Where is the tree of 40 fruit located
This Crazy Tree Grows 40 Kinds of Fruit | National Geographic
the tree or 40 fruit is a single fruit
tree that grows over 40 different types
of stone fruit including peaches plums
apricots nectarines cherries and almonds
the idea came from just sort of a
fascination with the process of grafting
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when I had seen it done as a child it
was dr. Seuss and Frankenstein and just
about everything fantastic I started
traveling around Central New York in New
York State to look for different
varieties of stone fruit eventually I
was able to find these different
heirloom and antique varieties but they
are very rare so it would bring them
back here to my nursery graph them onto
a tree so that I could continue to use
them now I have a huge collection of
plums and apricots
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through the project I've I've worked
with a lot of growers and at first they
didn't understand it because they were
why would you want to have a tree with
that many different fruit on it you
would have to go back over and over to
continue to harvest all the fruit the
project is for me always an art project
I was really interested in the idea of a
hoax in terms of you know hoax
transforms reality part of the idea for
the tree of 40 fruit was to plant them
in locations that people would sort of
stumble upon once they happen upon one
of these trees they would start to
question why are the leaves shaped
differently why are they different
colors and then in summer when you would
see all of these different fruit growing
on them and of course in spring when
they blossom in different colors it is
an artwork when I first started I just
sort of crafted the branches on so each
variety blossoms at a slightly different
time and I had a tree that blossomed all
on one side but looked dead on the other
from that point I created a timeline of
when all of these different varieties
blossom in relationship to each other so
I could essentially sculpt how the tree
would blossom
for each of the trees I keep a map
essentially or a diagram of the tree
yeah it takes a really long time I start
a tree and I let it grow for about three
years and at that point I can come in
and start to graft on to those branches
those four branches become eight the
next year eight becomes 16 16 becomes 32
it's essentially like an eight to nine
year process essentially what you're
doing with this clear plastic is you're
creating a greenhouse around the graft
and so what it'll do is all that
humidity helps the graft heal in the
first tree it's planted in 2011 and it
has the 40 varieties but I anticipate it
will be about 3 or 4 years before it's
at that peak and then peat blossom
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unlike any other artworks that I've made
these things continuously evolved I
think one of the reasons why I've been
able to keep it going for so long is
that every year it's something new and
when you come out here and the trees are
all in blossom it's really kind of an
amazing experience
plus you get fruit all summer
