Mystery seedling, what could it be? o.o

[sphinxeyes]

I was cleaning out the beds under the cedar trees in my front yard this afternoon when I found this:





What could it be with such a big seed pod? My not-so-educated guess is that it could be an almond seedling, maybe left over from the bird seed mix. Any other guesses? I think I'll let it grow in a pot, just to let the mystery continue, though I doubt almonds would do well in the humid Jersey summer.

[mnjrutherford]

hmm... Almond was the first thing that sprang to my mind as well. Though I'm no expert, I would think that the cold Jersey winter would do in an almond a lot faster than the humid Jersey summer...

[sphinxeyes]

I typically think of California or Texas when I think of almonds in the states. Otherwise I think of the Middle East, where it's dry and hot. This is the first weekend it's hit 80 degrees, but it's already gotten a good head start even with the cold and the rain. Hmm...the mystery continues!

[grungy]

Actually almonds can be grown a lot farther north than California or Texas. We have 3 small almond trees that we are hoping to transplant outside this year.

[mnjrutherford]

I'm glad to hear that Val! We want a couple almond trees as well but I was concerned that we might not be able to grow them here. I want to try a couple olive trees as well. Olives and Almonds grow all over Mallorca Spain and their climate is very similar to ours.

[ottawagardener]

Looks like an almond to me too.

I wonder if I could grow almonds she says way too optimistically.

[bunkie]

we planted a small 'All In One' Almond tree last year and it looks pretty good after the harsh winter we had. it's supposed to be hearty for the cold northern climate. we also had 2 olive trees, one passed this winter, but the other one still looks pretty good. they have stayed inside the last two winters, but i'm thinking of planting this one outside this year and covering them with some protection during the winter months.

sphynxeyes, not sure what the sprout is. do you recognize the leaves as being something familiar around your place?

[mnjrutherford]

Could you do a greenhouse? That's what we are thinking of for the trees we aren't supposed to be able to grow. Have you ever thought of stone pines for the pine nuts?

[PatrickW]

Jo,

The Pinus Pinea pine nut pine should do fine in your climate, but you do need two of them so they will cross pollinate. Do you want the rest of my seeds? I have about 10 left. The germination rate was quite high, so you should have no problem getting two trees out of them.

[mnjrutherford]

Patrick! That would be totally outstanding! Thank you so much for the offer.

[sphinxeyes]

I think it's too early to tell about the leaves, they are still crinkly and haven't expanded all the way yet. So far they look similar to maple leaves, which we have lots of in my area, but it was the seed itself that looked foreign to me. I have it potted in the greenhouse and so far it's doing alright, so I'll keep everyone updated as it grows over the summer.

[grungy]

Can you grow peach trees? Almonds and peaches are close cousins. They tell me if you can grow the less tender peaches then you can grow almonds.

[ottawagardener]

Nope, only the hardiest peaches will fruit here.

You know, saying that, it could be a peach nut?

[juliekru]

That is so weird, I just pulled one just like that from under our hedges last week. I took it to my hubby and asked him what he thought it was because I had no idea. We have no trees or plants near by other than plain old ash and pine. Of course we do have squirrels running rampant so I suppose it could have come from a few neighbors over.

[sphinxeyes]

We've got rampant squirrels in our area too. Our house is surrounded by big trees, so it could very well be something that a squirrel buried and forgot about. I took a look today and the leaves are a little more fanned out. They are long slender, spear-shaped and finely serrated along the edges. I compared them to photos of almond tree leaves that I found on the web and they do look very similar. But...then I looked up peach trees as Grungy suggested and based on this picture waynesword.palomar.edu/images/peachptr.gif what I have also looks similar to the peach seed inside the pit. And among the debris under my hedges, I do remember finding several peach pits. I think there are also peach trees growing in the yard next door, so that may be it. Mystery possibly solved!