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30-09-2004, 09:24 PM

(Iris Cohen) wrote in message ...
My apple tree is blooming in September. What's up with that?
Will I have apples in March?
I'm in Seattle...

A number of spring blooming shrubs and trees have bloomed sporadically this
fall. It is due to our unusually cool and rainy summer.
No, you won't have apples in March. The tree requires bees for pollination, &
they are probably not around now. Also, you need the long hot days of summer to
make fruit ripen. Just enjoy the extra flowers.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

The OP is in Seattle. Growing apples on the Pacific coast is quite a
bit different from growing them elsewhere. There are early-season
low-chill varieties (mainly descendants of Golden Delicious, many of
which are due to hybridizers in Israel) that are grown there but not
in traditional apple country. These are selected to bloom and set
fruit on little or zero chill and ripen even in cool, foggy summers.

It's not unusual for apples to rebloom at or near the coast, and not
unusual to get a decent second crop, especially in places that see no
frost or not enough to damage the fruit. Bees won't settle down for
the winter for a month or so, either, so there shouldn't be an issue
with pollination. If the OP's variety is an early-season bearer such
as 'Anna', it doesn't even need a long summer to ripen; a good "Indian
summer" may suffice.

--
Chris Green