GRAPES: Grapes grow just fine but they are very high maintenance. Several people have tried to start small vineyards here in Love County, but haven't been very successful because they aren't around (weekend residents) to give them the care they need. Lots of people grow a vine or two or three on a fence, trellis or pergola with only minor upkeep though. Here in our woods, we have native grapes too.

I've grown grapes, but don't feel like I know a lot about them, so I've linked the OSU fact sheet below for you. I know in the past we've had some folks here on the forum who grow grapes, but I'm not sure if any of them are still active on the forum.

STRAWBERRIES: I've grown strawberries in Texas, but don't grow them here. They are high-maintenance, have lots of pests and diseases, and don't give you all that many fruit per plant. We do have a current thread on strawberries and if you search the 2 or 3 most recent pages of threads, I am sure you can find it. If you are in a semi-rural to rural location like I am, you'll have to fight the field mice, voles, rabbits, possums, raccoons, turtles and birds for every single berry, so plan ahead to cover yours with bird netting or something similar.

MULBERRIES: Mulberries grow OK here, but they don't really like the heat, so you will see a lot of leaf yellowing and leaf drop in July and August. Lots of bugs find the berries attractive, so you may have to fight the pests. We have mulberries come up occasionally in the yard after birds have "planted" their seed. I yank them out and get rid of them--they are very weedy. We had nice mulberry trees in Texas when I was a kid that produced pretty good berries, but the native ones I've seen here aren't as good. And, with any fruit you grow, you'll have lots of birds, especially in you're out "in the country" where there are large amounts of birds.

PERSIMMONS: Native persimmons grow wild all over in southern OK, so if you keep your eyes open, you'll probably see some. You might be able to talk someone into letting you dig up a persimmon growing along a fenceline. Lots of people here consider them "trash trees" and don't bother harvesting the fruit because they are so sour. If you wait until a hard freeze has occurred, the fruit will turn blackish and their flavor improves drastically. You also can collect fruit in the late fall or early winter and collect and plant the seed. Persimmons have lovely fall foliage too. Our largest persimmon tree in the woods is about 45' tall, and we have several much smaller ones on the pond banks. We used to have a strip of them under the power line, but the local electric co-op removed them when they were clearing the area under power lines a couple of years ago. You'll need both male and female plants to get fruit, and if you raise them from seed, you won't know what you have until they're large enough to flower. You might find seeds of native persimmon from a seed company that specializes in hard-to-find seeds like J. L. Hudson or Trade Winds Fruit. You will have to fight the coyotes for the fruit though, because persimmons are one of the major native plants that coyotes eat all summer and fall. I assume the coyotes have poorly developed tastebuds because they eat the green persimmons.

FIGS: Figs grow fine here and I think 'Celeste' and 'Brown Turkey' are two of the best-adapted in the state. They can be grown in the ground in zone 7 and sometimes in zone 6 with good winter protection. In a very hard winter, they'll freeze back to the ground but resprout quickly and you'll still get a good crop.

NATIVE PLUMS: I like the Mexican plums, which grow on our property, better than the sand plums, which grow in the fencelines locally, but they all make great jam or jelly. Watch for the plants locally along the fencelines and 'snatch' a handfull of plums when they're ripe, and harvest the pits to plant. Sometimes you can find either type of these from companies that specialize in native plants, or you might find seeds of them from J. L. Hudson or Trade Winds Fruit.

Don't forget the native blackberries and dewberries. Although they produce very small berries, they can be quite tasty. We have native blackberries on our pond banks and dewberries, which are not as upright and creep along on the ground, on the eastern edge of our woods.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Grapes in Oklahoma

Dawn -

So much info... going to have to take it all in... printing off this post also.

Grapes - if I could just get some to eat once a year I think it might be worth having... maybe!

Stawberries... not good with all the critters we have here... I love them (in a bad bad bad way... so the cost here makes me want to try to grow them..)

Mulberries, figs, persimmons... good info - I love a good persimmon right after the hard freeze, something about them and the jelly my grandmother made just makes need to at least know where to find them at.

Native plums - Mexican and Sand - any leads on where to get them from? They take for ever from seed but I did have a little Mexican plum I left at the house in Texas - five years from seed and maybe three feet tall... oh well...

Blackberries - I am looking for a thicket now to get some native ones.. loved the blackberry hunts when I was a kid. Cut up and bleeding here and there but one taste of the cobbler and all wounds are quickly forgotten.

Dewberries - These are new to me.. will look them up - anythign with berry will have to find a home here :-)

Thank you - great link - printed it off and will read and reread to see what it says to do!

Thanks Dawn!

Mitch

Mitch,

It was easier to find natives in Texas, at places like Weston Gardens or Redenta's in Grapevine, and not so easy to find them here.

Try the Oklahoma Forest Service tree seedling program. I'll link the order form below. NOW is the time to order. I think they stop taking orders in early Feb.

You have to order a high minimum of trees--I think it is 100 bare-root or 50 in containers, but the cost per tree is very low--often less than $1.00. Smaller plants are easier to establish than larger ones too, since their existing amt. of root is in balance with their existing amt. of topgrowth.

The Forest Service sells trees for "reforestration and conservation", not merely for landscaping, but you can't beat their prices and they give great how-to-plant advice. You can either pick up your seedlings at a certain location (depending on whether you live close to any of the chosen pick-up locations or not) or have them shipped to you.

I haven't read this year's order form, but they always have plums and persimmons, and many other wonderful trees as well.

If you don't have space to plant 100 trees, or 50 trees, maybe you can get someone else to split an order with you.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Oklahoma Forest Service Order Form

I grew up about 20 miles from your location and about 5 acres there are still covered in native blackberries. You are welcome to go there and get some cuttings, but these are very aggressive and form thickets quickly. They are good sized and taste great, though.

Yep 100 of each type and they are out of the 2 plums and persimmon this year.. but just maybe worth keeping for next year their info. I can really using them Dawn - very good link and find.

Native are so easy in Texas, everywhere you look for can find them, here I am having so much trouble. Just finding a clump of Indian Grass was a huge issue and I would have loved to find it local but wow nothing here for me to look for them.

Mitch,

Ok, then try E-Bay. See link below.

You also could order them from Nature Hills Nursery, but it does not have the best reputation.....if you decide to order from them, you might want to visit the watchdog site and read the comments before you make a decision about ordering. They have a lot of negative comments, but at least it appears from their response on the watchdog site that they are trying to improve their customer service.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Chickasaw Plum Trees on E-Bay

Mitch, I missed where you live. Wish you were close to Tahlequah. We have little persimmon trees coming up all over our pastures and have to cut them down. One tree, at the back of the pasture, is probably 40' tall. We collect quite a few from that tree every fall.

George

George - Wish I lived over there also - I would love to meet you also and to find those trees...

Dawn - Going to look for them there - I have bought form them before they are small but they make it if you take care of them.