fruit trees sprayed with dormant oil

Today I sprayed my apple (dwarf Fugi) and two pear trees (a Keiffer and a Bartlett) with a dormant oil spray. I also gave one of my grapes (a Cabernet Sauvignon) a spray too. The buds are nicely swollen and I am pleased to see that there are a few flowers buds ready to pop on the pears this year - finally. (I have been pruning them wrong and removing the buds for 2 years.) It was a warm sunny day - up to about 50*F, and bugs just starting to get active. I think this is the perfect timing for the oil spray. I diluted it to 4 Tbs in a 1 qt spray bottle, then soaked all the branches well.

grapes

These are grapes growing over our patio on a big arbor in the back yard. A red variety whose name I have forgotten. They're not good eating grapes, to me anyway - probably a jam or wine variety, but birds and animals love them. Squirrels and cardinals are most often in the vines.

Last evening as we relaxed on the patio, a fluffy black critter with a lovely white stripe down the center of his back ambled up within 5 feet of us - I think to sample fallen grapes. Fortunately he didn't consider Skippy a serious threat. Skippy jumped up and ran after him, both of them disappearing into the dark corner of the yard. Fortunately, when Skippy came back to us, he was still smelling pretty. Lucky us! I think I almost spent the evening washing skunk spray off Skippy.

new grape arbor - and my lemon tree

I forgot to post this photo last weekend after my husband made this new arbor for my grapes. The vines were all over the place. I pulled them together and put them on their new arbor. Much more orderly looking.

Add my little Meyer's lemon tree is also in this photo. I will have to get a close up picture of the lemons growing on it. Earlier this year, someone told me that lemons need a lot of nitrogen. So I fertilized it well and added fresh soil. I've never had so many fruits before. I counted 33 last week. And it is still blooming its wonderful smelling blossoms and setting more fruit.

grape arbor

My grape vines have lots of fruit now. Unfortunately, I don't prune these, so we don't get edible grapes. I think, because too many clusters form, none of them fully ripen before falling off. (Does this make sense?)

I don't tend them because don't like the taste of them. The variety is Catawba.

However, the birds love them, especially the cardinals. And the vines make a nice shaded area above the grill on my patio.

From Johnson Nursery:
The Catawba grape dates back to the early 1800's being found along the Catawba River in NC. The red grapes have a crisp flesh that is very sweet, and juicy. Great for fresh eating, juice and a pretty pink wine. The vine is vigorous and productive. Zones 5-8

From Wikipedia:
Catawba grapes were introduced to wine-growers in the 1800s by Major John Adlum of Georgetown, D.C.. Grown predominantly on the East Coast of the United States, this purplish-red grape has a rather sweet flavor. It is typically in season from September to November and can be used in wines, juice, jams and jellies. Although usually classified as Vitis labrusca, Catawba is widely believed to have at least some Vitis vinifera in its background. The grape can have a pronounced musky or "foxy" flavor, which some aficionados consider inferior to the flavor of V. vinifera, though others find it distinctive and pleasant.