Two loquat trees are alive and well
and living in Shreveport, Louisiana.
But, so far as I've been able to
determine, these two may be the
only ones.

Loquats don't shed their big tropical-
looking leaves in winter, so they have
been a welcome sight in my back yard
during the past three (mild) winters,
as well as summers. By December of
each year, the only green trees that
don't look naked are magnolias, live
oaks and conifers.

The key word in the above paragraph
is in parentheses: mild. Unfortunately
North Louisiana is occasionally visited
by BOTH some high temperatures and
low temperatures that can be fatal to
some otherwise happy tree friendships.
So, if your locality has a climate like
that, the best advice is NEVER to fall in
love with a stock market equity, or a
tree that likes to visit but won't stick
around through good times and bad.
This is a hint to the wise from someone
who does not practice what he preaches.

The two loquats were given to me, as
little five to ten inch potted sets, by Dr.
Comeau of Lafayette. Down there some
are flourishing. As far as that goes,
kumquats (no relation) survive well that
close to the Gulf of Mexico, too. And
once I picked and ate over two bushels of
grapefruit off a single tree in a single
summer, before that tree froze to death
the following January. Someone told me
if I had soaked the ground beneath it with
water before the cold front came through
the tree would have survived. Plantains
grow down there, too (some call them
"cooking" bananas).

In Texas City, Texas I visited an electrician
who had an avocado tree in a wind-sheltered
corner of his house, which was L-shaped,
and caught the morning sun. It was higher
than his house and bearing every year. My
own record, however, is about four-feet
tall and never an avocado.

But, back to loquats. This year will be the
first year any fruit set on it; and at least three
out of four of the fruit buds fell off during
a late freeze. The fruit from loquats is
DELICIOUS; and about twenty of the buds
are about a half inch in diameter now, and
growing.

I know... I know... message too long.

Okay, then. Here is a link where you can
read about the history of the loquat. I'm not
sure, but THINK the two in my yard might
be what is called a "great loquat," which
has been cultivated to produce larger-size
fruit than the first trees that were brought to
California.

(People who live along the west coast of
California have zero right to brag about
anything growing well out there. Some
in-laws at Laguna Beach use herbicides
just to kill back all the things that spring
up around their garbage rack. If I lived
out there you wouldn't be able to see my
house for all the stuff I would want to
grow -- local ordinances and neighbors
permitting, of course.)

Anyhow -- here's a link with lots of
interesting stuff about the loquat tree:

http://meme.essortment.com/loquat_rjrg.htm

And if you'd like to try them out, here's where
you can order:

http://www.gemworld.com/LoquatTrees.ASP


Gil

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 14:09:53 -0500, g wrote:

Anyhow -- here's a link with lots of
interesting stuff about the loquat tree:
http://meme.essortment.com/loquat_rjrg.htm
And if you'd like to try them out, here's where
you can order:
http://www.gemworld.com/LoquatTrees.ASP

Another interesting read! Thanks! On this page:

http://www.tytyga.com/loquat/loquatpg8.htm

they offer "cold hardy" Locquats. I wonder if I will be able to grow one
here in Austin?

--
//ceed

"ceed"
ceed@abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqr stuvwxyzabcdefghijk.com
wrote in message news
On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 14:09:53 -0500, g wrote:

Anyhow -- here's a link with lots of
interesting stuff about the loquat tree:
http://meme.essortment.com/loquat_rjrg.htm
And if you'd like to try them out, here's where
you can order:
http://www.gemworld.com/LoquatTrees.ASP

Another interesting read! Thanks! On this page:

http://www.tytyga.com/loquat/loquatpg8.htm

they offer "cold hardy" Locquats. I wonder if I will be able to grow one
here in Austin?

Oh yeah........ I have a full-grown loquat that blesses me with tons of
fruit that are barely worth the effort to eat. Then, they drop on the ground
and I'm blessed with swarms of flies for a couple of weeks. Then in the
Spring, there's a thick forest of babies to yank out of everything.
It's thick with fruit right now. I've come to wish for a blossom killing
freeze every Winter, but I'm not bitter...........

And now we know... the REST of the story...

I've been laughing for five minutes.

My parents had a pear tree in their back yard that produced so many pears I
would go over once a year and cut
notches in the ends of boards to prop up the limbs to keep them from being
torn off by the shear weight of all those
pears.

I never found out what kind of pear they were, but they were not Bartletts.
They would ripen and taste at least as
good as any pear I've ever eaten, but they had a shelf life of about one to
two weeks, unless you picked them while still hard and green and small -- in
which case they did not get as sweet and had a shelf life of about three
weeks.

Squirrels would start cutting them off as soon as they were golf ball size;
but there were so many pears the early cuts were not missed. Then, as the
pears neared full size, we were grateful for the assistance from the
squirrels, because we picked up the undamaged ones and supplied all the
neighbors with as many as they wanted, and I would eat about
five a day.

The pears that were on the ground had to be picked up and raked up almost
daily. Otherwise they would sour on the
ground and begin to smell like a brewery and then like... well sour, rotten
pears. Flies would come from everywhere and wasps by the hundreds. The
wasps were not aggressive when away from their nests, but neighbors and
guests
were hard to convince of that, and tended to fear them and gripe.

I tried making pear preserves from the green ones, but ended up with
something more like apple sauce. Those pears
would lose all their firmness and, for some reason, no amount of Certo I put
in them would result in a good jell that would have allowed me to call what
was in those jars jam or jelly.

Talk about a love-hate relationship. The neighbors loved Mom and Dad, but
they HATED that pear tree... even though they liked the pears when they ate
them.

One year a horrific wind storm came and blew off nearly all the pear from
the tree when they were about 3/4 full size, and still firm, so I hired some
neighborhood kids to gather them in plastic grocery bags and take them door
to door and give them to whoever would accept a bag.

After that, when I would be taking a walk through the neighborhood, I would
hear people talking about "the pear man." I didn't tell them the pear man
was me.

Every year Dad would talk to me about maybe wanting to cut that old pear
tree down. And every year he lived (into his nineties) we decided, "Let's
wait 'til after the pears are over with."

After the pears were 'over with,' that old pear tree shaded half the back
yard and the neighbor's patio, so then it was
"Let's wait until winter." In winter it was "too chilly." Then would come
spring and "Let's wait 'til after the pears are over with."


g





"cat daddy" wrote in message
...

"ceed"
ceed@abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqr stuvwxyzabcdefghijk.com
wrote in message news
On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 14:09:53 -0500, g wrote:

Anyhow -- here's a link with lots of
interesting stuff about the loquat tree:
http://meme.essortment.com/loquat_rjrg.htm
And if you'd like to try them out, here's where
you can order:
http://www.gemworld.com/LoquatTrees.ASP

Another interesting read! Thanks! On this page:

http://www.tytyga.com/loquat/loquatpg8.htm

they offer "cold hardy" Locquats. I wonder if I will be able to grow one
here in Austin?

Oh yeah........ I have a full-grown loquat that blesses me with tons of
fruit that are barely worth the effort to eat. Then, they drop on the
ground
and I'm blessed with swarms of flies for a couple of weeks. Then in the
Spring, there's a thick forest of babies to yank out of everything.
It's thick with fruit right now. I've come to wish for a blossom killing
freeze every Winter, but I'm not bitter...........

That's a great story, and I completely understand your Dad. When the
flies come, I eye the chainsaw with bad thoughts........... It also shades
the front garden from the west, and I did accommodate it when I roofed the
deck and framed around its branches. But that just means rotten fruit on the
clear Lexan panels and the squirrels don't put a dent in its production.
Love/hate you say? Yeah, I got it...

"g" wrote in message
ink.net...
And now we know... the REST of the story...

I've been laughing for five minutes.

My parents had a pear tree in their back yard that produced so many pears
I
would go over once a year and cut
notches in the ends of boards to prop up the limbs to keep them from being
torn off by the shear weight of all those
pears.

I never found out what kind of pear they were, but they were not
Bartletts.
They would ripen and taste at least as
good as any pear I've ever eaten, but they had a shelf life of about one
to
two weeks, unless you picked them while still hard and green and small --
in
which case they did not get as sweet and had a shelf life of about three
weeks.

Squirrels would start cutting them off as soon as they were golf ball
size;
but there were so many pears the early cuts were not missed. Then, as the
pears neared full size, we were grateful for the assistance from the
squirrels, because we picked up the undamaged ones and supplied all the
neighbors with as many as they wanted, and I would eat about
five a day.

The pears that were on the ground had to be picked up and raked up almost
daily. Otherwise they would sour on the
ground and begin to smell like a brewery and then like... well sour,
rotten
pears. Flies would come from everywhere and wasps by the hundreds. The
wasps were not aggressive when away from their nests, but neighbors and
guests
were hard to convince of that, and tended to fear them and gripe.

I tried making pear preserves from the green ones, but ended up with
something more like apple sauce. Those pears
would lose all their firmness and, for some reason, no amount of Certo I
put
in them would result in a good jell that would have allowed me to call
what
was in those jars jam or jelly.

Talk about a love-hate relationship. The neighbors loved Mom and Dad, but
they HATED that pear tree... even though they liked the pears when they
ate
them.

One year a horrific wind storm came and blew off nearly all the pear from
the tree when they were about 3/4 full size, and still firm, so I hired
some
neighborhood kids to gather them in plastic grocery bags and take them
door
to door and give them to whoever would accept a bag.

After that, when I would be taking a walk through the neighborhood, I
would
hear people talking about "the pear man." I didn't tell them the pear man
was me.

Every year Dad would talk to me about maybe wanting to cut that old pear
tree down. And every year he lived (into his nineties) we decided, "Let's
wait 'til after the pears are over with."

After the pears were 'over with,' that old pear tree shaded half the back
yard and the neighbor's patio, so then it was
"Let's wait until winter." In winter it was "too chilly." Then would
come
spring and "Let's wait 'til after the pears are over with."


"cat daddy" wrote in message
...


ceed@abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqr stuvwxyzabcdefghijk.com
wrote in message news

snip
they offer "cold hardy" Locquats. I wonder if I will be able to grow
one
here in Austin?

Oh yeah........ I have a full-grown loquat that blesses me with tons
of
fruit that are barely worth the effort to eat. Then, they drop on the
ground
and I'm blessed with swarms of flies for a couple of weeks. Then in the
Spring, there's a thick forest of babies to yank out of everything.
It's thick with fruit right now. I've come to wish for a blossom
killing
freeze every Winter, but I'm not bitter...........

cat daddy wrote:
That's a great story, and I completely understand your Dad. When the
flies come, I eye the chainsaw with bad thoughts........... It also
shades the front garden from the west, and I did accommodate it when
I roofed the deck and framed around its branches. But that just means
rotten fruit on the clear Lexan panels and the squirrels don't put a
dent in its production. Love/hate you say? Yeah, I got it...

Hmmm....I'm thinking about uprooting that baby that's coming up next to the
house. I don't even know where it came from, but there's one coming up
about two feet from the house in the back yard. Is that too close for this
size of tree? It's not in front of a window or anything, just back toward
the corner in an empty spot.

Cindy

"Cindy" wrote in message
...
cat daddy wrote:
That's a great story, and I completely understand your Dad. When the
flies come, I eye the chainsaw with bad thoughts........... It also
shades the front garden from the west, and I did accommodate it when
I roofed the deck and framed around its branches. But that just means
rotten fruit on the clear Lexan panels and the squirrels don't put a
dent in its production. Love/hate you say? Yeah, I got it...

Hmmm....I'm thinking about uprooting that baby that's coming up next to
the
house. I don't even know where it came from, but there's one coming up
about two feet from the house in the back yard. Is that too close for
this
size of tree? It's not in front of a window or anything, just back toward
the corner in an empty spot.

I would say it's too close. It grows 15-20 tall. I don't think the tree
would mind and it tolerates pruning well, so you just have to consider the
fruit thumping on the roof and shaping it to grow away from the house. Can
you transplant it further out?

Cindy,

I spent three days last week cutting down a beech tree that was damaging a
friend's house. (He has severe arthritis, and couldn't do it himself.)

Due to its being against his house, I had to begin at the top and work down,
using a limb saw to cut higher than I could clime. Lowest bid he had from a
tree service was well over $ 1,000. I'm not going to do the carpentry
repairs, which also probably will run close to a thousand. Ten years ago
that tree could have been cut down easily.

Trees with decks built around them are pretty, but expensive to maintain,
and expensive to remove if they die.

I'm an incurable tree hugger, but cannot imagine ANY scenario in which a
tree should be allowed to grow too close to a house, like that. Shade trees
don't have to be so close they put tons of wood (limbs) directly over a
rooftop.

Twenty years ago, we planted some "cute" little pines in our back yard at a
distance that seemed well away from the
house (about 30')and a considerable distance apart -- about 15'. Now they
are over six feet in circumference and about seventy feet tall, and they are
crowding one another -- so guess where the ones nearest the house find
plenty of sunshine to put their largest limbs out farthest. And, while
you're guessing that, guess which way the ones
nearest the house are LEANING? Yep, same direction as their biggest,
heaviest limbs are.

If the "baby" you are talking about is a loquat, loquats spread out and do
not put out large limbs like some trees do.
The ad I sent copy of last week states they grow to about 15'. There is
one in the backyard of a friend of mine in
Lafayette (not Barry, whom I've mentioned several times, but a retired head
of the Communications Dept. at USL. His is at least 25' tall and thirty
feet wide. But it's in a good place, at the very BACK of his back yard.

No matter what kind of tree the "baby" is, if it were near my house, I would
not let it remain.

Near fences and in vicinity of sewer lines are additional places where trees
can cause lots of problems and lots of
expense.

Trees need to be planned as to placement, growth characteristics, root
characteristics (nothing will stop up a sewer
faster than a weeping willow), wind characteristics (almost all storm-grade
winds in our area are from northwest to
southeast, so I am not too eager to have any kind of tree that grows large
and heavy on that side of the house.

Did you know some apple trees never get large, while others can spread out
seventy feet or more?

These are just well-intended thoughts on the subject. Not trying to say how
anybody else should plan his/her trees.


g



"Cindy" wrote in message
...
cat daddy wrote:
That's a great story, and I completely understand your Dad. When the
flies come, I eye the chainsaw with bad thoughts........... It also
shades the front garden from the west, and I did accommodate it when
I roofed the deck and framed around its branches. But that just means
rotten fruit on the clear Lexan panels and the squirrels don't put a
dent in its production. Love/hate you say? Yeah, I got it...

Hmmm....I'm thinking about uprooting that baby that's coming up next to
the house. I don't even know where it came from, but there's one coming
up about two feet from the house in the back yard. Is that too close for
this size of tree? It's not in front of a window or anything, just back
toward the corner in an empty spot.

Cindy

Hmmm....I'm thinking about uprooting that baby that's coming up next
to the house. I don't even know where it came from, but there's one
coming up about two feet from the house in the back yard. Is that
too close for this size of tree? It's not in front of a window or
anything, just back toward the corner in an empty spot.

I would say it's too close. It grows 15-20 tall. I don't think the
tree would mind and it tolerates pruning well, so you just have to
consider the fruit thumping on the roof and shaping it to grow away
from the house. Can you transplant it further out?

Yes. It just seemed like it must be meant to be there, since I haven't seen
a loquat anywhere nearby.

Cindy

in article , Cindy at
wrote on 4/17/05 2:51 PM:


Hmmm....I'm thinking about uprooting that baby that's coming up next
to the house. I don't even know where it came from, but there's one
coming up about two feet from the house in the back yard. Is that
too close for this size of tree? It's not in front of a window or
anything, just back toward the corner in an empty spot.

I would say it's too close. It grows 15-20 tall. I don't think the
tree would mind and it tolerates pruning well, so you just have to
consider the fruit thumping on the roof and shaping it to grow away
from the house. Can you transplant it further out?

Yes. It just seemed like it must be meant to be there, since I haven't seen
a loquat anywhere nearby.

Cindy



There two huge trees full of loquats off 2244/Cuernavaca/and Timber Ridge
Pass corner of Timber Ridge Cove. The house up the hill a bit with the
loquats and along with them is a peach tree just below on the right of way
with RIPE peaches!! Whoaa... I couldn't believe it! It's not even May!

And juicy too...!! LOL I just wonder what early variety it is?

Cindy,

Obviously loquat trees are more common than I had mistakenly believed.

Also, please see today's message from me under the TOMatoes string !

g
"Libralove" wrote in message
...
in article , Cindy at
wrote on 4/17/05 2:51 PM:


Hmmm....I'm thinking about uprooting that baby that's coming up next
to the house. I don't even know where it came from, but there's one
coming up about two feet from the house in the back yard. Is that
too close for this size of tree? It's not in front of a window or
anything, just back toward the corner in an empty spot.

I would say it's too close. It grows 15-20 tall. I don't think the
tree would mind and it tolerates pruning well, so you just have to
consider the fruit thumping on the roof and shaping it to grow away
from the house. Can you transplant it further out?

Yes. It just seemed like it must be meant to be there, since I haven't
seen
a loquat anywhere nearby.

Cindy



There two huge trees full of loquats off 2244/Cuernavaca/and Timber Ridge
Pass corner of Timber Ridge Cove. The house up the hill a bit with the
loquats and along with them is a peach tree just below on the right of way
with RIPE peaches!! Whoaa... I couldn't believe it! It's not even May!

And juicy too...!! LOL I just wonder what early variety it is?