ON a cold sunny morning last month, Creighton Lee Calhoun Jr. stood in his orchard, surrounded by 300 heirloom apple trees, and took some cuttings, or scions, to graft onto rootstock for new trees.
CONNECTICUT A grafting workshop for heirloom apple trees is scheduled for March 22 at Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden.
It is devoted to collecting and raising near-forgotten plants and animals, like heirloom apple trees or Navajo-Churro sheep.
No Offense, Granny Smith EARLY spring is a good time to plant heirloom apple trees, and in many parts of the country, grafting workshops and scion exchanges are offered, in which cuttings of local heirloom apple trees can be grafted onto rootstock.
And now Mr. Nabhan was putting in his favorite chilies, all started from seed, beneath heirloom fruit trees like a two-year-old San Michel quince from the San Rafael Valley, a few hills over, and a Texas Mission almond, which has been grown for centuries from here to Southern California.
For heirloom varieties of fruit trees, try Trees of Antiquity (treesofantiquity.com).com
The collection includes a rare century-old Himalayan white pine and other heirlooms called specimen trees, some of which, according to Dr. Kim Tripp, senior vice president for horticulture at the garden, "are endangered in their natural habitats".
You can decorate your tree with family heirloom ornaments or try something new by decorating a tree with Star Trek or superhero themed ornaments, or with little trains, or with Disney characters for example.
The apple trees are an heirloom variety commonly known as "sheepnose"; their fruit is prized for drying and baking.
