Winter fruit displays

Who has fruiting plants to share pictures of?

With the obliterating 2007 Easter freeze here, the usual suspects are barren this winter. Malus, Ilex, and Viburnum are typically heavily laden with groups and clusters, but when that cold snap wiped the flower palette clean there were no opportunities for decent berry production this year.

The cardinals, blue jays, and mockingbirds here would like to enjoy your images, however vicariously.

Here's what 'Judy Evans' American holly looked like last year, about now.

In 'answer' to your title, my friends had a bowl of Osage Oranges on the porch as a winter fruit display. They got the idea and fruit from Williamsburg VA. I might make myself an Osage Orange Xmas tree next year if I can figure out how to stack them up in a conical shape.....
My burford holly has a lot of berries this year.

This message was edited Jan 11, 2008 10:07 AM

I've seen a few other hollies that looked loaded here, in Maryland near the Bay. This one is about to eat the house it's in front of. (sorry, not the best picture quality) The cardinals are happy!

Wow, sally, that looks like one happy Burford there!

As far as OO obelisks...you could connect the various levels of hedgeapples with skewers stuck into adjoining fruits. I'd start with the wooden ones (cheaper) and advance to metal ones if additional strength is necessary to prevent collapse.

Word of warning: when you pitch out the old fruit, don't just throw it out in the yard or over the fence. The seeds will still germinate, and you'll have beaucoup babies.

Don't want to lead anyone astray: that picture is a neighbor's tree which , I guess, may be a native holly, or an older cultivar/species. That tree has been there probably 50 years to 65 years. My burford is only fourish feet tall and wideb ut it is doing a good job, berry- wise, this year- this picture.
Thanks for the O-sage advice on hedgeapples

I came across this bush with the fruit still quite healthy in January.

Sallyg here is an idea for the Osage Orange.

mgarr- Thanks. THat's pretty. I guess they are strung on a wire? I haven't tried yet, so didn't know how hard they are. I'll also share this with my friend, for her historic home.

Nice photo, mgarr.

sallyg:

Those are probably attached (maybe speared) to a heavy and rigid frame, since Osage orange fruit are pretty heavy at maybe a couple pounds apiece. They would be relatively easy to puncture if the "prongs" on the frame had a sharp end. A heavy gauge wire would suffice, though for endurance through the years it might be better to have a steel plate frame welded for that purpose.

Need more fruit...

Here is Crataegus viridis 'Winter King' ('Winter King' hawthorn), one of the finest fruiting small ornamental trees for the Ohio River valley.

This is what the fruit looks like closeup, from the north (non-sunny) side of a branch.

All these pictures are from late February 2006, testament to the persistence and durability of the fruit on this hawthorn.

Finally, this image shows how the fruit can discolor on the sunny south side of the same branch from the previous photo.

Equally fructiferous (but no where near as common as Crataegus)...and so easy to grow.

There needs to be more possumhaw planted proximate to people.

Ilex decidua, y'all.

Ilex decidua 'Red Cascade', up close and personal...

Yearning for yellow?

They're fabulous. Can you wave a magic wand and turn my neighbor's forsythia hedge into that?
hardy to zone 5- I don't think its used much here, though it seems it could be

Nice thread, VV. Here's my Winter King from a few years back.

victor:

It looks like it wants to come out and play. You really should open a gate in that fence once in a while.

sallyg:

Could be...should be...would be, if only it were tried. MD is great territory for most hollies, and I bet they'd grow with abandon for you.

VV - the past two years I have had more rust than in previous years (even though it's a resistant variety) and it resulted in noticeably fewer berries. It was a bit better this past year than last. My question is - does it only affect the current year's production or is there also a cumulative effect?

Rust is a fungus (among us, I think), so its spores are going to be around year after year.

Occasional treatment for this problem (when evident) should bear fruit...OK, that was lame.

I have only anecdotal evidence to support this claim (but some observation seems to bear it out):

•I see more rust (little orange fungal fruiting bodies) on hawthorns planted in areas of higher moisture

•I see less to no rust on hawthorns planted where it is droughtier or where there is more reflected heat (around pavements, sidewalks, parking lots, etc.)

If I were to advocate, I'd say plant 'Winter King' where it gets less care and watering, like with more xeric species. If you irrigate or pamper regularly, it may just rust out.

Well I don't water it and it's near my pool so it gets lots of reflected heat from the pool deck and the stones that surround it. But we do get humid summers. As for rainfall, the past few years have been at or below normal. My big problem is that I have a large stand of 'hosts' nearby - Juniperus virginiana.

Pool nearby all summer probably equals much more ambient moisture in the air = pretty good conditions for fungi.

Neighboring Juniperus virginiana as alternate hosts -- not so good. As this pest is ubiquitous where Juniperus and Crataegus are native, absolute proximity probably doesn't matter.

Protective/prophylactic treatment will do as much good. I bet once every couple three years would be all that's necessary, if it even matters that much to you.

If I do decide to treat, what do you recommend and when should it be applied? Thanks.

Wow, I'm an ancient archaeological artifact when it comes to pesticide applications. You could peruse one of the other forums on DG where folks discuss fruit tree growing. Otherwise, give a shout to your nearest cooperative extension, hort school, orchardist, or feed supply store to find what is most current, effective, and safe.

And twice as much is not twice as good. Follow label directions, or may you and yours mutate.

Thanks - I'm not big on them either so I'll probably just live with it. The galls are pretty cool looking anyway!

That could be a whole 'nother thread.

Cool Looking Infectious Organisms For Your Garden

Start with the gelatinous horned fruiting structures annually occurring on those Juniperus virginiana...

Wouldn't some 3D photos help too?!

And SenSurround! Or Smell-o-Vision, or Scratch-n-Sniff.

So, I suppose you'll start the CLIO awards on these forums? Wait, someone's already using that...

CLIO (Cool Looking Infectious Organisms)

What a set up. LOL (And a good one, too)

I thought this was cool looking anyway, the backlighting on these maple samaras today at Welkinweir. Samaras are fruit, aren't they?

Nice shot. I thought Samaras were Japanese warriors.

Good one. Wanna see samara?

Oh-shura!

The birds do eventually eat these. They stay on the plant a long time though. I don't know if it just takes an extremely long time to get 'ripe' or if they are eaten as a last resort or if it is because of those tiny but very sharp thorns.
These are growing in my cactus garden but also found in the desert around here.

Plant info for those who may be interested:
formerly called: Opuntia leptocaulis now Cylindropuntia leptocaulis
related to prickly pear cactus but the fruit is much smaller and the plant stems are pencil thin rather than the large "pancake" shapes. Both have glochids the tiny hairlike thorns.

I know this is a bit late, but mgarr your purple-berried bush above is a Callicarpa, maybe americana, but it might be too cold there for americana. One of the beautyberries. The berries are supposed to be good for wildlife, but sometimes it's the last thing they eat.

I agree with DawnG; mgarr's plant is likely the Asian beautyberry Callicarpa dichotoma. It has smaller and more copiously set fruit than the native species American beautyberry, Callicarpa americana.

Both are quite handsome ornamentals, with the Asian version being a bit more refined in all its parts while the American version is somewhat coarser.