G'day all,
I thought I would update you on what's happening in my backyard down under. We had warm winter and I didn't know if there would be much activity in my Gala and Granny Smith. The Anna and the Tropical Sweet failed to drop all their leaves but came alive with the onset of warmer weather and set enough fruit for me to have to thin. Both continue to flower.
The Gala and the Granny Smith slowly dropped most of their leaves over the winter months and had done nothing until late in the second month of spring when they started to push their buds and at this time I grafted on a number of other varieties that took. They have both now bloomed and it seems that the Gala is continuing to flower and set fruit while the GS seems to have finished. I guess that I'll have a rolling harvest. Both have set a heap of fruit and I expect to be thinning out before long.
Looking at what the trees have done in my backyard suggests that a warm climate can support some apple varieties that have a generally accepted higher chill requirement than the area can provide. Good news for people like me accepting conventional wisdom that you'll never grow apples here because it's just too hot!
Mick