Many of you don't know this about me but I am a plant fanatic! I love plants and all of the wonderful things that they can do. Recently my attention was called back to grafting. Plant grafting is such a cool technology and can really open up your eyes to how amazing plants, these living organisms, can grow and thrive under non-natural conditions. I am from the city of Fresno, California. In Fresno we have a hidden treasure called the Forestiere underground gardens. This place is incredible not only for the plant life that has thrived there for over 100 years but also because the entire house was built underground! Baldassare Forestiere was a great horticulturist as well as an environmentalist and an engineer. In Forestiere's garden he has many fruit trees, however there is one very special tree. It is a citrus tree that he grafted 7 times! So now this tree has been producing 3 varieties of oranges ( Valencia, Navel, and bittersweet oranges), 2 varieties of lemon ( ponderosa and sweet lemons), a grapefruit variety, and an italian citron called cedro for many years. This tree produces all of these fruits by itself! This is such a fantasy because one day it would be nice to be able to go and sit by my grafted tree and read and whenever I felt like having a healthy snack I would have 7 different choices right above my head!
Forestiere is such an inspiration to me! It makes me want to try my hand in grafting something so amazing! I encourage everyone to get outside and learn something about the living organisms that sustain our lives as we know it! You might learn something that could blow your mind!
If you are interested in reading more about Baldassare Forestiere here is a link to a great article about his underground wonderland!
http://www.undergroundgardens.com/amazingfacts.html
Have a fantastic day and stay green!
