OK...So, you may be wondering what all this crazy April weather is doing to our trees! We are wondering, too! It is always hard to tell what the full impact of the crazy weather is until a few weeks later. If a tree is in bloom when it freezes, the bloom can die and no fruit will form where that bloom was. If a tree is in bloom but the temperature is below 41 degrees, it is too cold for the bees to come out of their hives to effectively pollinate the blossoms. Some bees will make short trips out of the hive and the wind and other flying insects may pollinate the blossoms but the tree will likely produce less fruit than it is capable of!So that being said...before the snow and ice from last week, our peaches were in full bloom and we have observed some damage but not complete damage, which is good. Only a few Cherry varieties have bloomed, the majority have not, which is good. Pears have all bloomed, which is not good. As far as the apples go, of the hundreds of apple varieties that we have, only a few types have bloomed (like the one in this photo we took the morning after the storm with the beautiful blooms encrusted in ice), which is good. Now, we have temperatures lingering near freezing which has stalled the development of anything else yet to blossom. We are pleased to say that we are focusing most of our new tree plantings and graftings on late-bloom types...which is good!
