Viva American Hybrid Chestnut Seeds and Scions

Currently unavailable Fast Growing Hybrid Crosses -Straight Growth Habit-Immunity to Chestnut Blight-Can Chestnuts Be the Corn Tree?

"Viva" reflects my interest in developing a timber type chestnut with some nut production as secondary. The whole point of this idea was to find a tree that had the fastest growth rate and a strong upright growth tendency and then use seedlings from that individual tree  and seedlings of it to create a sort of hybrid swarm. For a while I grew and sold many of its seedlings but because it was so shy bearing it was hard to produce enough seedlings to meet demand. The original "Viva" tree now has a trunk over 30 inches in diameter with a height of 60 plus feet. Truly the fastest growing tree at my farm at the time. 

As time went on, a straight line wind removed a portion of the top. Blight also appeared to get worse over time and more damaging to the tree. It has recuperated from these set backs but likely the tree will not last too much longer. As this matured, I noticed a great deal of activity in the microclimate valley with a change in vegetation as my trees matured and created shade. The deer also showed up in great numbers to eat the nearby persimmon when they dropped. This had a very positive effect in that they pounded a lot of the nuts into the ground with their hoofs which hid them from the red squirrels to some extent. As a result the deer planted trees from "Viva" really began to take off. I also planted several seedlings of it to make sure to get a take of this unique germplasm. The seedlings were even more vigorous than the parent. The final protection of the seedlings came from the multiflora rose which further helped the seedlings establish without being browsed as well as provide cover for additional seeds to establish including American beech and American linden. It was a win win. The initial quack grass and star thistle field was now almost gone due to shade while the deer played a large role in mulching this area with their hooves and the effects on the dying grasses and my pruning litter.  "Viva" is life.

The new seedlings are now old enough to start bearing and some will be removed this year to keep the strongest ones and to provide more light and prevent narrow crowns from forming. Scionwood will be available of these seedlings as a hybrid swarm including the parent tree if possible. The tree has shown such remarkable performance in terms of growth rate, it is likely to be of value just for that alone. 

The answer to the above question is yes if the corn tree can provide a resource during and at the end of its life too. 

 No shipment to CA, OR, WA, NV, NM.

Seeds plus Scionwood of Mixed Individuals-that show little or no effect of chestnut blight.