The Rural Voice, 2003-04, Page 48Gardening
Osage Orange not on the citrus list
Rhea
Hamilton -
Seeger and
her husband
live near
Auburn. She
is a skilled
cook and
gardener.
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
The pair were nestled in a plastic
bag. The fist -sized orbs were covered
with sunny yellow warts which
would have been more striking if not
marred with the golden and brown
patches of decay.
These were osage oranges and I
was delighted to have a chance at
growing some for myself. A friend
offered them to me and another
fellow gardener and between us we
are going to try our hands at starting
some of the seed.
Osage oranges, Maclura pomifera,
are not citrus but only resemble
oranges in size and general
appearance. They are loosely related
to the red Mulberry, Morus rubra.
They are green to yellow and
inedible. Although hardy to Zone 3
they are more known in the central
United States where they are grown
in windbreaks. They will grow 30 to
50 feet high and a third as wide, but
are often trimmed into close set
thorny hedges.
The trees are easily recognized by
their small oval leaves which narrow
abruptly into long slender tips, and
also by their zig zag twigs which
commonly bear a stiff thorn at each
bend just above the leaf.
So onto germinating the seeds
which proved harder to find than first
anticipated. I cut open the fruit and
was quite surprised at how dense it
was. Picture a cob of corn. Each
kernel springs from the cob. The
osage orange is similar in that each
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44 THE RURAL VOICE
wart stems individually from a solid
core, similar in texture to a not -quite
ripe zucchini. At the base of some of
the warts is a seed or two firmly
embedded in the flesh. You have to
soak the flesh in water for 48 hours to
extract the seeds and then keep them
moist for eight weeks in the
refrigerator before sowing. Being a
bit impatient, I tried easing the seeds
out of the fruit pulp and was
rewarded with a gluey substance on
my hands that hot soap and water
could not remove. I resorted to paint
thinner. I washed my hands
afterwards but still managed to get
some of its juice near my eyes when I
rubbed them afterwards. Not nice.
Traditionally, seeds in cold
climates were sown in autumn to
overwinter in containers in a cold
frame or in an open seedbed.
Germination varied depending on
local conditions, with a low success
rate following a mild winter. I don't
think that would happen this winter.
Chilling seeds in a refrigerator at 34 -
41°F (1-5°C), usually at 37° F (3°C)
has the advantage that you can
provide a cold period at any time of
the year and expect a more even
germination. Notice that none of
these refrigerator temperatures are
below freezing which makes you
wonder how seeds know the
difference between a mild winter and
a well-controlled refrigerator. Mine
are going into pots of seed soil mix
and outside along the north side of
the house where the sun won't shine
for some weeks yet.
You can germinate seeds in a
plastic bag filled with peat or a
mixture of equal parts peat and coarse
sand or vermiculite. This should be
moist, not wet. Periodically turn the
bag to circulate air and avoid a
buildup of warmth or carbon dioxide
released by the seeds. If the seeds
germinate in the bag prematurely,
sow them at once.
Ever hopeful when planting seeds,
I can see a hedge of osage orange
around the back of the garage. What
an imagination gardeners do
cultivate.
While you are waiting for seeds to