[Fred Fuller]

A while back on a thread about walking sticks, we were talking about blackthorn, AKA Prunus spinosa. I said I was looking for some way to grow it here in the SE US, and a couple of folks expressed an interest in finding out more about it as well.

It isn't as easy as one might think to lay hands on this stuff. I did finally find one nursery supplier that listed it as available (Byron Nursery, St. Charles, IL), but it's too late in the year this year to get any now that I found it. So, maybe next year I can get some rooted stock and see if it'll grow here.

As to seeds, they seem to be pretty iffy and can take a long time (up to 18 months) to germinate. If you can get seeds, that is.

So, come next spring, I'll try again...

Since I promised to pass along what I learned, here 'tis FWIW.

lpl

[bikerdoc]

Thanks,

Going into the woods today to look for some hornbeam, I think I am too close to the coast for it to be plentiful, but I am going to look.

[Deltaboy]

Get a Coldsteel on they are tough!

[Floppy_D]

What woods, bikerdoc? We're just about neighbors. :)

[bikerdoc]

What woods, bikerdoc? We're just about neighbors.


Down 17 along the edge of the great dismal swamp. and over by northwest woods, and the blackwater area.
Although most of my cane wood comes from local patches, off 64, battlefield to the carolina line, and the dead fall at the woods, behind woodstock park.
Still I chase the elusive hornbeam

[owen]

i'm thinking about planting an Osage Orange hedgerow along the long side of my property. It's not blackthorn, but it will apparently grow just about anywhere in the US, and is easy to propagate if you're looking for an alternative.

[Floppy_D]

Takin' it to PM.