I ordered some of my fruit trees today

[WhiteTara]

I am so excited. I decided after much debate to get dwarf root stock.
My apple trees are Blue Pearmain http://adamapples.blogspot.com/2008/10/blue-pearmain.html This is such a beautiful apple!http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DjaPr2zU2_c/SPam05BhATI/AAAAAAAAAHk/I7ooulo9fag/s320/Blue+Pearmain.jpg

and a Calville de Blanc http://www.treesofantiquity.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=30


Brown Turkey Fig http://greenspade.com/brown-turkey-fig-ficus-carica-brown-turkey


French Petit Plum http://michiganbulb.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_83566_A_French+Petite+Plum_E_


I ordered these from Greenmantle in northern CA. I went there originally for the roses. There are some roses in their garden that are so beautiful you can almost smell them through the screen.

They'll be here in April and I'll plant them in the fall after 2 seasons in a big pot.

Spring fever has been most intense in my heart!

[Denninmi]

1. Nice.

The only one of those varieties I have any personal experience with is the Brown Turkey fig. I had the best fig crop ever last summer, because it was kind of warm and sticky from about early June onward, and they really liked the warm nights, hardly ever fell below about 70 most nighs.

Those all look like good choices.

[WhiteTara]

2. Thanks. I wanted fruit that was not

treated and sprayed and would have to be treated and sprayed. The dwarf root stock will keep me from having to prune and will give fruit much sooner. I was planning on the semi dwarf when he told me that this root stock was from the Northern Spy which can take as much as 12 years to fruit! Yikes no to that! Dwarf is much sooner. A couple of years at the most for a few fruits here and there.

[Denninmi]

3. I've got all sizes from standards to mini-dwarfs.

Really, I like most of the dwarfs the best -- a good size, yielding enough but not too many. The only real drawback I've found is some of them aren't anchored too well in the ground, due to the limited root system. I've never had any of them actually pull up during a storm, but I have had some of them wobble around kind of like a loose tooth when the soil was very wet, or partially blow over during winds. So, I'd suggest you stake dwarf trees really well just in case of storms.

[WhiteTara]

4. so that's what he meant when he said these needed

to be staked. Thanks. I can do that. We do indeed have storms.

[Denninmi]

5. Use a sturdy, permanent stake.

And some kind of ties that have enough padding and give that they won't strangle the tree or cut into the bark as it grows.

IF I had to do it over again, on some of mine, I think I would use something like a heavy duty galvanized pipe as the stake, and set it in cement prior to planting the tree. I know it will rot eventually, but in 30 years I won't care.

[WhiteTara]

6. I saw in my mind a cemented hook or "staple"

set in the cement. Would that work?