Experimental Fruit 101

I have three rare fruit dreams that are torturous because I don't have the planting ground in place this year. That could change any time ... or there's the satisfying sublimation of a local "London Orchard Project," thanks to Glenn. 1. Locally I want to get cuttings from a rare old apple. Of course, root stock type will depend upon where the roots will be set ... although most soils in this valley are within a certain normal range. This rare old apple grows as a half dozen trees down by the river. It is large & as beautiful as ever painted by a Dutch master - red on one side, streaked on the other. The flesh is crisp, juicy! snow-white & perfectly balanced between tart & sweet. We have a horti-cultural history in this valley, because the Chinese that came to work in the gold & silver mines & also on the railroad line into the valley, included gardeners & growers. "China Gardens" was a district by the river of vegetable growers who delivered their produce in horse-drawn carts. Many beautiful flowers & shrubs in the valley, if you trace their horticultural origins, come from China. 2. I must grow Green Gage plums again! They are beautiful, fairly-big, fast-growing trees. The green Plums are sweet, richly delicious & so heavy bearing that at first i felt guilty that we couldn't even deal with all the harvest that was left in the tops of the trees. Then I found that during our zone 4 winter, Woodpeckers carried off every single fruit - after they had frozen, thawed & were probably little skin pouches of fermented Plum Calvados! Thereafter, I found an old woodcut of a Woodpecker flying along with just such a fruit in its beak! I love those connections with growing history ... 3. I am longing to find an old-fashioned-tasty Apricot variety! I would go on "pilgrimages" to pick one up! I remember Apricots so tasty they made your taste-buds ache. Now all the beautiful Apricot trees I know, some of them wonderfully heavy-bearing, are very bland. My son planted some Manchurian Apricots but they grew radically tall & non-bearing, due to excess shade in their arbitrary landscape spot. Any tips or leads appreciated ...

Hi OCG You might like to peruse this site. RV Roger is just up the road from where i live in North Yorkshire. I think it has probably the best collection of fruit trees in England, though others may disagree. I am soon to join the Northern Fruit Group. To actually learn the proper way to do things after years of trial and error. Regards Glenn