The orchard….

I have been worried about it.  First of all, I know nothing about having one.  I am most definitely learning that one as I go.  And secondly, we pruned the fire out of a boatload of them last fall and I was worried that we put too much stress on them.

But nope.

Here's what I drove up to the other day when I went out to the farm.

Beautiful, huh?

Apple blossoms are just the happiest of all flowers.  Okay, second only to daisies which are my favorite.  But these delicate intricate flowers are so pretty.  And there are like a bazillion of them all over every tree.

I was reading up on the growing process of apple trees and what it tells me is that now is the most important time for the tree.  The time when the blossoms come out.  Oh sure, it's beautiful.  But the blossoms are what will determine whether or not you will have apples that year and how much.

So here's how it goes…depending on the weather the tree will usually blossom in the spring when there is a trend toward warmer weather.  That around here is in April.  However, this is Iowa and all you need to do is to wait a day and the weather will change dramatically.  And April is the worst.  One day you could have 75 degrees….the next 45.  Ugh!  A late frost will do in the blossoms overnight.

But the frost isn't the only thing you need to worry about.  You need some pollinators.  A.K.A. bees.  Lots and lots of them.  They provide the necessary mixing up the batch of apples….so to speak.  Without the pollination you might just have the prettiest apple orchard ever, but never get an actual apple to eat.  Trust me….that is not ideal.

So I'm praying for the best of both worlds…..warm weather to come and stay a while.  Oh and some bees….lots and lots of those little boogers.  Go little pollinators go!