Plant Selection Notes

Some Plants Need Defined Cold Periods

My Daddy put us on this little farm back in the ‘70s because, as I like to tell folks, he didn’t want us to know places like Myrtle Beach existed. We lived way out. We grew our own vegetables year-round, kept bees for honey, raised chickens, beef, and pork. He wanted us to know the land, and he could figure out how to do just about anything.

But one of his failures still breaks my heart.

“We’re going to have plums and apples,” he told me one winter. We flipped through a Stark Brothers catalog together, dreaming of fruit trees. We bought from a local hardware store (who didn’t know about cold periods) planted carefully, and waited.

We never got a single fruit.

Not long after he died, I cut down those trees. I don’t mind cutting down trees—it’s part of gardening—but these were different. These were his hopes. Unlike most projects he did, he didn’t get the right information before putting all his fruit dreams into the ground.

It took three years to realize things weren’t going to work. By then I was in college, and I’d figured out the problem. He didn’t listen. He kept hoping.

Here’s what every fruit tree buyer needs to know:

Think of fruit trees like people. Every single variety has different needs. Some plums love snowboarding at Christmas while others prefer feeling beach sun on their face on New Year’s Day. People are flexible—even if we complain constantly about the weather, we generally adapt.

Plums don’t.

To make their flowers open in spring and produce fruit, each plum variety needs a specific number of cold hours during winter. That’s just the way it is. Genetics dictate this need for a defined cold period.

Plums know it. Apples, peaches, and pears too. Most of our favorite non-tropical fruits need very specific chill hours. The problem? Most stores that sell fruit trees don’t know this, and they definitely don’t know how many cold hours you get at your house. This is especially difficult in the Deep South. Stark Brothers and most fruit producers are in the Midwest.

You must do your homework. Better yet, buy from a knowledgeable local nursery or a fruit nursery specializing in warm climates. Call Petals from the Past Nursery or follow Larry Stephenson of Southern Cultured Orchards on facebook.

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I Did a Video about Chill Hours. Are You Missing My Plant and Short Notes?

Substack has a feature called NOTES — ie, short, casual posts that don’t arrive in your email. =If you only get this newsletter via email, you’re missing out.

• Video updates about cold periods and the pear trees we planted last week

• Fun moments from life on the farm, like the other night when my great-nephew and I were playing in the barn tool room, and all the animals joined us (see the silly video below!)

Here’s a link to my Profile — which includes essays, emails, and these short notes.

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My Daddy Would Have Loved This

I wrote Secrets of Southern Gardening for people like my father—folks who want to grow things but don’t always have access to the right information. It’s filled with the lessons I learned the hard way, the wisdom passed down through generations of Southern gardeners, and the practical advice that actually works in our unique climate.

Those fruit trees we planted together didn’t make it, but the knowledge I gained from that failure lives on in every page. If my book helps even one person avoid the heartbreak of cutting down their dreams, then something good came from those bare branches.

Get your copy of Secrets of Southern Gardening here → Click this LINK]

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Join Us in Columbia!

If you’re in the Columbia area, please join Tom and our longtime friend, horticulturist Jen Glass of Fine Gardening, for a pop-up book signing and wholesale plant sale.

When: Next Sunday, 2-5 PM
Where: 1111 Benton St, Columbia

We’d love to see you there!