it will bear seed again sometime after it sets roots in deeply or is well-established. Dax

The plants were purchased from the government so we are fairly sure they are Red Pine. Â Yep, Red Pine 1) Is it normal to take so long for male cones to show. Â I'd say that's a bit slower than one might expect, though the forest habitat (more shade from competing plants) will slow down production compared to single specimens in full all-round sunlight 2) The red parts seem larger than any other picture on the web. Is this because they are more mature and elongated at the time the picture was taken? They also seem redder than any picture I can find. Â Yep, they're mature and shedding pollen. Rather surprising for them to be shedding as early as 5 March though (or is it stupid US date citations?) 3) Is it unusual to have all of the trees produce male cones the same year? You would think that they would all start in different years. last year was a very cool summer here. Â No, normal; generally, all trees of a particular species in a particular area will cone in the same year, as they'll all be triggered into coning by the same weather factor. Over here, even a fairly short warm sunny spell can trigger a good crop, if it is at the critical right time (end of May or early June seems to work for a lot of species) even if the rest of the summer is cool. Resin

I have a thrad stand like the one in the helpful link below (sold by Superior Threads). I've had it for years, going back to BQ (Before Quilting). Works quite well. The product description is very accurate - don't bother buying the all-plastic version of this thread stand design - they just tip right over. You need a heavy base. Also found this Web Shots photo of a thread stand made from a CD/DVD bulk package spindle and a coat hanger. View all 4 photos in the album to see how it was put together. Very clever: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2235069750079261559aeyaSg CMC Here is a link that might be useful: Metal base thread stand

Kelley, the hardest part to all the grafts - that one included - was cutting pieces that fit. It’s like creating a little jigsaw puzzle with pieces of wood in a hurry. I only used that one on one because it was the only seedling that was actively growing. It was not more difficult than the others I think. In a way, once I got it to fit in, it was easier to tape up. The Teflon tape worked, but was hard to keep from wrinkling up. I’m interested to feel the difference between that and the grafting tape. Once I get it, I may graft a branch of my ST that is alive, but has been broken and is dangling. When I take the tree out, I’m sure it will snap off, so why not try to I graft it onto another lemon seedling.... I’m on a roll...;)