Apple Blossom Begins!

[FB.]

The first of my apple blossoms are open (probably corresponding to Brogdale's classification of; "10% flowers open")
This year, I am closely monitoring which varieties flower at which time - especially where I have the same variety grafted onto different rootstocks, since I think that I have been noticing a pattern of rootstock influence on flowering time.

As in previous years, the MM106 rootstocked trees have begun to flower first and 2009 is not looking any different.

In alphabet order within each date of April 2009:
Number of days early is estimated according to the official flowering dates of the Brogdale collection.

13 April:
D'Arcy Spice (MM106) 25 days early
Discovery (MM106) 22 days early
James Grieve (MM106) 21 days early
Red Devil (MM106) 19 days early

14 April:
Court Pendu Plat (MM111) 32 days early possibly not correct variety.
Saturn (MM111) 22 days early possibly not correct variety.

15 April:
Tydeman's Late Orange (MM106) 22 days early

16 April:
Discovery - spur variant (MM106) 19 days early
Egremont Russet (M26) 15 days early
Ellison's Orange - red variant (MM106) 21 days early
Golden Russet (M26) 15 days early
Reverend Wilks (M26) 15 days early

17 April:
Pinova (M26) 19 days early. . . . One week later (24 April), Pinova still has only 10% flowers open.

18 April:
Meridian (M26) 18 days early

19 April:
No new flowering. I was quite surprised, since we've had two warm, sunny days.

20 April:
Golden Delicious (MM106) 16 days early
Worcester Pearmain (MM106) 15 days early

21 April:
Laxton's Superb (MM106) 14 days early

22 April:
Cockle Pippin (M26) 13 days early
D'Arcy Spice (MM111) 16 days early
Norfolk Beefing (M26) 14 days early
Winston (M26) 16 days early

23 April:
Grenadier (M9) 12 days early
Spartan (MM106) 13 days early

24 April:
Saturn (MM111) 11 days early possibly not correct variety.
Court Pendu Plat (MM111) 32 days early possibly not correct variety.

25 April:
Annie Elizabeth (MM106) 15 days early
Ashmead's Kernel (MM106) 13 days early

26 April:
No new flowering.

27 April:
No new flowering.

28 April:
Fiesta/Red Pippin (MM106) 10 days early

29 April:
D'Arcy Spice (M25) 9 days early
D'Arcy Spice (M26) 9 days early

30 April:
No new flowering.

01 May:
Crawley Beauty (MM106) 22 days early

02 May:
No new flowering.

03 May:
No new flowering.

04 May:
No new flowering.

05 May:
No new flowering.

06 May:
No new flowering.

07 May:
Court Pendu Plat (M26) 13 days early






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[susieq100]

There are 2 damson trees and 2 greengage trees on my plot (inherited from previous plot holder) and they are an absolute mass of blossom - the damson tree appears to have no leaves, only flowers! There was very little fruit indeed last year and the trees were wild so OH did some very serious cutting back in September so that we could walk past trees without losing an eye.
Does this mean we will get fruit this year? Maybe?

[Flummery]

Whoo, exciting eh? My two step-overs have flower buds on them but no actual flowers yet. I think it was May last year before they really opened.

[Rossa]

Put in my supercolumns a couple of weeks ago and already have blossom and leaves appearing on the Scrumptious apple, looks great with the contrast of green leaf & red/white blossom. Cherry looking good but not much happening with the pear or gage....here's hoping.

Most of the fruit bushes I put in are also showing signs of growth apart from the Tayberry (at least I think it is the Tayberry as they were from Aldi and the bare roots weren't labelled individually)

[littlemark]

Follow the advance of Springtime blossom up the country on the Fruit Forum.

Mark

[FB.]

Updated opening post to add more varieties that have come into flower. I have listed the dates on which flowering begins. "Full flowering" of apples is usually about 5days later, depending on weather.

Several more are due to flower in the next week or so and I will update.

It appears that several of mine will not flower at all this year. I happened to be at some private orchards in recent days and noticed that they were also lacking flowers on the same varieties.

I've never noticed such a "biennial" occurrence as this spring and I wonder if the last two poor summers have upset the trees.

It doesn't look as if the following will have many (if any!) flowers this year:

Bramley (M26)
Brownless Russet (M26 and M25)
Fiesta (MM106)
Howgate Wonder (MM106)
Rosemary Russet (M26)

It's also a little worrying that the weather has turned cool and damp. I haven't seen a bee for days and I am wondering whether poor pollination is going to be a problem. Today, I hand-pollinated some of my M26's, to be sure of at least some crop.
The wet weather from a week or two ago, combined with soft, young leaves, is allowing a slightly worrying build up of scab attacks at such an early stage in the season.

[FB.]

Not many varieties left to flower - and even the late varieties will be open within a few days.

[StephenH]

My probablt James Grieve is in full flower, and three of my four new apple trees, planted last autumn as one-year maidens on semi-dwarfing rootstocks, have a few blossoms about to open: they are Flower of Kent, Brownlees' Russet, and Egremont Russet. I don't intend to let any of the blossom develop into fruit, as they need to concentrate their energies into developing a root system for the first few years. The fourth, Cottenham seedling, does not have any blossom, though it does have a few leaves. In general, it is somewhat behind the others - it was by a noticable margin the smallest of the four when it arrived. Still, at least it's alive.
My Quince (Cydonia oblonga Ispahan) is putting out plenty of leaves, but no blossom.

[StephenH]

It appears that several of mine will not flower at all this year. I happened to be at some private orchards in recent days and noticed that they were also lacking flowers on the same varieties.

I've never noticed such a "biennial" occurrence as this spring and I wonder if the last two poor summers have upset the trees.

Dunno about that - my mature apple tree (probably 'James Grieve'), which has been a very marked biennial bearer for at least 30 years, bearing well in even-number years and little or nothing in the odd ones, has quite a lot of blossom on it at the moment, to my surprise and delight: I assume this is the result of the quite hard pruning I gave it during the winter, since that's supposed to help even out biennial bearing.
I moved here in 1978, and it's been a biennial bearer all that time. I have often wondered if it was sparked by the very hot summer of '76.

[Nicos]

My Boscoop apple tree is in about 60% flower...absolutely covered in blossom!!!!!
Fingers crossed it's a good year

[StephenH]

This seems to be a very good year for tree blossom generally, not just apples.

[FB.]

The Court Pendu Plat is almost at 10% blossom stage and will be, in the morning, so I shall let this thread fade away - perhaps until next year.

All my apples have flowered. Crawley Beauty is almost in full flower. The M25 and M26 D'Arcy Spice are just fading from full flower. Court Pendu Plat M26 is just coming into flower.

Pinova, Meridian, James Grieve and Grenadier seemed to flower over a long period, making them potentially useful as pollinators for several pollination groups, subject to incompatibility; with Merdian not being suitable for pollinating many of the Cox-family of apples.