I've gotten another bee in my bonnet. First I got interested in
intergenetic crosses to produce hardier citrus. BIG problems with that
one, as a few living experts can tell you after nearly 120 years of
attempts. The bad taste genes seem closely linked to the hardiness
genes, though recent crosses may have taken them apart. I refer to US
119, though it seems there was some inside dirt about that one. I'd be
curious how Nafexer's specimans have done over the last couple decades.
Anyway, the latest bee concerns a couple of native genuses that are
pretty closely related to Olea and are a lot hardier. What's more they
make little fleshy berries that are probably fairly high in oil. One
could mess around with Spicebush which already runs 50% oil, and see if
there's a way to extract it and whether the flavor, phytochemicals, etc
are of use for humans. Maybe a supplement, maybe for food. But the
neat thing about Fringetree and Swamp privet is that they are
dioeceous. Fringetree can be grafted on ash, and I have a dozen
volunteer seedlings scattered around that could work. Nobody seems to
know much about the swamp privet, Forestiera acuminata, or better yet
the upland version, F. ligustrina/, /which supposedly grows in our
county/,/ Z6. On the other hand, Fringetree seems to be good to minus
30F, and likes acid soils and will grow in our clay. All I really need
is a few grafts from female trees (a female growing in town I heard of)
and then either branches or a small potted tree of a good pollinating
olive. I've been looking at olive vars online, Arbequina is probably
the easiest to get hold of and beg the local nursery to keep in the
winters for me. Pendolino is the best long season pollinator, more
likely I could get it to overlap the Fringetree bloom time. There are
no fringetrees around me, so if I got fruit it would be crosses.
Any notions on this idea? Anyone familiar with theses plants or
the fruit thereof? Even if the fruit is worthless, if graft compatible
it could make it possible to grow olives in soils with poorer drainage
or more acid soil. Osmanthus is also related, but no hardier, though
some species will take swampy soils. Since I can't grow them here, they
are out of the running for me. Donna /
/