North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>]

> How tall are the trees, what size the fruit, & do they have any sweetness. 
> How would you compare them to Nanking bush cherries?


I can't answer most of this, but I've had a Carmine Jewel for two years 
now, and it's a really tiny tree. From what I read, it was only supposed 
to get 6 ft. tall on its own roots, and I believe it, since it's still 
barely more than 3 ft. tall now. (Everything else in my yard seems to 
spring up like magic beans.) Yet it's healthy, and it looks like a 
little tree, not a bush.

Well, I wanted something this small, because I still had a tiny little 
spot in my yard where there wasn't a fruit tree, bush, vine, or cane 
growing. Heh, heh. There really wasn't enough room for anything else. 
(Ironically, one of my trees died soon afterwards, so I could have 
planted a regular - dwarf - tree there, after all.)

Seriously, I can't say much about it, since I've only had it for two 
years. No fruit or even blossoms yet. But the tree itself doesn't seem 
to have any insect or disease problems. I suppose I'll have to spray it 
when it starts fruiting - and I'll have to net it, of course - but so 
far, it's been quite wonderfully work-free. I haven't even needed to 
prune it, since it seems to branch just perfectly on its own. But it is 
VERY small.

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)

--
I decided (after listening to a 'talk radio' commentator who abused, 
vilified, and scorned every noble cause to which I had devoted my entire 
life that) I was both a Humanist and a liberal, each of the most 
dangerous and vilified type. - James Michener