Hello! I am looking for variety recommendations and a source for sweet chestnut trees (don't care whether they're Asian, European or hybrids of whatever, so long as they stand a reasonable chance of thriving and producing edible fruit in Lower Mainland BC ...) Thanks in advance for any help. :_) D.
Climatically, Sweet Chestnut Castanea sativa is the best suited. In Britain (fairly similar climate to you) it is far and away the best performer in the genus; the Asian species are generally poor performers.
Large specimens of all three major species (European, American and Chinese) have been produced by sites in this region. Burnt Ridge Nursery, Onalaska, WA (see their web site) has a significant collection. Haven't noticed if they ship to Canada.
Hi Ron, Thanks for your response. I was very thrilled to see this website, until I came to the following line: "We ship nursery stock within the United States only." I am still thrilled, however, by the amazing numbers of different varieties that are out there ... now to find a Source ... :-) Diane.
EUREKA!! A very useful site for finding plants in BC: http://www.bclna.com/ Click on the "Plant Finder" bar on the left-hand side. WHEEE!!!!! (My VISA card is screaming in my pocket as I type this ...) Diane.
And another useful site on chestnuts ... The Canadian Chestnut Council http://www.uoguelph.ca/~chestnut/
Try Gellatly nut farm (now a park) in Westbank: they sold seedlings of their stock for a while, though a change in directorship might have changed this; still it's worth a try, many good, established varieties. Seems to be an issue importing chestnuts from outside B.C., though I've never looked up the particular regulation; sources like Grimo's nut farm and Rhora's in Ontario state that 'due to regulations' they do not ship to B.C. If you're patient, you can plant a bunch of chestnuts from the grocery store (they're in stock now for x-mas). You'll have seedling variability, but they seem to germinate well.
I'm a bit loathe to try the grow-my-own route as these guys do take a long time to mature and prove themselves and in the meantime take up a fair bunch of space. Thanks for the tip re. trying Gellatly Farm - I had assumed that since they are now a park that would be a no-go, but I'll ask. :-) RE. buying from comerical sources, I have found out: *commercial growers in BC seem to grow Chinese chestnuts but not Europeans or others *we cannot import from the east, neither eastern Canada nor eastern U.S., due to disease issues *we cannot import from Washington or Oregon due to one Castanea tree import being found to harbour Sudden Oak Wilt disease If the Gellatly Farm doesn't work out, I'm rather hoping to be able to get seedlings or nuts from a non-commercial local source - I realize the seedlings will vary, but that will be more likely to be successful than random grocery nuts, I would think ... :-)
