Mornings are looking like this a lot these days, which we don’t mind. Once the fog lifts, the days are dry, warm and stunning. We feel lucky to work in such perfect conditions.

The dry weather allowed us to get a jump start on fall planting of Prunus avium, Prunus mahaleb and Prunus myrobalan seed at Black Jack Acres earlier this week. Read on to learn more about the characteristics of each of these seedlings.

Prunus avium (Mazzard Cherry) is a sweet cherry rootstock. This vigorous plant is more water tolerant than mahaleb, cold hardy, resists root-knot nematode and is moderately resistant to oak root fungus.

Prunus mahaleb (Mahaleb Cherry) is both a sweet and sour cherry rootstock. A smaller tree than mazzard, it is also more drought tolerant and cold hardy. It resists bacterial canker and is moderately resistant to crown gall and root-lesion nematode.

Finally, Prunus myrobalan, the standard size rootstock for ornamental and fruiting plums. It maintains a somewhat uniform tree size and is compatible with a wide range of cultivars. It makes a strong, well anchored tree that is adapted to a variety of soils, including heavy ones. It is resistant to root-knot nematode and is mildly resistant to crown gall.