We just had a fruit tree seminar on January 28th, conducted by Tom Spellman from Dave Wilson Nursery. Tom spoke of 'Backyard Orchard Culture.' "The prolonged harvest of tree-ripe fruit from a small space. This means keeping the trees small by summer pruning."

This is a way of keeping your fruit trees to a manageable size (no more than 8' or whatever size is the most comfortable for you). You never have to get up onto a ladder to pick fruit or spray the tree. Another aspect of backyard orchard culture is planting multiple trees with similar rootstock into one hole. Pick fruit trees that will ripen at different times of the year so that instead of enjoying a fruit for just 2 weeks, you can enjoy for several months, if planned right.

For those who couldn't make it to our seminar, here is a good overview of the Backyard Orchard Culture concept. And, of course, we are always here to help with any questions you may have.

These cherries are reliable producers and don't require much maintenance once properly planted. Originally from Canada, these fruits are very sensitive to wet soil, so make sure you plant them in well-draining soil. The cherries are dark red, firm, very sweet, and highly crack-resistant. Lapins are self-fertile and also make an excellent pollinator. Get one while they last!

Want something unusual for your garden and table?

Try a pluot! A pluot is a hybrid fruit, developed by Zaiger's Genetics. The pluot was developed by first crossing a plum and an apricot, making a fruit that Zaiger calls a "plumcot," and then further crossing the plumcot with plums again. Additional crosses were also made to create different varieties, selecting for sugar content and other desirables.

Pluots have become popular enough that you can now find them in many grocery stores in the area but they are still unknown to many people.

Pluots are smooth-skinned, like a plum, but with a sweeter and stronger flavor. Different varieties have different percentages of plum and apricot, but all have more plum than apricot. The various varieties ripen between June and early October, have different 'chilling' needs, and different skin/flesh colors.

We carry 'Flavor King' and 'Flavor Grenade' as well as a 4-in-1 pluot for those of you who want variety without using up a lot of space. All are well-suited to our area.

If you would like to try something different and delicious in your garden, try a pluot!

Leucospermum (also known as ' Pincushion') is native to South Africa and is of the family Proteaceae. These shrubs prefer full sun and well-draining acid soil.

They make wonderful garden plants, also do well as container plants, and provide lovely cut flowers.

Warning - these plants are adapted to a soil low in phosphorus, and can suffer from phosphorus toxicity. Use cottonseed meal as fertilizer.

We have a couple of cultivars we particularly like:

Leucospermum 'Spider'

Pale pink-orange flowers in late spring to early summer. Flowers best in full sun. Excellent cut flower and hardy garden shrub. Good container plant.

Leucospermum 'Sunrise'
The earliest-flowering pincushion available, with medium red flowers. Flowers best in open sunny position. An exceptionally vigorous grower due to strong hybrid vigour; can tolerate slightly alkaline soils.

As their common name might indicate, Kangaroo Paws are Australian native plants. They are evergreen perennials with bright flowers from spring to fall. We have both dwarf and regular varieties. They prefer full sun and good drainage, with regular irrigation.

These plants, with their unusual flowers, make wonderful focal point specimens and are stunning when massed in banks. They make great cut flowers, and also do very well as container plants.