American chestnut (#1)

Seedling trees. Two or more trees are required for good nut production. Wind-pollinated.

Many of you reading this likely know that the American chestnut has suffered from chestnut blight since the early 1900’s. After the blight arrived, it took only a mere 50 years for the American chesnut to become mostly a memory - physically absent from the landscape of the eastern US where it was once a common tree. Efforts to remedy this tree range from complicated hybridization tactics to genetic engineering. Personal methods of my own have been to obtain seed and plant them. Over and over again.

I suppose it is true that I am less interested in saving the pure species as I am preserving the genetics, keeping them in the spiral of existence.

These seedlings were grown from seed sourced from Perfect Circle Farm - the mother tree being a selection known as Rocky Hill #5. This pure American chestnut has shown some resistance to blight while remaining productive.

Seedlings grown this year come from seed obtained from an isolated population of healthy trees in Western Oregon, collected by Chris Homanics of Head, Heart, Hands Nursery & Seed. He has a story about this seed which you can read here at the Experimental Farm Network website.

Plant details:
Genus & species: Castanea dentata
Hardiness: Zone 3 to zone 8
Sun: Full sun
Soil type: Tolerant of a variety of soil types, lighter loamy soils ideal, well-drained
Soil moisture: Dry to average or slightly moist, drought-tolerant once established