Flowering fruit trees

While trees, shrubs, fruit trees and bushes, and even vegetables see p.222) can be grown in containers, there is a special case for using herbaceous flowering plants to fill pots and tubs, especially if you live in the city. Wildlife often struggles to find a home, or even a "pit stop," in the urban jungle, and even the smallest courtyard filled with a diversity of flowers is of immense value. 

If gibberellins produced in seeds are the main cause of flower inhibition and hence of biennial bearing in fruit trees, we might expect to find differences in gibberellin production between strongly biennial and more regular cropping varieties. 

The parasites which cause plant diseases may be spread by wind, rain, insects, birds, snails, slugs, and earthworms, transplant soil, nursery grafts, vegetative propagation (especially in strawberries, potatoes, and many flowers and ornamentals), contaminated equipment and tools, infected seed stock, pollen, dust storms, irrigation water, and people. Figure 3.8 illustrates the effects of microbial infection of various fruit trees. 

Like other fruit trees, peach trees need a period of cold weather rest or dormancy. The number of hours of cold between 32° and 45°F each cultivar needs before it breaks dormancy is referred to as chill hours. (Cold below 32°F doesn t count toward meeting the dormancy requirement.) Once the number is reached, the tree assumes winter is over and starts growing the next warm day. Peaches bloom rapidly once their requirement has been met, which makes them more prone to frost damage than other fruit trees that are slower to burst into bloom. Call your local extension service to find out how many chill hours your area receives and what cultivars match that requirement. If you choose a cultivar that needs fewer chill hours than you normally receive, an unseasonable winter thaw in your area may bring the tree well into flower weeks before spring actually arrives. But if you choose one that needs more chill hours than your climate supplies, the tree won t get enough ehilling to stimulate normal bloom, v... 

How to Attract Plant pollen and nectar plants provide a water source in dry weather avoid spraying fruit trees when flowers are in bloom if you must apply insecticides, spray in evenings after bees return to hive. 

Control Spray fruit trees with dormant oil to kill overwintering eggs in garden or greenhouse rinse plants with water and mist daily to suppress reproduction of mites release predatory mites Metaseiulus occiden-talis on fruit trees, Phytoseiulus persimilis or similar species on vegetables, strawberries, and flowers spray insecticidal soap, pyrethrin, or neem as a last resort, spray infested plants with avermectins. 

Damage Adults and nymphs suck contents of plant cells from a variety of garden plants, flowers, fruits, and shade trees. Their feeding leaves silvery speckling or streaks on leaves severe infestations stunt plants and damage flowers and developing fruit some species spread tomato spotted wilt irus. 

Control Spray dormant oil on fruit trees encourage native predators, such as pirate bugs, lacewings, and lady beetles for onion or western flower thrips, release the predatory mite Amhlyseius cucumeris or minute pirate bugs (Oriiis tristicolor) hang blue or yellow sticky traps to catch adults spray insecticidal soap, pyrethrin, or neem as a last resort, dust undersides of leaves with diatomaceous earth. 

Cyanogenic (cyanide producing) plants of the Prunus species are flowering and fruit trees. Seeds and pits are commonly ingested inadvertently along with the edible fruit. 

The Prunus species includes a group of more than 400 trees and shrubs. They often find ornamental use because of their flowers, fruit, and nuts. 

A few fruit trees are self-pollinating—they can set fruit with their own pollen—but most need one or more other varieties of the same fruit tree, growing no further than 60 ft (18 m) distance away, to pollinate them. Wind and insects such as bees transfer the pollen from the flowers of one tree to another. Apple trees, for example, are listed in four different pollination groups (A-D) based on their flowering season. Varieties can be pollinated by others in the same pollination group, or in the group just before or after. 

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