My 8 foot, grafted mayhaw (Crataegus aestivalis) is growing well and flowers heavily, but never sets fruit here in Hillsborough county, Fla.

hi leeklemane. I have a crataegus opaca that I grafted in 1990 that has bright red fruit that makes very good jelly. Last year I harvested 28 gallons of berries. The tree is thornless and and has a very pretty shape. I live in southeast Texas in zone 9a. If you are interested in grafting it to your native hawthorne, I would gladly share some graft wood with you this winter. I can email you a picture of it if you post your email address.
flintknapper

Thank you for the offer, but my experience with grafting is nil. I have a source nearby where I can get both C. flava and C. aestivalis, but I only have room for one tree. So I am trying to figure out which one to go with. But perhaps I will at least attempt what you both are saying and try my hand at grafting. But I'm not sure quite yet.

I have a beautiful self-sown yellow haw on my property not too far from lady lake. It is stunning in full bloom - what a draw for native pollinators. I love the growth habit of it. I don't know how much fruit it makes - by the time we get there it only has a few dried pippins left.

I actually think I have found my answer by NOT finding my answer. I have been doing several searches and I have yet to find one reference to using Yellow Haw's fruit in jellies. It's always the Mayhaws that are referenced. So going by this omission, I'm guessing either the Yellow Haw's fruit are either inedible or just not all that tasty. So if I want a haw for jelly, I might have to take a stab at grafting. So I'm going to be doing my homework and looking for 'easy to graft' plants to practice with.

Thanks a lot though, folks.

Mayhaws are very easy to graft. I did mine with a Tee bud graft In July 1990 and it took off like gangbusters in a very short time. In the early spring is the best and most successful time to cleft graft them. There are several commercial orchards growing them in my area and all of them are growing my variety of mayhaw. I found it growing along highway 73 about 20 miles west of Port Arthur Texas In April and took some cuttings that I tried to root in a sweat box and was not successful. The buds still looked good and that is why I did the Tee bud in July.