From donahuer@ols.net Mon Oct 9 13:47:44 2000 Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2000 17:40:14 -0400 (EDT) From: Randy To: london@metalab.unc.edu Subject: Rose Clover Performance Hello: I was looking over the net through government, academic, and commercial sites for information regarding Rose clover, and I wasnt too successful. I am looking specifically for information about its cold tolerance, possible cold-tolerant cultivars, and how it would perform in the piedmont region of NC. Where can we find U.S. suppliers of this clover's seed? How would certain forages such as grama sideoats and meadow brome perform in this state with various mixtures that also contained small white clovers, less invasive creeping fescues, and the aforementioned rose clover? These plants were chosen by me because of the fact that they are all perennial, just invasive enough to be persistant, and can be grazed short within an intensive rotational grazing program. The need is to match the legumes( two short clovers) with short grasses that don't overwhelm them. This will hopefully allow the cattle to be pulled out of each paddock just as the length of forage becomes ideal for pasturing poultry. The broadleaf clovers will be preferred by the hens. Another of advantage of these mixtures underneath a low density orchard is that the clovers can regenerate flowers during a timed rest period, providing an alternative source of bee forage for the landowners hives. A surplus of honey generated by the clovers could offset the cost of keeping hives to pollinate the owner's fruit trees. An additional season long source of honey is needed to compensate for the short early period that most fruit trees bloom. Another solution would be to select more than one ideal cultivar of (apple)tree that represented extreme differences of blooming times. Otherwise, the combination of rose and white clovers might help a great deal. The cool-season oriented growth of the white clover, which would look like a u-shaped curve over the growing season, would be offset by the warm-season advantages of the rose clover. What are your thoughts on these matters? -Donahue