Re: Apple rootstocks or Crabapples

> You see, I need the vigor to compensate for the deer damage that we get
> here. Own root (ie. rootstock) would ensure that it comes back true when it
> is nibbled down. We have 66 acres of ex-timberland and I was planning on
> these for the edges of the woods. Any sources on the bloom characteristics
> of Apple and Crabapple rootstocks? Obviously, seedlings are unpredictable,
> but I thought most Apple rootstocks such as the MM series were asexually
> propagated, ie. by "stooling"

Ahhh.  If you can dig up that copy of "Flowering Crabapples" by Fr.
John Fiala it would probably answer most of your questions about 
understock characteristics.  I don't know of any online resources,
unfortunately.  

We're pushing the boundaries of my knowledge about Malus propagation,
too...  I know that a great deal of the understocks were traditionally
seedlings, but now more emphasis is being placed on pest and disease 
resistance rather than ease of propagation.  So yes, a great deal
are now propagated through micropropagation, layering, grafting, stooling, 
cuttings, etc.  But it all depends on the type of understock, I 
suppose...

> "Great fragrance" is highly desireable to me. How do you think it would do
> in our very long hot, dry but very humid summers? This year we have only
> had two rains since May.

I don't know how vigorous Malus ioensis is, but as a native crab,
it would probably fare pretty well.  To quote "Plants of the Chicago 
Region" by Swink & Wilhelm:

   "Common along woodland edges and in abandoned pastures, consistently
   associating with various species of Crataegus, particularly Crataegus
   coccinea, Crataegus mollis, and Crataegus punctata, with other pasture
   associates such as Asclepias syriaca, Bromus inermis, Cirsium arvense,
   Cornus racemosa, Erigeron annuus, Poa pratensis, Prunus americana,
   Prunus serotina, and Rhamnus cathartica.  One of the common sights in
   the Chicago area is to see this species growing with hawthorns in
   great abundance in pasture areas and other disturbed sites; at the 
   time of flowering the crabs are pinkish and the hawthorns white-
   flowered..."

So if you can grow some of these other species...

Chris

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