John Lennon, 62, of Coram has an interesting tale to tell. The restaurateur-turned-butcher received a Pistachio tree as a souvenir about six years ago from his son's trip to New Orleans. "It was a scrawny little bush in a pot," he says, adding that his son bought it at a nursery in Louisiana.
The potted tree spent its first summer on the deck in Lennon's backyard. Not wanting to bring it indoors for the winter, he threw caution to the wind and planted it in an unprotected spot in the middle of his yard. "The next year it came back. The leaves looked great," he says.
The tree has more than doubled in size, and is now nearly 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide, and Lennon is amazed. "I'm told Pistachios need Arizona or California weather," he says. "They also require a male and female for pollination, so I wasn't expecting any nuts." But last year, the tree had 15 flowers on it. This year, it's covered with hundreds of "nuts."
According to the University of California's Resource for Fruit and Nut Crops, Pistachio trees require "long, hot, dry summers and mild winters," neither of which would describe the climate in Coram. It goes on to confirm that Pistachio trees are dioecious, which means there are two different sexes of the trees and that a male must be planted near a female "to get a good crop set." The resource also states that "only the warmest regions of California are suited for pistachio production in the backyard" and that "pistachios are a poor choice for coastal California."
So how is it that Lennon is having success?
Vincent Simeone, director of the Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay and a horticultural consultant, says Pistachio trees are, in fact, dioecious, so if it's a Pistachio, there must be a male nearby that is pollinating it. "That would be an unusual scenario, to say the least," Simeone says, adding that the odds of that on Long Island are "slim."
After studying photos of Lennon's tree, Simeone cracked the case: The pictures are of Cornus Florida, or flowering Dogwood. "Pistachio has a long, compound leaf," he pointed out, not simple leaves like those on Lennon's tree.
I've alerted Lennon and warned him against eating those "nuts," which in actuality are the half-inch-long red fruits commonly seen on dogwood trees this time of year. What a difference a mixed-up plant tag can make!
