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Re: [NAFEX] Attn Lee Reich - Seaberry

From: "S & E Hills" <ehills7408@wowway.com>
To: "'North American Fruit Explorers'" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Attn Lee Reich - Seaberry
Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2007 21:00:21 -0500

Lee,

I have had poor luck with Seaberry. I’ve tried two grafted cultivars and 3 seedlings. I have lost each one, except for one of the seedlings that has now hung on for 2 summers (but just hung on). I have them planted in excellent soil, an old compost pile I decided to plant on after I got my compost tumbler. I’ve ordered another 2 seedlings (not going to waste more $$ until I know I can keep them alive.) Are they plants that suffer from excessively good conditions?

Goji, coincidentally planted just a foot or so from the seaberry, has thrived from cuttings I received and just stuck into a pot and rooted without much attention. In fact I checked today and the goji are already leafing out (I got blooms last year, but in late September.) I can’t comment on the fruit quality as mine have not yet fruited, but if you are interested in cuttings, let me know. I plan on sprouting some seedlings from dried fruit I bought (evidently something that is pretty easy to do or so I’ve read).

I’ve read dismal reports about edible honeysuckle, though there is *supposedly* a new strain of them (a different lonicera) that are going by the name Haskap. ( They are reportedly being developed by the University of Saskachewan.) Are you familiar with them, if so have you heard anything verifying or dispelling their hype?

Btw…Let me apologise if the tone of my last coorespondence on this list was disrespectful. I was trying to be lighthearted, but after re-reading my post I worried it came across as insolent.

Scott Hills

If anyone else is familiar with the plants listed above, please feel free to respond as well.

From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Lee Reich
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2007 7:05 PM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] zone 7 east coast mulberry-attn Lee Reich

Hello George,

I actually like seaberry very much. My book is about "dessert fruits", that is, fruits that can be eaten without any doctoring up in the kitchen. I occasionally nibble seaberries right off the bush. They have a very nice flavor but are very tart. They do make a delectbale, sweetened and diluted juice though.

I have not been impressed with my rather limited experience to date with edible honeysuckle. I might order some goji plants to check them out.

Lee Reich, PhD

garden@leereich.com

Books by Lee Reich:

The Pruning Book

Weedless Gardening

Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden

A Northeast Gardener's Year

On Mar 26, 2007, at 6:14 PM, drosehngs1@juno.com wrote:

Thanks for the mulberry information, Lee.

By the way, I want to apologize for a phone call I made to you about 2

or 3 years ago, while I was at the New Paltz Chamber of Commerce (while

looking for your now/then defunct nursery).

If you'll recall, I was asking about why you didn't include sea

buckthorn in your book (you stated you have some, but they are

generally rather bitter). Then, while asking about edible honeysuckle,

the conversation abruptly ended.

This was because the phone required coin payment every 3 minutes, and I

was out of change (having carefully budgeted for the NY State Thruway).

Thought I owed you an explanation, especially as I find your book

(together with Susanna Lyle's) to be the most authoritative current

books I've seen on fruits not requiring overmuch attention.

Any thoughts on goji berries or the new(?), sweeter, varieties of sea

buckthorn? Esp for zones 6-7 (east coast). Asked the cooperative

extension at the University of Delaware about the goji berries; they

weren't sure, but thought they might not survive the humidity here.

George Drosehn

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I believe that the one that I got was Noir of Spain.

Lee Reich, PhD

garden@leereich.com

Books by Lee Reich:

The Pruning Book

Weedless Gardening

Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden

A Northeast Gardener's Year

On Mar 26, 2007, at 11:06 AM, Michael Nave wrote:

Which Whitman is a true M. Nigra? They allegedly have

more than one. I have grown their Shangri La. It was

not M. Nigra. It did not have stout branches or the

leaf texture of M. nigra.

--- Lee Reich <garden@leereich.com> wrote:

Whitman's M. nigra is a true M. nigra as evident

from the leaf shape

and texture and the stoutness of the branches as

well as fruit

quality and ripening time. The reason I grow it in a

pot here in Zone

5 of New York is so that I can overwinter the pot in

my very cool

basement.

Lee Reich, PhD

garden@leereich.com

Books by Lee Reich:

The Pruning Book

Weedless Gardening

Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden

A Northeast Gardener's Year

On Mar 24, 2007, at 12:18 AM, Michael Nave wrote:

Morus nigra is widely grown worldwide in areas

with

zone 7 and zone 8 type temperatures and is

reported

sometimes growing in zone 6 and maybe even zone 5.

The

biggest problem we have in the US with regard to

morus

nigra is that we have a relatively small amount of

true morus nigra germplasm.

I don't believe Shangri La is morus nigra. It has

black fruit but it doesn't look like morus nigra

at

all. And the fruit is not that good. Whitman is a

very

good nursery but many nurseries seem to think that

black fruited mulberries must be morus nigra and

that

simply isn't true.

I'm not sure though why so many people in cooler

areas

are fixated on growing morus nigra. I have two

morus

nigra but prefer Silk Hope, Oscars and Illinois

Everbearing mulberries. I don't care whether they

are

morus nigra, morus rubra etc. I just care how they

taste and how well they grow.

But if you're set on morus nigra, try Ernie

Grimo(Grimo Nut Nursery) who I believe has a true

zone

7 morus nigra. Or you can request scionwood next

winter from the USDA's germplasm collection. They

have

Shah Tut and a few other true morus nigra trees. I

think they even have a zone 5 or 6 morus nigra

from

Russia.

--- "drosehngs1@juno.com" <drosehngs1@juno.com>

wrote:

Has anyone out there had success growing a black

mulberry (morus nigra,

not morus alba nor morus alba x rubra) on the

east

coast? If so, what

cultivar?

Whitman Farms indicates morus nigra to be hardy

to

zone 7, and one

variety (shangri-la) appears to be able to handle

humidity (though I

believe Lee Reich states this is a morus alba and

rather bland).

Please advise. Thank you.

George Drosehn (zone 7)

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