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Large flowers on edible tree zone 6?

Pearl Sutton

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My mom has been seeing the tulip trees and magnolias around here that are SO pretty with their huge flowers. I'm trying to keep almost everything we put on our property edible, so we don't have to keep track of what is not edible. Are there trees with huge pretty flowers that put out food? Basic fruit trees are on our list already, hibiscus are invasive here, we are putting in a LOT of regular flowers, mom just likes the idea of the big flowered trees. Any suggestions I can look up? Zone 6.
Thanks for ideas!

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Chris Kott

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I would suggest that you keep the tulip trees. If they don't feed you, they'll feed the pollinators.

If their shade is a problem, I suggest mulberry and hazel, which are both food-bearing understory trees that love shade. Mulberry also flower for about three months of the year, at least where we are, and most birds that are fruit tree pests prefer mulberries over any other. I remember my grandmother's front yard, complete with two mulberry trees and an apple tree. The apples were usually completely untouched, but we were never able to get any of the mulberries; the birds swarmed the trees and used them as shelter.

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James Landreth

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I think little leaf linden will work, as well as Empress Tree and yellowhorn nut tree. You can get these from burnt ridge if they aren't sold out

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Pearl Sutton

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Chris Kott wrote:I would suggest that you keep the tulip trees. If they don't feed you, they'll feed the pollinators.

It's not "keep" it's "what to plant" there are none there yet, mom just likes the huge flowered trees in town. Coming from the desert, they are overwhelming, we aren't used to that!! I like edibles. Pollination etc is assumed, and I'm putting in a LOT of pollinator attractors. But I'm trying to keep them edible. The idea of having to keep track of what can and can't be eaten sound like a mess. I know which are edible, but anyone else wouldn't have a clue. Long range planning thing.

Fruit and such are on the list, and mulberries are already there. Just wondering if we can do huge flowers AND edible.

James Landreth

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The blossoms I recommended are decent but not huge, unfortunately.

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Dustin Rhodes

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Black Locust Blossoms are edible.

Magnolia flowers are technically edible, but they taste like they smell...not exactly appetizing.

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Nynke Muller

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Hi Pearl,
A Medlar is a beautifull tree with large blossoms & edible fruit. The blossom is like apple blossoms, but larger, about 7 to 10cm across. The fruit ripens in december and actually needs some frost to improve the taste. You can eat medlar fruit fresh, you can store it for a while in a cool place and you can make jelly and some kind of liqor etc. The fruit tastes good once you dare to bite them. You have to let them go slightly soft before you eat them (but not rotten of course). It is a winterproof fruit tree in my climate (7b), but please check for yours. It is an easy tree. Good luck!
Nynke

Tj Jefferson

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Chestnut, kentucky coffee tree and honeylocust! I FINALLY got seeds and scions for the Hershey, Ashworth and a few others thornless with huge pods. This seems like a very underutilized tree.

Downy Serviceberry is a wonderful flower, and berries. Get 20-30ft.

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Pearl Sutton

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Tj Jefferson wrote:Chestnut, kentucky coffee tree and honeylocust! I FINALLY got seeds and scions for the Hershey, Ashworth and a few others thornless with huge pods. This seems like a very underutilized tree.

Downy Serviceberry is a wonderful flower, and berries. Get 20-30ft.

The kind of locust with the 6 inch thorns is endemic around here, I'm pulling them out by the roots with a tractor. Have serviceberry planted already, chestnut should be sprouting about now, haven't looked yet this week. :)

Nynke Muller: I have medlar on my "try it later" list, as I'm right on the zone lines for it, and my microclimate may be too cold for it. :)

Dustin Rhodes: I'll look magnolias up again, I have them on my toxin list.... :)

Still looking for huge flowers, 6 inches across size.

Bryant RedHawk

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Edible large flowered fruit tree, the one that always comes to mind is the pawpaw, they need pretty deep shade the first few years and there is one problem, the pollinator is the blue bottle fly, which means the flower smells like rotting meat.

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Pearl Sutton

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Bryant RedHawk wrote:Edible large flowered fruit tree, the one that always comes to mind it the pawpaw, the need pretty deep shade the first few years and there is one problem, the pollinator is the blue bottle fly, which means the flower smells like rotting meat.

Redhawk

So far I have killed 10 of them :) The microclimate is being creative to deal with some days :)
I DID have them far away from the house due to the smell, which does put them in a sunny spot.

Bryant RedHawk

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I am so sorry Pearl, the pawpaw is a secondary succession tree and needs the shade (the leaves will sunburn very easily), the natural habitat for pawpaw trees is deeply wooded side streams.
That tells us they like a lot of water and have to sprout in deep shade. Most of the trees you see in natural settings are rather spindly trunks since they have to reach for the sun they want in their 3rd or 4th year of growth.
I know where one is that is almost 40 feet tall and only has 4 branches, right near the crown because that is where it can get sunlight. It puts off about 10 fruits a year.

I've tried to sprout them and failed twice, both times the seeds came to me from a university project and had been stratified and the directions said to scarify them then plant them in moist soil. I have a near perfect place but so far no luck at getting one out of 20 to sprout.

I have located a nursery in the Ozarks that sells 3 year old trees so I may give it another go in the future.

Joylynn Hardesty

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Have you considered erecting a temporary shade over your seedlings? I'm thinking of burlap, or old sheets... I'd set up some T-posts, and cable tie the fabric to them. Or something like this?

Pearl Sutton

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I got rooted sticks (not sure of the word today) from Missouri Conservation and planted them where they got good shade for half the day. Death to the paw paws. I'll try again when I have more trees to work with. I knew they wanted to be in shade, but was worth trying them at less than 1.00 each.

Carla Burke

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Bryant RedHawk wrote:I have located a nursery in the Ozarks that sells 3 year old trees so I may give it another go in the future.

Oo, ooo, ooo! Share the name, please? I'm looking for pawpaw, myself, and just moved to the Ozarks! 😁😁😁

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Bryant RedHawk

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BlossomNursery

There you go Carla.

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Dennis Bangham

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If you go to the KSU Pawpaw site they have names of nurseries that sell the grafted hybrids and named varieties. You can also request free seeds after they harvest their fruit.

Other people may reject you but if you lie in the forest floor for long enough the moss and fungi will accept you as one of their own!

Carla Burke

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Bryant RedHawk wrote:BlossomNursery

There you go Carla.

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