Hi,
I am a native of SE MA now living in NC. My husband and I are going to be moving back to the South Shore and I am trying to decide what plants/trees to take back with me when we move. If I remember correctly SE MA is zone 5 correct?
I would like to know if anyone grows any of the following in this zone and has success with it.
I have 2 fig trees that I really want to keep. Anyone have figs?
Apple trees, they are still young and about 4-5 ft tall so I would like to dig them up ball them and burlap them.
Those are the two important things.
Any tips are appreciated.
Thanks,
Susan
SE Massachusetts
MA is more like zone 6, right along the water is probably warmer (although maybe stormier) than inland. My mother had two red delicious apple trees - she never did anything for them or to them - I think they were my Dad's idea before he split! But apples are absolutely a local crop.
The figs I can't help you with. I live in Milton - look me up when you get here!
Fig trees, from what I've read, are not hardy below 10 degrees. I'm thinking you'll have to put them in big pots and drag them indoors every winter. Which is quite doable.
Maybe she could just make a microclimate close to her house, use twinkle lights, something like that. Susan, I think if 10* is the limit on your figs, it will depend a lot on exactly where your new home is situated. i saw someone in Scituate describe themselves as z. 7 - those numbers are so arbitrary. (Three BTW SCITUATE is about TWENTY MIN. SOUTH OF ME AND MY CAPS KEY IS STUCK!!!)
LOL Carrie!!
Take a deep breath and roll away from the computer...
I think I'm ok now...
Where's Susan?
AYankeeCat might know more - she's very into fruits and berries in her CT backyard. (Which is closer than Canada to Massachusetts, fyi...)
Hi Everyone, so nice to see so many friendly MA folks. I am a native of 42 years and left 9 years ago. Been living in NC and am so spoiled with the long growing season and being able to grow stuff that you might not be able to grow in MA. But I miss home and family.
Ok, I will be living in Whitman which is about 30 minutes from Scituate, about 30 minutes from Milton. I was raised in Braintree and always lived on the South Shore.
How in the world is Scituate zone 7! I am zone 7 now! I also cannot find any good extension sites or info for the area, what is up with that?
I want a planting calendar/chart. Frost dates etc.
I have to take my fig trees with me, I couldn't possibly live without them! I hope to have a greenhouse so I could keep them going in there. They do so well here. I am just now getting figs, it is that time of year and will be making fig cookies with them, if the ants don't get them first. :(
Hope to get to know you all and maybe meet when we finally make the move.
Thanks,
Susan
a friend of mine has a fig... up at the top of NJ... and it's a little colder where she is compared to where I am over the winter... the tree survives over the winter ... she coats it heavy in horse manure and wraps the tree with burlap to try and keep it warm.. it just doesn't perform all that well though... always looks kind of spindly .. I am going to find out if she wants me to try and keep a piece in my greenhouse this winter
Susan, I'm in Brockton, the next town over from Whitman. We are zone 6a. Average last frost date is May 17th and first is around Oct 18.
Apples are right at home here but some do better than others. What variety is yours? Some are more suited for a southern climate. My MacIntosh does fine.
I doubt the Fig would be happy up here unless it was potted. Ask about that on the Fruit tree forum.
Andy P
Hi Andy,
I use to live inBrockton for a brief time. Thanks for the tips, I knew Macs would like it. I have one Mac, one gala, one red delish and I think a rome. I am gonna bring them and see what happens. I am going to make lots of cuttings from my figs here and try it both ways when Iget there, I'll plant a couple and leave some in pots.
6a is pretty good. We are 7a here where I am. I am NE near the VA border so we get pretty cold here in Dec Jan and Feb but that about it. My hsband and I have a produce farm here so I also want tog row lots of veggies in MA since I grow 1 acre worth here.
Thanks for the info.
Susan
"lots of veggies" and "MA" don't really go together for me, unless you mean squash and kale ... but other people have totally different experiences so DO NOT go by mine. Plus this was the summer from Hades* for us.
*Not in the sense of hot.
This message was edited Sep 6, 2009 1:54 PM
I have a Chicago Hardy fig that I tossed outside last year and it died back almost to the ground but came back and has lots of little figs on it. It has become a shrub more than a tree because all I do is throw some straw over it. It is also in a corner between my house and porch on a southerly side of the house. We saw Chicago Hardy figs growing just fine outside at Logee's and I think they said they are zone 4! Lots of fig growers in Bridgeport and they wrap their trees with plastic in the winter and get more figs than I do and have "trees" instead of shrubs. (I am OK with a shrub/tree.) My aisan pear bore so heavy that two branches broke and the asian persimmon does well although it hasn't borne fruit yet. The medlar tree takes the weather beautifully as does the apricot and the saturn peach. (The saturn peach grew huge in 3 years but gets peach leaf blight - so no fruit - it might not be here next year.) Paws paws do OK although, again, mine are too young to bear fruit. Welcome back!
Carrie,
It has been a bad year here for us to. We had such a wet Spring that we lost all of our Spring crops except our beets. Then the Summer stuff didn't do all that well. We managed to get enough fo a harvest to provide for our CSA customers but thats about it. The Fall crops are looking good though, should get an abundance of those.
Susan, I have some 18 month old grape cuttings ready to go this fall or spring (must go). Red, seedless Reliance, very sweet. I always have stuff to pass on, keep me in mind.
Andy P
WOW Andy! Thank you! My sister lives in Whitman and we will be living on some property that she has in Whitman, but may not be moving for 1-2 more years. If you send me planting growing instructions I am sure I can plant them at her house in the Spring. I would take as many as you want to give. I have a great asparagus crop and have a greenhouse here at my home in NC, I take seeds from my 2 female crowns and germinate them in my greenhouse. I have great success and they are Jersey Giants, if you would like some crowns next year they will be babies but they produce in their 3rd year. Would love to trade.
I also have 513 blueberry bushes, 5 years old this year that I will either bring with us to MA or sell before I move. I am hoping to be able to plant stuff on my prperty in Whitman or lease some land to farm up there.
Thank you so much for the offer of the grapes, would love some.
Take Care,
Susan
send me a d-mail so I have your address to mail you later.
Really? Grape vines are not easy to find homes for, lol. I have at least 6 left. They really have to go, I started a dozen on a whim to see if I could. They are headed for the compost next spring, no room.
You can get details about Reliance @ http://www.millernurseries.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=451 where I got mama. Cultivating is easy if you have the space and they are easier than most other fruit.
I have never tasted a better grape, wonderful.
My nectarine tree has problems, no edible fruit in 4 years. There may be room for a couple blueberries next spring.
I don't need a trade, the grapes are free.
NOOOOOOOOO!!! No Compost! I will take all 6. We will plan when they should be planted and I will make sure I am there to pick up, you don't even have to ship them. Oh please save them for me, I am very serious and want them baaaad! I tried some grapes here and they all died on me, but there are a lot of enemies here in NC to grapes. Diseases, insects, diseases....... I gave up on grapes a long time ago. Don & I grow an acre + of veggies and have the blueberries. We also started shitake mushrooms this year and just got our first 3 mushrooms today, it was very exciting!
Thank you so much for the grapes, put my name on them.
Susan
They are yours as long as you take them by early May. No kiding, I compost too much extra stuff. I picked up 6 forsithia bushes today alone, dahlias get dumped yearly.
What, you dump your dahlias? Are you a Nut or something? Now I know where to come each Spring for DISCOUNT plants! LOL
I promise I will come up in April for the grapes. Can I plant them then or will there still be a chance of frost? What a Blessing meeting you on here, we are going to be great buddies. I just pulled all my asparagus seeds this morning off the plants and moved them to the greenhouse. I will be potting them up in December and should have crowns by March. I love starting new seeds and expanding my crops. Can't grow too much gus for me!
Let me know what else you get the urge to "dump" I may rescue it first.
Thanks again,
Susan
Well .... in Milton I have an entire yard full of yarrow (pink and white, undetermined or mixed ancestry) that I wish weren't there. It's not edible and not really tidy enough for Andy, ha ha. (Or me.) I was hoping to get DH to go to work on it this summer but I don't think that will happen. I have two more weeks or so of summer, right?
Oh Heck Carrie, if I know MA the past few years, you could be working in the yard till mid November. Seems to have been very mild up there the last couple of years. It will be hard for me to get back into the short growing seasons up there. I am out in the gardens here until December and back in them March 1st. Four years ago I harvested broccoli that was still growing huge on Christmas Eve, for Christmas day dinner.
I just meant the TECHNICAL summer -- over pretty soon.
Over now...we were *this close* to a frost last night :(
Ha ha - we weren't - it was nippy but not frost danger.
Susan, the grapes will move perfectly in April while still dormant. Want some strawberry plants at the same time?
I've been dumping extra plants for years. There is only so much room and so many people to give them to.
Andy P
Sure, would love strawberry plants too. You are a Blessing! Thank you so much!
I will plan a week of planting in April.
Susan
Andy, would the strawberries work in a container? Not a strawberry pot, just a pot!
You would need a BIG pot for these. Don't expect any fruit the first season.
Carrie, a raised bed would be better.
I just don't have the space or, come to think of it, enough sun. Thanks anyway.