I have never heard this about an Anna. My Annas don't bloom continuously, nor do any of the Annas in my area (N. San Diego County, California). In fact, I am not aware of any apple tree variety that will bloom almost continuously. Lemon trees will do this, but not apple trees. I'd love to know where you read that, I have never come across any info that describes Annas this way. Annas are very early, though (in full bloom at my house right now). And, in very low chill areas like where I live, I have found out that they can often have a second, smaller bloom break in the late Fall/eary Winter. This happened to me with my Anna which had 3 tiny little apples ready to pick in December (and were really, really sweet). For me, my Annas are a wee bit earlier than the Dorsett Golden I have, but hopefully as they both mature, they'll bloom closer together. Anna is self-fruitful, but it will bear more heavily and the apples will be rounder and fuller with a cross-pollinator. So, don't really need a cross-pollinator, I was just hoping my existing Anna that is in a really bad location (way too much shade) would have a larger crop with a cross-pollinator. I'm going to move it this December - I waited too long to move it as it is now in bloom - so it will eventually provide more fruit once it gets more sun. Patty S.

Wonderful discussion. I'm not as obsessive with this apple tree growing experiment(yet,)as I am with other things that I grow. Like as was mentioned, my son and I are just having fun planting something in winter and seeing what happens. Two Empire seeds germinated in the frig, and we planted them together in a 4" pot of Jiffy mix, and have them on a heating pad. If a couple more seeds germinate we might do the same thing with them also. We don't have a lot of room, and in all likelihood won't be living here 10 years from now. Bottom line.....we're just having fun. Hopefully we'll get something that we can plant outside, and like you say, point at it and say, "remember when...." That would be fun! Now if you want to talk serious, just get me talking about my tomatoes and blueberries.

I know, Applenut :-( When we purchased this home, and the previous owners showed me where they espaliered this lovely little Anna (they wire used to pull the branches down were embedded into the branches, I cringed), it was up against the house on the north side! I didn't have time to dig it up in January, and find a new home, because where it needs to go isn't ready, yet, to take the tree. So, it has to stay there until I get the lower part of my yard landscaped. It's starting tomorrow, in fact!! I've got a nice spot on the east fence that should get some great sunshine all day long until the very late afternoon. It will be MUCH happier and healthier over there, along with the other Anna and the Dorsett Golden. Now to get the Dorsett Golden and the Annas to bloom at the same time. My Dorsett still hasn't bloomed. the one Anna I have (which is ridiculously precocious) has a TON of lovely little skinny, non-cross pollinated apples on it! My other espaliered Anna looks like it will also have quite a few apples. Now - to keep the #@$%* rats out of my trees. I've armed myself with several bait stations. I am declaring war on the Root Rats. Last year, they ate every single one of my 20 apples off my little espaliered Anna. That I babied and tried to protect. I'm done being a nice guy. I'm poisoning the little bast##ds. Patty S.

Brandon, thanks for the info on planting. This is new to me, and I just couldn't imagine anything young taking root in the dense soil I had to hack through to dig the hole so amending it seemed to make sense at the time. I can see how it would create an artificial tub now. I guess time will tell if the tree fully takes. I'll try to gauge the soil dampness better. With the sun around here, the surface dries out very quickly. It may well be that I'm not watering enough, though I'm not sure how to judge what's happening down at the bottom of the roots. jqpublic, I'm zone 9 by zip code but San Jose can be in the 8s too. In any case, the apple trees in the neighborhood seem to do very well. (and Ken - don't worry, I'm tickled pink that it set fruit so quickly. I just don't want to kill it!) Thanks for the help, everyone.