Barkslip’s 2011 Inventory

Note: prices are determined by size and age of tree. Generally 4-6' tall "whips" are 25.00-30.00 and...

2 and 3 year old trees with a larger trunk caliper and side branching are 35.00-40.00.

Pears-

Arganche/ c- Trial pear. This is an early pear and so far the foliage has held up well. Compact form makes it good for urban life.

Atlantic Queen/ c- Trial pear. This is good hardy variety.

Bartlett/ c- These scions were taken from my feral trees in WV found completely overgrown but in very good health. Normally bartletts are Fire Blight susceptible and wouldn’t have survived such conditions, but I wonder if these have adapted some sort of resistance? Still, not the easiest tree to grow.

Beure Hardy/ c- Trial pear that I hope lives up to its translated name- "tough butter". (Hopefully, the tree is tough and the fruit like butter, and not the other way around!)

Chapin/ c- Trial pear that's not looking great.

Carrick/c- Disease resistant variety of good quality. Foliage so far looks excellent with good vigor.

Citron de carmes/ c- Trial pear. I am excited about this one as it is another early season pear (June/Early July) The foliage is holding up well. Excellent flavor, disease susceptible.

Doyenne de Comice/ c- Popular late, desert variety. Seems to be doing OK. Reputed to be picky about site.

Early seckle/ c- Offspring of seckle (see below) except fruit comes 2-3 weeks earlier and stores better making it good for market gardeners who want to get the jump on the season. Foliage looks good so far.

Grand Champion/ c - Trial pear of less than modest name. Late bloomer, good taste. Foliage does not look good it trials so far.

Husio/ c- Asian pear with some butterscotch undertones.

Louis Bonne/ c- Trial pear. Early midseason, handles and keeps well. Moderate eating quality. Foliage looks good.

luscious/ c- Trial pear. Always suspicious of fruit that has a descriptive commercial name (eg. “Red Delicious”).  We’ll see about this one.  Disease resistant and red Fall foliage tastes similar to Bartlett.                     

Magness/c- Safe bet for disease resistance with its thicker skin. Good yard tree for someone who is easily overwhelmed by too much  fruit. Not a good pollinator.

Marie Louise/ c- Famous french pear of excellent quality on trial. She's looking mighty fine so far.

Moonglow/ c & q- Mid season pear of good disease resistance. yellow and juicy. Proven variety.

Morentini/ c & q- This is a great early pear (mid-July) buttery and juicy yellow with a red blush. I have been growing this one for 23 years and has held up well with little care.

Orient/ c- Just when you thought you were making sense of it all they went and named a European pear "Orient". It is growing very well in the nursery.

Oscar’s Blet/c- From my place in WV. Named after Oscar “ the grouch”, An anarchist in the eighties who had a little shack beside the tree. This tree is a seedling I see a lot around my area in West Virginia. Appears to have some Asian pedigree with its grainy flesh and thick spotted skin. After the frost before Thanksgiving these little bags of juice make some of the finest sweet pear cider I have had. Somewhat smoky in flavor. I hope to play with them this winter and see what kind of keepers they are and how they are in hard cider. N/A

Packham’s Triumph/ c- Trial Pear. Late pear from 'Down Under' that hangs on in storage as well as D’anjou. Starting to see them show up in the U.S. markets.                         

Potomac/ c- Trial pear of reputed disease resistance. Good flavor.

Rosee de Juilet/ c or q- "Rose of July" An early pear, as the name suggests, and looking good in the trials.

Seckle/ c - This small, sweet, disease resistant pear is a classic. Naturally semi-dwarf makes this tree and ideal yard tree. The scion wood came from my orchard of trees that have had no commercial sprays and appear to have developed some extra disease resistance.                                                

Shinko/ c - This is a later Asian pear variety that has held up under difficult conditions at the Edible park in Asheville. Taste is good for an Asian pear. Tall habit.

Sierra/c- Trial Pear. N/A

Summer crisp/ c - Early pear as the nane suggests and best eaten while firm and crunchy. Very refreshing for pear ready in early July. Fire blight resistant.         

Tyson/ c-   Early, smaller fruited pear with good disease resistance. Almost got to taste some this year but hoodlums gleaned my tree.  Foliage looks great.                 

Waite/ c    (canner) - Trial pear. I top worked this onto some of my older pear trees and it is growing like gangbusters. Havent had a pear off it yet. I don’t expect much, but could be a good alternative to the Keiffer pear for marginal sites.

Winter Nelis/ c - Trial pear. A classic late season pear with a willowy habit which makes it a challenge to train. Small and unattractive but tasty keeping pear with "spicy, rich flavor". Looks pretty good so far.

Apples-

Abemarle Newtown Pippin/ m7- A favorite of Victorian English Nobility and disease resistant. Reputed to do better with ample lime. Good for eating and cider. 
          
Centennial/ m7- An early, crisp, small, flavorful, yellow crab apple with a red blush that has done well in the crowded conditions of the Edible park. Fruits sometime in early August.

Chisel Jersey- Classic cider variety. Trees are growing well here. Bittersweet and a late bloomer.

Chestnut Crab/ m7-  Fall, eating and all around use, high flavor, small fruit, disease resistant.

Detroit red/ m7- Late bloomer. Mid season apple and as good as any for frost insurance.  

Foxwhelp/ seed- Classic English cider tree. Collect the whole set. Apparently there is at least a dozen Foxwhelps out there. Not as bad as the 40 some “brown turkey” figs. Bitter sharp. Light bearer large fruit.

Roxbury Russet- America's first named seedling variety is another delightful russet for eating, cooking, and cider. Having some issues with downy mildew in areas with less air circulation.

Tenderwhite/ seed- WV seedling that Monica named. This early season apple has crisp flesh and almost white translucent flesh. Very tasty for an early apple. It is growing extremely well in the nursery. N/A                                        

Wealthy/ m7- A natural semi dwarf and bloomed profusely in the nursery this year. Fall eating apple.

Wm’s Pride/ m7- Another great early apple from the Edible park. A developed variety that is red and full flavored and ready in early August. Very disease resistant.

Yates/ seedling- Same as above but on a native crab rootstock making it a full sized tree.

Yellow Bellflower/ seed- This aromatic classic is reputed to be one of the parents of the red delicious and where it gets its classic "bellflower" shape. Cooking, eating, and smelling good. Adds floral element to cider.

Cherries-

Danube/seed- Sour cherry with disease resistance                     

Mesabi/ colt- A sweet-tart, long stemmed cherry with sugar content between pie cherries and Bing. Fruit resembles Meteor but pit is smaller. Trees grow to 10-14'. Zone 4-8. Self fertile.                                       

Pregnancy sweet/  colt- The scion wood came from a tree planted on Haywood Ave in West Asheville. It is in a good site with good airflow and seems to have no other afflictions than the blight of urban foragers who descend upon it every June and feast upon its delicious and large fruit. Apparently content with pollinating with the ornamental cherries that abound around it or self- fertile.

 

Rootstocks- You will notice a backslash and then something after the variety name. These are the rootstocks that the trees are grafted onto. Here is a little info on them.

Apple/ m7- m7 is a semi- dwarf rootstock of good utility, Growing a tree about 50% of a standard seedling. That would be 12 or so feet high.

Apple/ seed or crab seed- Full sized trees that  are very drought resistant and long lived. These trees could easily last 120 or more years. Will obtain an untrained size of 40 feet and produce enormous amounts of fruit, but you will keep them well pruned, right?

Cherries/ colt- Colt is a cloned rootstock that has some dwarfing effects

Pears/ (c) calleryana- Calleryana is a tough rootstock that will grow a large tree. It is my belief that we will need tough, high producing trees in the future to carry on these tenuous and rare varieties still available.

Pears/ (q) Quince- Quince is the traditional dwarfing rootstock of pear. Like all dwarfinbg rootstocks it is not as hardy or long lived. Pears grown on quince rootstock are reputed to taste better than on their own rootstock.