It’s good to be back home and getting back to a normal schedule.  I spent a day and a half right after New Year’s at a clients property (a developing country Inn) in Kentucky.  It is going to be lovely.   One of the things that we are planning is an orchard to help supply the Inn with fresh local produce.   I am so excited and in researching, I wanted to share some sites that I found particularly helpful.

Aarons Nursery is full of interesting information…and a lot of amusingly strange pictures of sorta sexy people with plants and fruit…but ok.

From Aaron I learned about the pineapple quince…this cultivar can be grown in forty-eight states except for extreme southern areas of Florida, California, Arizona, and Texas.  Beautiful.

and also, I did not know that it is Merlot grapes you want to plant, if for no other reason but to visually fawn over their pretty blue color….

Edible Landscaping.com is also really great. I found these Saffron Crocus (that I can’t grow, but my clients can) – you can harvest the whole stigma, dry, and put in a salt shaker to sprinkle as you wish.

And finally, I discovered this Flying Dragon Trifoliate.  It is beautiful.  I am having good luck with a potted orange tree my children gave me for mothers day a couple years ago.  I bring it in to the sunporch for the winter.  I might have to try this out too as it looks like it will be happy in a container.  It only gets about 6′ so I am thinking this might be a good option for small scale northern properties with onsite greenhouses.