HI Ray I just had my first Ozark P last year. My first impression was that somehow I had planted a nectarine instead of a plum. The flesh is yellow and very consistant with store bought (meaning not yet ripe and won't ripen but go rotten first) nectarines. I actually liked it as I have been afraid to try nectarines or apricots due to disease issues. I also have Santa Rosa, and yes that is much better. SR has been very easy to grow except for producing cherry size fruit despite 3 rounds of heavy thinning last year. I planted these trees in my earliest years of fruit tree planting. The first tree I planted came from Home Depot and was labeled Oz Pr standard. This tree has remained small and very manageable. Very easy care here in Cinti. Later that year I picked up 2 trees at Lowes that were labeled as semidwarf Santa Rosa and they turned out to also be Oz Pr but of a much larger growing variety. I've had a hard time keeping them pruned to size. Am considering top working them, but wouldn't what ever I graft also be large and fast growing like the base plant? Olpea I'd love to hear more about why you don't care for Fellemberg. In a couple of my books it is called very resistant to black knot so I wanted to plant it as the base and graft a few other varieties onto it. I planned to mostly dry the Fellemberg. I like tart fruit, and have already ordered a Damson. Also have ordered Elephant Heart and a Starking Delicious hoping to extend my plum season longer than the current 3 weeks I have now between the Santa Rosa and OzPr. Pam in cinti

I have a gut feeling that it's not going to work,.. but you'll never know until you try. I have experimented with choke cherry, it took but after about 3 month the graft died. I'm always looking for hardy root stock to see if sweet cherries can be grown here and yes, grafted to pincherry seems to be working, also top grafted on Evans cherry, fruit can be expected ones in a while when winter temperatures don't go beyond minus 35 C or -31F...I kind of expect it every 6 years or so on average, ....just like our Apricots. Have you ever seen wild sweet cherry tree seedlings in ditches or on edge of woods [from bird droppings] ?? ...I did, in the old country and some of them are really good, perhaps a little smaller but who cares, ..as a kid, we still loved these cherries. My thinking is this,....some of these wild ones might just fit the bill to grow up here in the north. I sure would love to test some of these! So far, we really can't grow any sweet cherries here. In Alaska, Amur cherry [Prunus maackii] is used allot, I'm still testing this here too but it seems pin cherry does better for me. Allot of places in Alaska doesn't get as cold then here, especially when close to the Ocean. Konrad

From St. Lawrence Nursery's website Cherry-plums resulted from crosses made in the early 1900's between Prunus besseyi (sand cherry) and various plums. Plant breeders wanted to produce a fruit hardy enough to withstand the severe winters of the northern Great Plains. Even if you can't grow plums or cherries due to late frosts or extreme winter temperatures, you may be able to grow cherry-plums. They grow as small trees (6-8 ft. at maturity,) and are hardier and more resistant to drought and late spring frosts than any of the cherries or plums that we offer. Cherry-plums yield a small, plum-like fruit that is fair eaten fresh, but not as good quality as a true plum. Their life span is 10-15 years. Cross-pollination is necessary, so plant at least one two different varieties. Alternatively, pollination can be accomplished with a Native American or Manchurian seedling plum or with any of the ``A'' group of grafted plums. They should be spaced 4 to 8 feet apart. Price  2 to 4 ft. trees $18.00 each Cherry-plum varieties are list below. CHERRY-PLUMS Compass Yellow-red fruit with sweet, juicy yellow flesh, sour skin. Ripens in late August. Good for jams and sauces. Sapalta Ripening with Compass or slightly earlier, this fruit is dark purple inside and out. It has juicy sweet flesh, sour skin, and is nearly freestone. Deep Purple Deep purple skin and flesh. Large size, over 1 inch, meaty with small pit. Sweet pleasant flavor. Ripens mid-August. Plant has a prostrate growing habit, but may be trained upright for a more tree-like shape. btw. I have no affiliation with St. Lawrence Nursery other than having been a satisfied customer! ~Chills Here is a link that might be useful: St. Lawrence Nursery

Hi everyone! Regardeng BLACKBERRIES, we, on the opposie side of the pool, have the same problems of OVERWINTERING the canes and the flower buds. Admittedly I yet have no own experience as I got interested in blackberries only this fall when discovered the existance of the new thornles and prolific varieties. So I read all that was worth reading in the Russian and US internet, especially the rather high-profile specialised forums of our blackberry enthusiasts.. I discovered that throughout Russia and Kazakhstan which both have areas with very serious frosts blackberry growing in those is nevertheless quite successful. Maybe someone here would benefit from their experience same as e.g. you grow plums of Russian origin such as ptitsin and fofanoff. Apparently Blackberries can bring huge yealds in climates with very low winter temps, even downing to -40C for rather ptolonged periods. The TECHNIQUE below allows overwintering without much problem. Plus some easy principles to follow. 1. All blackberries need to be laid down and covered for the winter, preferably after the first frost when the land is frozen. To ensure that this task is easy and hassle free: 2. Choose thornless varieties only. Those with thorns are said to be hell to lay and cover. 3. In early summer watch for the new canes (primocanes) to emerge. As soon as a shoot reaches 15-20cm carefully bend it 90 degrees and secure with a metal peg. When the cane grows another 40-60cm, secure it parallel to the ground with yet another peg. After it reaches 1 m let it grow as it will but better tie to the lowest string of the trellis Which gets them out of the way. Do not tip the ends as this would increase the leaf mass. Do the bending for all the emerging primocanes. 4. In autumn at the time of first frosts when all the fruiting canes have long been cut down lay the primocanes in lines stretched along one side of the trellis. Peg them to the ground, cover with two layers of 60g/m2 thick white non-woven fabric and secure all sides to the ground with no holes. This is said to help greatly even if serious frosts come before the snow. In milder and wetter climates they also put a plastic film layer on top of the fabric, leaving however the end bits open so there is always air circulation. The advice here is to experiment as all natural circumstaces differ. 5. Take off the cover layers gradually, and completely only after all danger of frost is over. By then the canes are likely to bear some yourg leaves and side shoots, but this is ok. Raise them carefully as the canes of come varieties are brittle, and tie to the trellis. 5. Winer frosts may not be a problem for blackberries, but summers need to be warm or hot. The shorter and milder/cooler the summers, the earlier fruiting varieties should be chosen. 6. Floricane varieties like PA Freedom in cooler and shorter summer climates may very sucessfully fruit if treated in the same way as other primocanes, i.e. as above, in a two-year culture. They would be one of the earliest to perform. If you have any questions do feel free to write me, I will try to help with more information. cathpetro at gmail dot com.