Orange Osage wood

[peeweelovesbooks]

has anyone ever used orange osage wood for orchid mounts? If so, did it work well? Do you recommend it? why or why not? thanks!!

[Jkelee]

I have, and it worked great! I'd recommend it!
I mount on about 'anything'

[CoolPhrog]

It that the same as mopani wood?

[peeweelovesbooks]

Phrog, I don't know. Sorry!

I'm attracted to the color and thinking of trying it out.

[beelady]

osage orange .. or also called hedge.. has citrus like leaves.. spikes on the branches.. and the female trees have these huge orange balls that from a distance look like green oranges..
i have a phal i mounted on a old old branch.. most likely a hundred years old. farmers love the trees as posts.. you stick them in the ground..(the branches logs etc..) and they barely rot at all. they also make a verry hot burning fire.. that can literally melt metal if your not carefull..and on this plant.. dont worry.. i realized i had mounted it upside down..and i remounted it to set it right. the branch in question was old.. part of a fence post at a old farm.. it was hollow inside. and to me pretty.. so i thought what the heck.. its also my first mounting i have ever done.(one reason the phal was upside down at first lol)

[Jerry Delaney]

Beelady, it's nice to meet another orchidophile from Missouri! Even nicer to find someone who can appreciate the attributes of a "good ole hedge tree" as well as hedge apples! I was born and raised in northwest Missouri and these trees were used as a fence in many areas. One thing though, I'm not sure how much farmers loved them as much as when they were in more popular use farmers couldn't afford to buy anything if they could find a reasonable substitute already on their farm! I recall putting in many a fence using hedge posts and what I remember most was the fact that most of the posts were crooked as a dogs left hind leg and that you knew as you were putting it up that you wouldl have to go and replace half of the staples in a couple of years (wood was so hard it would split just enough to "spit" out the staple), Your other comments are so true! My grandmother cooked all her life on an old wood burning stove and you had to be cafreful not to put too much hedge wood in it to keep it from getting too hot. I can remember it turning a nice shade of cherry red! Another thing, I can't remember ever seeing ANYTHING eating a hedge apple other than squirrles and some birds. Occasionally a cow if it got really hungrly. What are yoiur observations on this? Also, if I remember correctly, the flowers in the spring were white with a small yellow center and were fragarent. Can't remember if this is correct, but if so, do bees like them?

[beelady]

well im just south of warrensburg north of clinton.. lol..
one of my horses loves to eat hedge apples.. the farmers around here still use hege for corner and brace posts.. and lol even the branches.. tho alot of the hedge i see out here has some good straight wood.. it also makes one of the finest natural bow woods..(bow -arrow)
there are still some old fence lines that are nothing but hedge post.. lol and.. neat thing is some reaaaaallly old lines that the hedge posts are still there but the wire has since long rusted away.
its funny..on doing a search.. i came across most that says hedge never gets to be a big tree and stays mostly a bushy shape.. lol they have never seen the hedge here..
there is one old part of a farm that has some hedge trees.. the trees must be ancient.. close to 200 years maybe. but if i circled them with a string the string would most likely come out to about 8-10 feet in diameter....
the only thing with hedge as a mount.. the orange wood is pretty but it does silver with age.. and the mount i did do was an expierement in more than one way.. someone mentioned that they are not sure but its possible what keeps the hedge from rotting might be detrimental to orchid roots.. i plan on getting a fresh log and tying another sacrificial noid to that to see if it is true (got plenty of phal noids lol)
and.. it is nice to hear from another missouri orchid nut lol. as you know the weather we have to try and grow through..lol

[Gin]

A Missouri person here I have heard putting the apples under the house will repel snakes . Gin

[beelady]

lol probally not as i see snakes all the time under the tree.. .. spiders too. lol..

[Bird Song Farm]

Hi beelady,
Your mounted phal looks great! I really like the color of the aged hedge wood.
I have also enjoy the exchange of memories about the tree/wood. So nice to learn about things in peoples lives from their memories.
Al