they should grow and produce in your area, considering both soil and weather. In terms of weather, I can tell you that medlars must be quite cold-hardy; my two medlars REFUSED to lose their leaves, my smaller one did first, and only just a few days ago did the taller one lose all its leaves - there's actually still one clinging on. And we've had the ground COVERED with ice here - we've repeatedly had weather around 30 degrees and below, at least twice where it went into the teens. from what I've read, medlar trees seem to be relatively tough trees with few if any pest/disease problems - though they are susceptible to fireblight. I just planted my two this summer and I haven't seen any problems yet. Don't use a dwarfing rootstock or the tree will never grow bigger than a shrub - the tree just refuses to grow big. Use pear as a rootstock for your heavy soil - I've got pear seeds stratifying in the fridge right now to make rootstocks to make more trees. Planting different varieties will NOT help increase fruit yield. Every single flower will become a fruit, and the tree even has a strong tendency for parthenocarpy if there's no pollination - there is indeed a seedless variety. You could plant your trees on a little mound like I did for drainage, so even if your entire property flood, there will be at least a FEW roots in the mound that will survive. The tree doesn't bear fruit to heavily. And you need to let the fruit "blet" before eating it. Just leave it sitting indoors for a week or two until they become dark and wrinkly. For eating, peel some of the skin and suck the flesh out, spitting out the seeds. The taste is OK, not amazing, but good. Not too sweet, not too sour. The fruits usually aren't very big, so go for a big fruited variety like breda giant. There is apparently a variety called "large russian" that has fruits the size of a tangerine (very big for a medlar), and user idogcow has one - I still haven't contacted him yet.

John of Lamb Abbey, When the bark is not slipping on the hawthorn stock, here is what to do when you want to graft low and the sizes are hugely different. Make a regular whip&tongue cut on your medlar whose caliber is way too small, then carefully make a matching wound in the large rootstock. Then actually make a tongue on the stock by back-cutting, then slide the scion home, matching as well as possible. I frequently use this technique. Maybe I should call it the modified rind/bark-whip&tongue graft! Anyway, it works good and saves the day. Of course, if you can wait till the hawthorn bark is slipping nicely, you can just do a regular bark graft, which work a treat too. Cover the whole scion with grafting glue after completing the graft (prevents the scion from drying out). Make certain that all air holes are plugged so the union cannot dry out. Don't let any glue get into the union either. Dethride, Apple trees are easy to work over from a 12 inch stump from ground level. Unless you want to work each individual branch over, which allows you to put many kinds on one tree. Wait till the tree has put on a leaf or two, then wack it cleanly with a chain saw (if working over individual limbs, a sharp hacksaw makes nice clean cuts!). Score the bark with a sharp knife every 2 inches around the circumference, insert shaved scions into each slit, then bind the whole thing with electrical tape. Plug all holes (combination of small strips of tape and/or modeling clay or plumbers putty), then cover grafted scions with glue. They will all grow over the summer. I have seen them go 6 and 8 feet each! Next winter, save the best upright, cutting all the others back to one or two buds. This keeps the bark alive all around the tree, not letting it die. The huge wound will disappear in 10 years or so, but needs a little maintainance every winter to keep the main upright, the main upright. I coat the ugly wound in the fall (big wound is nice and dry at this point), before rains start with roofing compound, some use copper fungicide. This keeps the wood from rotting before the gap closes. You should be getting apples around 3 or 4 seasons from when you initially graft. I think it is worth it when you don't have to do 1000 trees this way. Great for the homeowner who wants to make use of a wonderful root system already in the ground! For the link below, I recommend the single-cut bark graft. It is less messing around than the double cut kind, and works just as good. Also, the scion (two or three nice buds) need not have any shoulder like they portray. Just a simple long wedge will work fine. And I have never used nails. Some of my scionwood just would not handle a nail as sometimes the scion is too small. Here is a link that might be useful: Bark Graft

First tree IS PLC. Minorly affected. And some nitrogen deficiency. Fertilize and spray more during the dormant season. One of my nectarines, 'Desert Delight' does this, despite getting sprayed. It often misses the last spraying, as it breaks bud first of all my stone fruits. Not sure about the large split down the trunk - could be due to irregular watering, could be disease related. Tree 2: Not sure that's bacterial canker. Water, fertilize with a higher nitrogen fertilizer and mulch under the tree (keeping the mulch away from the trunk of course). Let's see if we can save the tree, first. Send your photos to your local Master Gardeners or extension office, and let's see what they have to say. Keep us posted. Patty S.

GardenJeane, The tree looks like a cultivar of Trident maple (Acer beurgeranum) with some tar spot problems (google "maple tar spot"). It also looks like it has a couple of old "battle wounds." You might want to have a ISA Certified Arborist in your area take a look to be on the safe side. You would not want that guy to fall and cause damage.