Ashley Lutz

Brett Crawford wrote:New to this site. I'm in zone 3 near Dauphin, MB.  I am looking to plant a Trader Mulberry and am wondering if anyone else has panted one in zone 3 and if so what were the results?  Also, I see them for sale for various prices, from $22 at T&T in Winnipeg up to $60 (Vessys sell them for $57).  I'm not sure I trust T&T as I have had previous bad experiences with them but at less than half the price, it might be worth the risk.

Okay I was also tricked by the very affordable T&T mulberry. I had already had a bad experience with them but made another order anyways as a second chance. The mulberries I received were less than 2” tall, one was already dead. The other died shortly later. I won’t waste my money there again. I’ve been very happy with my whiffletree orders and oak summit. Doug at oak summit has been doing some interesting experiments with sweet cherries too.

Going to Seed launched a Canadian seed share this year and it’s now open! You can access the seed “store” through this link:
https://goingtoseed.org/en-ca/collections/2025-canadian-collection

I am in a different climate than you are so I can’t advise as to what grass suites your climate but usually seed companies employ agrologists who can help you with your decision on what seed blend would work best.

For seeding, if it is still being conventionally farmed often the farmer renting the land will seed it for you for free or for a small charge. It’s called “underseeding” where they plant their crop overtop and they harvest their crop and your perennial grasses grow up underneath. Then next year your crop will be ready to graze and if they planted a grain sometimes you’ll get a pretty substantial amount of volunteer plants and that’s nice too.

If that’s not an option probably the easiest thing to do is to get a farmer who already has all of the required equipment to custom seed the land for you.

Thanks Roberta! I tried some varieties off your list and had great success with Ptitsin#5 and Fofonoff plum trees. My So Sweet pear is green like it’s alive but it isn’t leafing out so I’m not sure what is happening with it.

How have your peaches been doing? I ordered a Siberian c peach this year to see if I can keep it alive.

And Kelly I’m not in Manitoba but I ordered a trader mulberry this year so next year I can let you know if it survives the winter.

Thank you very much for the information Jonathan.  If I can get some slips I’ll trial some sweet potatoes this year.

Ashley Lutz wrote:Mark are your sweet potato seeds for sale anywhere? Right now sweet potatoes are a non-viable crop as far north as I am but I’d love to try those seeds and see what happens.

My apologies, I see you’ve already answered this question recently. It’s a fascinating project, keep us posted if seed does come up for sale!

Mark are your sweet potato seeds for sale anywhere? Right now sweet potatoes are a non-viable crop as far north as I am but I’d love to try those seeds and see what happens.

Janet Reed wrote:Thank you all for this thread!  I yearn for a lemon tree here in zone 3 because I have a rockin sun room.  To continue this I would appreciate info on the best place and variety.  Thanks

Janet I have a lemon tree in zone 3.  I started it from seed from a grocery store lemon about 5 years ago.  It does well, I bring it into the house every fall and in the summer I keep it in my greenhouse. I bet a lemon tree would do great in your sunroom, regardless of variety.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Welcome aboard, Ashley! Great first post, thanks. That's valuable information.

Agreed, it was a tough and strange winter. We find that while extended cold periods take a toll, the constant freeze and thaw cycles we are experiencing are deadly to all sorts of perennials.

I suspect the Parkland eaten by a moose would have been grafted onto a hardier rootstock. So, if the rootstock kicks out new shoots, they won't be much use to you unless you get into grafting.

Thank you I spent quite awhile researching varieties so I thought maybe I could save someone else a bit of time.

As far as the Parkland apple goes, I'll let it grow and see how it goes.  Maybe I'll get a delicious Parkland apple or maybe I'll get an opportunity to learn how to graft.

Hello All,

I live in zone 3 in Canada in a prairie province and started planting a variety of fruit trees around my property last year.  I thought I would let you all know which trees lived and which died during their first winter to give you some ideas of trees to plant in your own yard, or not. For some background we did have unusually long stretches of cold weather (around -40C lasting a few weeks) last winter on the back of an unusually dry summer.  Also I don't fuss around with the trees so they weren't covered or really protected in any way.  Here goes:

Pear Trees:
Summercrisp pear from Nutcracker Nursery  - survived
St Sophie pear from Nutcracker Nursery - survived
Hudar pear from Hardy Fruit Trees - survived

Apple Trees
Parkland apple from Nutcracker Nursery - a moose ate it down to the snowline but it still survived
Wealthy apple from Nutcracker Nursery- died
Prairie Sensation from Prairie Hardy Nursery - survived
September Ruby apple from Treetime - this was a multi pack, some lived but majority died
I also started some apple seedlings from grocery store apple seeds I saved.   2 survived the winter.

Plums
Lee Red plum from Prairie Hardy Nursery - survived
Canada Plum from Hardy Fruit Trees - a moose ate the top of it but it's still alive
Brookred from Hardy Fruit Trees - survived

Cherry Plums
I ordered Manor and Dura cherry plums from Nutcracker Nursery and they survived

Apricots
Debbies Gold from Prairie Hardy Nursery - died
Manchurian Apricot from Prairie Hardy Nursery - died

Nut Trees
Butternut (they were on sale as they were "possibly hybridized") - all died
Hazelbert hazelnuts from Hardy Fruit Trees - another multipack, all survived

Strawberries
Albion Everbearing Strawberries from Veseys - survived
Kent strawberries from Veseys - died

Haskaps
I ordered a few different kinds, some from a local nursery and some from Treetime.  They seem to have largely survived regardless of variety.

Last not a fruit or berry but chives overwintered just fine.

So if you're looking for variety ideas on your cold property hopefully this gives you some ideas.  If you have varieties that are thriving please let me know, I'm excited to keep on trying new fruit trees/berry bushes!