two dozen baby Osage Orange trees

I threw my Osage oranges out in the garden last winter and now have a bout two dozen baby Osage Orange trees. I dug up the two biggest the other day. The tops were ten or twelve inches, the roots on each were longer than the tops! Already have spines on the stems. Any chance anybody here can use them?

I would love to have a few or 4 :)

ants

If you don't mind, I could use one.

HA! Great!! I thought y ou'd all laugh at me!
I figure I could stick them in small boxes or even mailingtubes? They are still dormant, the root could be bent for shipping and wrappe with a bit of moist something....Any body know my cheaper option for shipping? Would a large padded envelope be OK?

Hmm...not sure how to ship them other than tubes or triangular boxes?

If you have any left, I was going to get a couple anyway. They do have their place.
You say they came up from the fruit? Or did you scatter them? I'm interested. Mike

Mike- I had picked up a couple dozen fruits the fall before and used them for decor outside, WHen they got nasty I lined them up against the garden fence to rot in place. So I had a bunch of sprouts in spring. 'shrug'
I should be able to figure out my shipping toward the end of this week. Weather is getting nice!

Should I get tube/ box at the post office, or Office Depot? I am a total novice on shipping. They'll be very lightweight, it looks like it'll go to any zone for 4.90- I am hoping you folks don't mind covering the shipping and cost of a tube. box, or my using a large padded envelope. I'll have to play with one and see if it feels like it can be bent up to fit in the envelope OK.

Reading tips;. might use cereal boxes


This message was edited Mar 14, 2010 9:55 PM

I would go postal, and you may get by with a padded envelope. A wet paper towel would keep them OK through the shipping. I will be very happy to send you postage, up front if you like. Mike

Any way is fine by me. Let me know how much.

You guys are super--I mean I would gift you for a couple bucks but when I thought it was going to be five dollars each plus buying a special box I got cheap nervous
^_^ !
Later this week I'll try a large padded env and it looks like that would go first class for under two bucks. If so , fuggedaboutit

I showed my DH the osage pics in PlantFiles and he wanted to know how long it takes a tree to get that huge. I said I wasn't sure but quite awhile. How long WOULD it take?

I will gladly pay shipping :) If you go with the tube boxes, you can get the boxes for free from the P.O. Whichever way you want to do it is fine with me.

ants

kwanjin- I don't know. I got the fruit from trees that have been fruiting for at least forty years.
From Wiki-
"It is native to a deep and fertile soil but it has great powers of adaptation and is hardy over most of the contiguous United States, where it is extensively used as a hedge plant. It needs severe pruning to keep it in bounds and the shoots of a single year will grow 3–6 feet (0.91–1.8 m) long. A neglected hedge will soon become fruit-bearing. It is remarkably free from insect enemies and fungal diseases.[3] A thornless male cultivar of the species exists and is vegetatively reproduced for ornamental use.[4]" ( Now why would anybody want a thornless male cultivar of something that is pretty much just remarkable for its fruit and spines??)

ants thanks for the info! I'll check that out. They will weigh almost nothing.

Aha. I hadn't read about them being aggressive like that.

I didn't see anything like that, either. I would keep it in bounds by judicious pruning. Perhaps in a huge pot? We would take it with us when we move, so as not to leave a mess for the next owners.

Thanks for the info, Sally.

I expect that Osage Orange is more likely to "get away" in more humid and higher rainfall areas (like the eastern half of the US) rather than in more xeric climates like Utah.

It is a very drought tolerant species, so it would likely persist even if unlikely to reproduce. As you've read more about the plant, you've probably learned that it preceded the use of barb wire for livestock enclosures. A living fence, if you will. It is from this extensive use throughout agricultural regions that the legacy of escaped plants originates. Where it had made a very good fenceline/barrier when sheared regularly and kept low, it made a great tree line when it "outgrew" that intended use. And - along with that maturity - all the female individual trees were allowed to produce their abundant attractive arsenal of fruit.

There is a handsome row of Osage Orange in the park where my office is. I only dislike the copious amount of fruit produced on the relatively few female trees extant, and the penchant for those seedlings to take up residence in the adjoining nature preserve.

There is no doubt that this is a durable, tolerant, and long lived tree.

All good things to know. Thanks!

I haven't forgotten. I pulled them from dirt yesterday and soaked the roots awhile. They still look totally dormant. The padded envelope should work well, so I'll just send them gratis.
ants and mqiq, I'll need your addresses. kwanjin, got you covered.

I guess the only blessed limiting factor to the invasivenss here is that the seeds can only roll, not blow. One row I know of here rolls into maintained area and the other rolls into a stream so maybe they rot in the stream bed without sprouting there.

so, it's best to take off the 'DG hat ' when the post office guy asks--anything fragile, perishable, POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS......I had already taped a little paper patch over a spine that came through the bubble envelope.
Mike and 'Ants' go in the mail today,. kwanjin's left yesterday.

But, you thought he said, "Potential happiness"?

Woo hoo! I'll let you know when it gets here. ^_^

Hi, Sally. My tree got here today and it looks great! I have it sitting in water and will plant it in a couple of hours.

Neat-o! I think if you look closely there are two seperate trees I wanted to make sure you had a survivor.

I saw that. LOL I planted them both in pots.

Got my trees today! :) Thank you so much :) I tried to plant them in pots but didn't have any deep enough, so they are healed into the baby bed until I can figure out where I am putting them. Sent your postage & such through paypal.

Thanks again :)

ants

Yes, mine came early, in the mail.The postal person was earlier, and they are ready to plant. Thank you so very much. They will be planted this afternoon. Mike

Super! I have no complaints with the postal system on this, they went fast.