Flowering rootstock

      After almost sixty years a Tsar plum tree has finally died in an old and somewhat neglected orchard but the amazing thing is that the rootstock is made of much sterner stuff and is growing, shooting and blossoming.
      The long retired farmer thinks that the rootstock might be Bullace but since this is the first blossoming we won't know until some fruit has finally formed, he also said that the rootstock could well be infertile so it's going to be a waiting game until the summer.
      It just goes to show that those old plantsmen and nurserymen knew a thing or two about what was hardy and what wasn't. This rootstock is flowering despite the appalling weather we've been enjoying since before Christmas so it's full marks for brightening up the morning and evening Terrier walking.