North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Hilborn.E@epamail.epa.gov]

Well we had a hard freeze here during Tuesday night.  I woke up to 27
degrees just after dawn on Wednesday!  This is a day after our average
last frost date.

My blueberries (in bloom) seem fine, only a few burns on apple blossoms,
none visible on the pear blossoms. My Kieffer pear had set fruit, I
covered it, so maybe these will be saved. My "Favorite" pomegranate may
be beyond hope- I am waiting with great anticipation. It fell to 11
degrees at my house twice this winter, maybe too low to expect this
plant to survive without heroic efforts at protection.

The serviceberry and the Hungarian bush cherries seem OK, the blooms
seem unaffected.  The Japanese plum had already set some fruit, unsure
if it will keep them. The persimmons had not broken bud yet, so were OK.
The jujube was starting to break dormancy but seems OK. I will have to
watch it....

Surprisingly, my figs with new, unfurling leaves were all severely
burned, but on the same plants the leaves that had already attained some
size (even those low on the tree) seemed to survive the freeze just
fine!

Go figure.

Betsy Hilborn
7a, NC