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trialing & breeding Persea americana var. drymifolia (the Mexican avocado) in the lowlands around the Salish Sea - also other tweets sometimes 😏... (they/he)

Nov 18, 2022, 19 tweets

Well, twitter hasn't kicked the bucket yet, so I guess I'll be posting a big thread later today with updates on how much damage the outside trees had with a low of 25°F and over 12 hours below freezing last night. Unless twitter dies in the meantime.

Ok, looks like a mixed bag, but mostly just mild to moderate damage. A few took it harder. I'll start with the grafted trees, since it's expected grafts will be more vulnerable to freeze damage until the union has a few years of bark and callous protecting it

Aravaipa shows zero frost damage at 25°F after a week+ of milder frosts nearly every night

Northrop also shows zero damage, though you'll notice the branch from its "Purple Nebula" seedling rootstock (lower left) is damaged.

"Mayo" is less hardy, it had already shown damage at 29°F the previous night, and shows more significant damage after 25°, though still looks like only the leaves. Stems take longer to show damage, though.

"Poncho" shows no damage, though the leaf edges have started to bend up a little. Haven't seen any other cultivars do that in response to cold.

That's it for grafted trees outside this winter. Next up, the seedlings. For starters, the "Purple Nebula" seedling that is the rootstock for "Poncho". No meaningful damage, though some yellowing and drooping

The largest tree in 2021, which is also one of the largest this year, is this seedling of Royal-Wright. It shows pretty extensive leaf damage: browning, curling, drooping. A very vigorous grower, but it seems not among the hardiest (though hardier than some, as you'll see)

This seedling of Mexicola Grande seems to be the winner so far among seedlings. It is the only tree (period) that had tender new leaves from a fall flush that had those leaves survive. Its roots survived last winter, but not the top, but it's a lot bigger this time.

These two seedlings of Duke look pretty crispy on the new leaves at least

This Duke seedling is a bit less damaged, but still some. It was the most vigorous of the one year-old Duke seedlings

This one year-old Aravaipa seedling seems essentially undamaged, other than some very small flecks of cellular leaf damage

This Mexicola seedling is a bit more damaged, but not too bad

This seedling of Bacon already re-grew from the roots after last winter, but it's clearly not in the same league as those with hardier lineages

This seedling of Aravaipa shows some damage, but not too bad

This seedling of Royal-Wright (probably x Duke) survived slightly above ground level last winter, and had been growing a fall flush that turned crispy this year. Otherwise the leaves and stems look ok, though.

This first-year seedling of Royal-Wright looks to have taken it pretty badly. It was the most vigorous of the new batch of Royal-Wright seedlings.

I believe the only outdoor trees not featured in this thread are those planted on "Death Row" (either frost sensitive or growing poorly for other reasons), but it's possible I missed one or two in my walk. These two "GEM" seedlings will stand as representatives of the ill-fated

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