Growing osage in Florida

[Eric Krewson]

A fellow contacted me about growing osage from seeds, said he wanted to plant some in Florida but didn't know if the place could grow osage.

He is located  in Melbourne which is 110 miles north of Palm Beach, and just south of Cape Canaveral.

What say you FL guys, is this possible?

[Pat B]

Eddie Parker(mullet) has one growing in Lakeland, FL but from what he said it isn't doing so well.

[PrimitiveTim]

I heard rumor of one in Ocala nat'l forest.

[Zuma]

I think he would be better off planting his seeds in Tallahassee than Melborne.
Central Florida is about the southern extreme for the tree.
Zuma

[mullet]

I live 100 miles west of Cocoa. I have two growing in my front yard. They are slow growing but healthy. I have started several from seeds down here.
Tim, there was actually supposed to be a grove of Osage west of New Smyrna in the Ocala National. I haven't found it or heard of anyone that new where it was.

[PrimitiveTim]

Well, we can't legally cut on gov't land so we might as well forget about it 

[Crogacht]

I'm about to plant some in New Zealand, I'll let you know how they go

[mullet]

Well, we can't legally cut on gov't land so we might as well forget about it 

There is also yew in the Appalachee National Forest along the river.

[Wiley]

It will probably do ok, bordering on it being a bit too warm for it on average there. I would suggest planting it somewhere fairly shady. A bit of shade would probably encourage it to grow straighter and bush out less as it reaches for the sun but it will also make it grow slower.

Consider white or red mulberry, Osage Orange's tastier cousin. Much better tasting fruit, and it should be very happy in a hardiness zone of 9a or b. Even happier if he can get some cuttings or germinate some seeds from one found locally. I would try to find a good straight one that's so tall you can't reach the upper branches over one that grows more like a bush and clone it. Should be as simple as taking a small limb, scraping off a bit of the bark on the bottom, dip in rooting hormone and stick it in a pot filled with potting soil. It's a very tolerant tree, you could probably just stick the shoot straight into the ground. The Florida humidity will help keep it from drying out while it develops roots, but occasionally misting it would probably make them happy.

[mullet]

White Mulberry is more common here and a lot more similar to Osage then Red. Red mulberry feels like Balsa compared to White. I just cut some.

[Wiley]

First time I've heard that they are very different. Most of what i've read about it seems to say that both red and white are great bow woods, the main thing is that it is not a paper mulberry. From what I understand the paper mulberry probably feels a lot more like balsa than the red.

I'd feel a lot less bad about cutting down a white mulberry given it not being native and its ability to hybridize with the red mulberry. Eventually there won't be much red mulberry left.

[mullet]

Wiley;
I didn't know the difference between the two until I made the post about cutting down Mulberry a few weeks ago. Hillbilly, Steve Parker the Medicine Man writer for PA brought it to my attention. Paper mulberry is pretty useless for bow wood, I tried it a long time ago. White Mulberry, If you go back and find my thread is almost, but not quite as yellow as Osage and feels just about as dense.

[stickbender]

Well, we can't legally cut on gov't land so we might as well forget about it 

Welllllll...... Technically it isn't a native species, and they have been trying to eradicate non native species, like the Australian pine, which is actually not a pine, nor from Australia since Australia doesn't have any native pines, they have imported pines from the U.S., and have pretty good lumber forest going now.  Australian pines are actually in the Hickory family, and sometimes called Brazilian Oak.  If you want a good fire wood, and wood to smoke meat, and fish, etc. it is great!  Parnell made a nifty little survival bow out of a sapling, and brought it over to Eddie's.  I was very surprised at how well it shot.
                                                                                Wayne

[bow101]

Well, we can't legally cut on gov't land so we might as well forget about it 

There is also yew in the Appalachee National Forest along the river.

Mmmm... I understand that boo grows like crazy in the Appalachian area. Bamboo will grow on the west coast.  Of course yew is native. 
Nice country there, from what I see on TV,  that's why I like watching some of those reality shows, moonshiners,  Appalachian outlaws.  Crazy stuff.  Do things like that here maybe a slap on the wrist, second time probably still no jail time.  Laws here are extremely lax.