Identification: Colt - Single white, early mid-season, dense thin upright straight branches

Re: What cherry? Single white, early mid-season, dense thin upright straight branches

If Colt has a blend of PP. avium, pseudocerasus characters then it could explain this tree. Too bad I took mine out, I'd be able to tell if this tree was the same as mine from all the shots posted here.

Note also that Colt may not be a clonal rootstock, in which case some variation would be expected. I don't know one way or the other. I have noticed that Gisela appears to be a series, rather than a single rootstock cultivar. I don't know what it/they look like, have had an 'Accolade' on Gisela for years and never had it try to make its own top.

 

Re: What cherry? Single white, early mid-season, dense thin upright straight branches

I'm still trying to track down John Traas, the understock grower I mentioned in a thread some years back. I'm sure he knows details about 'Colt'. Traas nursery produced clonal understock for both ornamental and fruiting trees and the company was among the largest growers of this kind of material locally.

I know I mentioned this before, but Traas Nursery was also evidently the source for a number of the flowering cherries still on Vancouver's streets (e.g., the unknown Yama-zakura-like cherries on 13th and Clark Drive). Where they imported material from is a very good question, so having the conversation with John, who is long retired, would be doubly useful.

 

Re: What cherry? Single white, early mid-season, dense thin upright straight branches

Well, I just compared the 8th and Arbutus plant with a flowering piece of 'Colt' rootstock from the UBC orchard. Although smaller and considerably less well-advanced than the 8th and Arbutus plant, the flowers are essentially alike. The similarity includes the distinctively strong, sweet fragrance. While casting about this morning looking for the right fragrance comparison, Daniel Mosquin came up with what I think is an accurate description: pear. To our noses, the fragrance is like concentrated pear juice. I think we can assume that this unknown is 'Colt'.

Thanks to Ron B for making the initial leap that led to the identification.

 

Re: What cherry? Single white, early mid-season, dense thin upright straight branches

Congratulation, Douglas!

It might to be too late to write, but I went to Tama Forest Science Center and saw Karami-zakura on March 4. It had just started blooming.. Karami-zakura there was very different from the photo images of it on Web site. It looked different from the tree at 8th and Arbutus.


I thought Karami-zakura was a cultivar like Avium and it varied a lot. But it is not likely that one single Straight Prunus pseudocerasus exists at 8th and Arbutus. It is more natural that Colt used for rootstock grew up and had wonderful flowers.

Anyway it is very good to identify after comparing real tree and flowers thoroughly. It is always very dangerous to identify only seeing pictures and written facts.

 

This is a nice enough tree that some of us have been interested in it for several years. Is it the only 'Colt' in Vancouver (outside the farm)? Why is 'Colt' always a rootstock and never a tree? It's good-looking when the blossoms are white, and now that they're aging and turning pinkish it's still not bad looking - better-looking than the fading plums. And it's fragrant.

Is what's going on here a coppiced effect, where the original trunk hasn't been cut down but has died and the several new growths from the ground surrounding the original trunk make a nice full effect that doesn't occur when the tree is planted for itself??

 

This tree was good looking the fall too. I'm posting these to record the fall colour.