I do many multi-grafts and have not yet had virus problems. The only problem I have had with viruses is that G16 is very sensitive to viruses and I have lost many of those which I did multi-grafts to. Cherries can easily be multi-grafted. I have only done a couple myself but they are fine. The main trick to multi-grafts is to leave enough room so each variety has enough space. If not you will end up with a big mess: lots of disease, and lots of wood being produced with no buds on it. Today I was out pruning and of the 200 or so closely planted (and many multi-grafted) trees I pruned today nearly all were fine but a couple were too crammed and I needed to take major corrective action (bend over a tree to the side, remove a tree, etc). Scott

I like the fruits, as does one of my four kids - but everyone else I've offered them to declined to try them again - or anything else 'different' that I bring in for folks to try. Seems most place it in the 'cranberry-flavored cardboard' category. Certainly tart and somewhat astringent when still firm, but if you wait until they're very dark red(for the red varieties) and beginning to shrivel a little, they're quite tasty. If nothing else, they make a nice ornamental - first thing to bloom here in the spring; there are three nice ones, probably 15 ft tall, in a municipal park that are covered in the tiny little yellow flowers in late Feb/early March; look not too much unlike large Forsythia bushes. I have a hard time beating the birds to the fruits.

A twofer for Ami and Big Daddy True Ami that most of Reinhard's releases he sends to Manfred who offers them off Reinhard's webpage, but there's a few of us, I'm one of them, who have known Reinhard for many years so each year I send him the best of my grow outs and he does the reverse, and sometimes he asks if I can find this or that for him and I've been able to do that as well. But since Reinhard gives the seeds to Herr Hahm there should be no differences in seeds from Herr Hahm as opposed to Reinhard himself. I must ask Reinhard when next I e-mail him if Manfred does any seed production from the seeds that Reinhard gives him, which is something I don't know for a fact. B'c if there is then I don't know as I can say that the two sources would be eqivalent. Big Daddy, since Sungold F1 doesn't split that badly for me , and since I've only grown BSS last year and got no splitting in a rainy year, I don't have a definitive answer. LOL But I have one re Maria and Serena and my feeling is that Maria is still very young and Serena is quite a bit older, so Maria has many years to still win Wimbledon again, and Serna doesn't. I'll be glued to my TV this week watching all the matches, that you can believe. LOL Carolyn

Hi, Pics would help. you are absolutely certain it's cherry, not a look-alike? There used to be a chemical application for ebonizing cherry that was indelible. It could be planed off it you took enough wood. It used something like bi-chromate of potassium or some such. There are two kinds of wood bleaches: oxalic acid (for mineral based staining) and the two-part liquid (peroxide-based ) used for organic stains. You may have to try both, but I'd start with the oxalic acid because it's less harmful to the wood, IMO. Can't say if linseed oil would darken it "enough" becuz I haven't seen it. Casey