ANOTHER VISIT TO THE WHITEHORSE GARDENS

 

At the end of June, I made a very quick visit to the Whitehorse Botanical Garden. I did not have an opportunity to visit with the owners, but made some quick notes between drenching cloudbursts on the status of the fruit crops growing in their raised beds. The plants were poorly labeled, so I’m not sure the spelling and I.D. is correct for all the cultivars, and there were no planting dates on anything. In translating my watersoaked notes, there were three crabs that seemed to have survived with little winter injury: ‘Dolgo’, ‘Rescue’ and ‘Norcue’. The following showed, top dieback: ‘Kerr’, ‘Parkland’, ‘Minnesota’, ‘Noran’, ‘Noret’, ‘Norda’, and ‘Norson’. A tree labeled ‘Boughen Delight’ was dead.

 

‘Peborusk’ and ‘Peter’ pear were doing well as were the ‘following plums: ‘Bounty’, ‘Northern’, ‘Dandy’, ‘Brookred’ and ‘Pembina’. The following plants had top dieback: ‘Brookgold’ plum, ‘Ptitsin #5’ plum, Japanese plum, and hazelnut.

 

‘The entire top of ‘Killarney’ raspberry was dead, and I observed lots of top dieback on ‘Boyne’ and ‘Festival’ raspberry.

 

Other fruits growing in the gardens that seemed to be doing well were pin cherry, native saskatoon, golden chokecherry, ‘Shubert’ chokecherry, mongolian cherry, and ‘Manor’ cherry. The manchurian apricot showed top dieback.

—P. Holloway