Well, I know exactly what you mean -- mine probably bought it last night, they were just coming out.

When I got the original ones around 1988/1989, there was Annasnaja and Isai and Artic Beauty.

Now there are a lot more.

I planted Jumbo, Michigan State, Dunbarton Oaks, Ken's Red, and 4 other kinds 2 springs ago.

Alas, I was just working around their trellis area yesterday, they all looked about the same stage -- leaves just beginning to emerge for the year.

I also did not notice any difference on my half-dozen kinds of hardy kiwi.

Scott

My Issai is markedly later than most, but it gets more shade. Hardy kiwi tend to be very susceptible to freezes when young, but will leaf out later as they get older and larger. They will also keep many buds in reserve once they get big, and if the first shoots get zapped, these reserve buds will push new shoots that will often produce a full crop.

I usually see quite a difference in budbreak between different varieties, but this year, we went quickly from cold to very warm, and everything leafed out at once. My hardy kiwis have foot long shoots now, with lots of flower buds. It hit 35F Saturday, but that is likely the last frost threat I will see this spring.

I'm sorry to hear pod your frost damage so I want to encourage you to keep nurturing them and give them a good growing year because the DO get much stronger. Here's my 2 cents about this year's spring growth near Atlanta. We have had a perfect (but extra warm) spring following one of the wettest fall and winters on record. So for not only kiwis but all other frost sensitive fruiting plants this could be a bumper season.

I have 12 female varieties and 3 male varieties (all are actinidia arguta = hardy kiwi) and they all pretty much leafed out at exactly the same time. The older plants (with more stored up energy I presume) grew faster but they all initially burst open within a day or two of each other. They are all growing in one "block" of about 40 x 70 feet, and like kiwinut (but couple hundred miles south)we did have a sudden change this spring from cool wet to "summer".

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In the above picture notice last year's woody growth contrasted with the super elongated current growth (light green and pink)

There may be a later budding variety (or species) out there but just thought I'd tell you what I'm seeing here in GA.

I think the trigger is some combination of air and soil temp and maybe amount of sunlight. Others have written that kiwi plants may wake up later if planted on the north side of a low fence or building or a north or west slope since it is cooler there. Heavy, light colored mulch like wood chips would also keep the soil cooler longer.

To shed light on your second observation: Universities and enthusiasts have been collecting and experimenting with hardy kiwis for many years. NCGR in Corvallis, OR (for example) has many contributed selections with some overlap. I speculate that for some reason a few varieties (like Anna, Ken's Red, Meyer's Cordifolia, Dumbarton Oaks, and others mentioned) became more publicized so a nursery or two decided to start propagating and selling those few. This added even more to their popularity due to their availability.

You may have noticed that the descriptions look like they are just copied from one nursery to next. (The same goes for heirloom tomatoes). I hope (nay... intend) to enrich the kiwi taste vocabulary this fall. This is the first year my males have flower buds (not opened yet). ... so if they truly are males, I anticipate a taste test of at least 6 different fruiting varieties.

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The above picture is (from left to right) "Cornell", "Meader", and "Davis" (127-40) male flower buds.

Hopefully the bees will do their job, the weather will cooperate and we will have out long awaited kiwi feast in September or October. Sorry for being so wordy here, but this is my favorite subject lately.

-Ron

Well I had to test the sprinkler frost protection method on my kiwis last night as it dipped to -1C. I found this bit of info on the internet about it... hopefully it worked lol..

"Sprinkler frost protection uses the heat released when water changes from liquid water to ice. By spraying water at the correct rate onto a crop under frost conditions, a layer of ice slowly develops over the plants. Provided the surface of this ice layer is kept wet, the temperature of the enclosed plant tissue will generally be greater than minus half a degree, even though the surrounding air may be at a much lower temperature.

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Wow, Tyler you're really on top of things there! Please let us know if any of those buds survived. Even if they didn't, the plant looks big enough to push out another set.

And that's a very attractive and interesting location there beside the road. I bet you'll have a lot of people stopping to get a closer look when they realize those plants aren't grapes.

Last year I put in Actinidia kolomikta, Viktor and Hero females, and a Pasha male (which appears to have died) because of my short, cool, mountain climate. I got mine from One Green World. What other sources are you seeing out there? Since I need to replace my male, I'm also planning to order either Cherry Bomb (from rollingrivernursery.com) or Red Beauty (tripplebrookfarm.com).

Catherine

Here is a link that might be useful: One Green World

Catherine,

You may want to double check on that Cherry Bomb variety to see if Rolling River has it mis-classified. I have never heard of an A. kolomikta variety by that name, or any with red fruit. However, there is an A. arguta var. purpurea with that name. An A. kolomikta male will not pollinate it if it is an arguta type, you would need an arguta male for that.

~kiwinut

Darn!

Thanks for the heads-up, kiwinut! I'll check it out before ordering. I was leaning toward tripplebrookfarm anyway, it sounds like I may have just tipped.

Catherine

Logrock,

Did you ever get to taste the Kiwi this year? I'm planning to order soon and would love some additional feedback on varieties.

Bob