I've just been asked by a good friend what advice I have about growing fruit upon his land at 4500' elevation in central Oregon. All my orcharding experience relates to the west side. He tells me old orchards, still productive, exist around him, that the average December/January low is 24 but in the last 30 years it has gotten down to -17 (1990). I'm absolutely clueless about concerns he should keep in mind, or varieties to recommend. Would anyone have any useful pointers or thoughts?
n
I would recommend varieties known to be hardy. Most common fruit is quite hardy: pears, plums, apples, cherries, peaches, apricots, nectarines. The last 4 could easily grow more easily there than here in the Willamette Valley.
Obviously, I am not recommending pomegranates, pineapple guava, chilean wintergreen or guava, etc. Also when it's that hardy, it might make sense to grow in a pot the first year so you can keep it in a garage after the first year, then plant out.
John S
PDX OR
I think the term hardy goes out the window in a situation like that. Though most forums that center topics around northern gardening fruit trees often refer to how low the thermal temperatures go at various times of the year, most of them are brainwashed that any of this matters in mid winter.
"Ebolisim" is a term used when vapor bubbles interfere with the vascular connections during transport of nutrients in the spring. Which relates to temperature swings of which cause ice or liquids in and between the tissues to expand and contract.
Utah is more vulnerable to tree death due to embolism than even interior Alaska due to the Alaskan winters not having so many rises and sinks into freezing compared to Utah. Another example is my home of Calgary on the dry prairies at about 3400 feet which experience rapid temperature rises in mid winter "chinooks" patterns. In turn the sister city Edmonton at about 2500 feet the winter days are more constant and fruit tree culture is much more common there although just as cold on average to Calgary.
I'm not sure it helps, but I think I would try some of the things that are true and tried to Calgary with out any knowledge from your friend about the daily temperature adjustments within the day. Last weekend in Edmonton at a scion swap meet I met a retired horticulturalist that knew all aspects of fruit culture in Alberta. What he was not allowed to do at work he did in his personal yard. One of the things he found was a mountain ash (no name) that had been graft capable with serviceberry, both drought tolerant species. He went on to find graft compatibility of the (no n.) ash so far to apple, pear, aronia, hawthorn, which may not be as drought tolerant as the mountain ash.
That's the science behind grafting. In many cases to "extend the culture of fruits" beyond the norms. Another example worth noting from another experienced botanist in Russia had tested pear on cotoneaster which is another dry soil tolerant root with a disadvantage that it is many times not grafting truly compatible as the un-named mountain ash idea.
High altitude is thin very dry air. An illusion when it takes 40% longer boiling time to boiled eggs there when the exact amount of electricity is generated. You determine air pressure based on altitude and which corresponds to the demands on a plant root to absorb enough moisture more of which is the problem the dryer and the less the air pressure. Mountain ash are very reliable moisture scavengers. Test them!
If that won't go then give up finding anything for pear or apple at least. If it works then start looking for mountain ash inter-stems or other lists to graft for inter-stems including the above newly tested.
Hi Nick, originally viewing your post, I began searching for information or recommendations from the founder of the Home Orchard Society himself, Larry McGraw. http://www.homeorchardsociety......er-friend/
Here’s all I could find: “In 1976 Larry moved his family–as well as plants and all the fruit trees from his gardens in Portland–to the Sheep Rock area of Grant County, in central Oregon 5 miles north of Dayville, naming his new location Sheep Rock Nursery.” And: “At Sheep Rock Nursery, Larry originated a number of unique fruit varieties, such as Sweetheart, Blue Swan, and Golden Swan plums and Velma, Grampa’s Favorite, and Nellie Mae apples.”
I’d also searched our older HOS Forum posts ...but found no details or descriptions beyond the above regarding Larry's work in central Oregon.. Maybe you, or someone else can. Apparently he’d been experimenting with some Russian apple varieties, and I’d heard from various members about his plum collection ...but that’s about it.
My concern with the high altitude fruit tree growing are late frosts, extreme lows, and a shortened growing season… I’d considered Baker City OR as a relocation, till I looked over their frost-free days. I’m now located at 2,400 feet in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia ..and somewhat depressed over my inability to grow figs … though right now have an Asian pear and ‘local’ Golden Del. apple in need of holes. ...I’ve not timed egg boiling yet, though 
I did a follow up about the mountain ash. It (sorbus) had been the first of the varieties found by the university to have good grafts with serviceberry. The guess there is that one lacks a compound that carries over to the other side of the union to produce a harmful effect to the other side (serviceberry). From there another person had tried apple with it over a very limited time period so the effectiveness on apple is not really as clear as I originally thought, but more time will tell. Pear and Aronia had great success at the university with all pears they had grafted (3 varieties), and aronia, both species normally known to otherwise have degrees of incompatibility on Mt ash. Birds had taken first year fruit off the aronia grafts and in each case had broken the graft as you might expect on a weak shrub contribution from aronia and slow rate of wood build at the graft. Therefore Aronia had not been truly tested long term as in the case of pear or serveceberry.
I do not currently live in Calgary. I should have said I was born there and lived there before moving away in the eighties. Thanks for the compliments! A place in my mind always worries if things I say are a bit off. Many of the best and in-genius people with the most accomplishments are the ones I'm fortunate to meet in life. Thanks for you too!
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