Have a couple Agat's, will see if survive philadelphia winter...
From Richard Ashton's book Incredible Pomegranate:
"In areas of southern Russia where they have snow cover all winter they raise
pomegranate varieties like �Agat� which is a low growing variety. Under the snow
cover �Agat� can withstand much colder air temperatures."

If you want a quickstart in your area you get a large 3gallon Russian from Edible Landscaping. or early Spring might be more of these varieties from Rolling River (most sold-out for now):
Agat, Al-sirin-nar, Surhanor, Kaim-anor, Kaj-acik-anor, and maybe Alk Pust Ghermez Saveh, Sumbar
OneGreenWorld: Favorite
BurntRidgeNursery: Favorite or soft seeded Sumbar.

My friend Bassam from treesofjoy.com (some pics there) has gotten some fruits off Salevatski in mid PA, maybe thats your best bet for now since EL has some nice big ones.

-Arian

How come nobody ever talks about EL's Phil's Sweet for cold hardy varieties? I don't mind sweet pink aril pomegranates to mix it up a bit. I'm in the DC area, was thinking of putting one up next to a wall.

BTW Arian, I'm trying to decide between growing varieties like Kaj-acik-anor from UC Davis (cuttings) or buying from Rolling River when they're back in stock.

I put in an order for UC Davis cuttings but don't really understand how it works, they were too backed up to be too informative at the time. I assume it's very cheap but very young cuttings and that Rolling River for a bit more money will put you a couple years ahead?

Do you have any idea how many years older the Rolling River plants will be from the UC Davis cuttings? Or how the pricing works for UC Davis cuttings?

I have some potted poms I got growing side by side with cuttings that I started the same year. This was about three years ago. The potted plants are a bit bigger now, but not by much. Pricing for UC Davis cuttings is that you need to pay the fedex shipping.

I expect Phil's Sweet is a notch less hardy since it is a soft-seeded variety.

Scott

Thanks Scott, was there a reason you didn't want to test out Al-sirin-nar and Kaj-acik-anor cuttings? They seem like good options?

>I put in an order for UC Davis cuttings but don't really understand how it works, they were too backed up to be too informative at the time. I assume it's very cheap but very young cuttings and that Rolling River for a bit more money will put you a couple years ahead?

Yeh, you link up with UPS account which i assume you put on UC-Davis order form and they confirmed your order? Think i read they usually send 3 cuttings (that can be cut in half so 6 cuttings you can try to root). What cuttings did you apply for, maybe we can trade as I only want 1 or 2 and might trade 3rd cutting to someone else? I'm not sure how expensive since its my first year and depends on how many cuttings you got. Maybe scottfsmith can fill in shipping cost for # of cuttings he got. I just ordered some Dip-n-Grow to try to root them a lil' better (vs just sticking in ground). Pom rooting info here: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fruit/msg111806059649.html

The ones I got last year from RollingRiver were nice but those were when I bought in beg of winter before they sold out (like 2 year old 2.5ft size)... If they sold out now, I think Marc from R.R. told me they will be cuttings they root in Spring. But if there's a few left, not sure if they would be larger sized ones. E.L. 3gallon ones were bigger than R.R. and maybe 3years old and produced some flowers first year.

I have had good luck with the variety 'suhr anor'. I have 'kaj acik anor planted but it has not fruited yet. It seems cold hardy.

Glad to hear that you've had good luck with Surh-anor. Since I'm also in NC, I have a few quick questions...

When did you plant it?
How soon did it fruit?
How large has it grown?

Thanks to a post by trianglejohn (also in NC) in the Carolina Gardening forum, I've also become very interested in a variety called State Fair. It's a dwarfing tree (to 5') that produces a bounty of small fruits, and it's reported to have survived sub-zero temps.

cool, i read in Incredible Pomegranate book that Suhr-anor is a hybrid of Kazake since found in same area.

Think Suhr-anor, Kazake, Salevatski, Kaj-acik-anor are pretty consistent on information that they cold hardy.

Anyone get any of these surviving winters yet in zone

BTW -- forgot to say thanks, Arian, for bringing the Favorite and Sumbar varieties at Burnt Ridge to my attention. I'd completely overlooked them...

welcome shazaam... Which cuttings are you getting from UCDavis?... I asked for 'DK from Shevlan', Kunduzski, Mejhos 6269, Kazake, Entekhabi Saveh. Might have 1 scion extra of each.

I grow 'state fair' but it is a dwarf and its fruits are not edible quality. It does make quite a good ornamental if that is mainly waht you are interested in and is cold hardy. It was selected and introduced by Plant Delights in Raleigh.
Most of my cuttings from Davis fruited in their fourth year. I grew them up in containers and they fruited the following spring after being planted out. Mine are all about 6-7 foot tall now.

Hey shane11/Derek,
Think i forgot to ask what varieties you are growing in our email exchanges. Might be interested in a cutting or two of hard-seeded ones I don't have. Whatcha got?

-Arian

My UC Davis cuttings aren't going to add anything new for you pros-- I'm getting some Salvatski, Kazake, and Entekhabi Saveh. We'll have an additional DC area report for them though in a few years.

Tempted to test out a few more...

shane11 -- Glad I mentioned State Fair. In the original post that caught my attention, the poster (trianglejohn) noted that the fruits were small but that they had a great flavor. Sounds like your experience is very different. Do you find them to be totally inedible or just poor in comparison to larger varieties?

Arian -- I haven't actually ordered any cuttings from UC Davis, but I might do so down the line.

PersianMD, I only picked a few of the most popular hardy varieties to grow and so I didn't pick the ones you mention. I have also heard there is not a huge difference in taste so I don't have the urge to have tons of varieties since my space is limited. Along with hardy varieties I am also growing some early ripening ones since ripening time is also an important dimension for us more northern growers.

Oddly enough I haven't seen any dieback at all on any of my poms so far, even the less hardy ones like Angel Red. My low on the unprotected plants was about 7F. This winter is not looking to test things at all, its barely gotten below 20F so far.

I don't remember exactly what I have been charged for UC Davis cuttings shipping, but it was something like $25.

Scott

scott, which varieties do you consider as early?
from UC davis research I found:
Sverkhranniy (ripens in august)
Medovyi Vahsha (Soft-seeded, early, sweet)

my information is just from the UC davis descriptions, do you have other sources? (for finding early varieties)

thanks!

quinoah, I took Ashtons book and looked for the poms with early ripening mentioned in the description. Medovyi Vahsha is one of them, I had a cutting of it going but it didn't survive the transplant. I also had a Grenada that died. Angel Red is early and thats one reason why I am growing it. Nikitski Ranni is another early one I am growing. Sverkhranniy and Sumbar are other well-known early ones.

I am not sure how important earliness is. I did get one Salavatski to ripen last year and it is not particularly early. On the other hand the shorter season varieties may taste a lot better because they will ripen up sweeter. I noticed this on my fuzzy kiwis, the later varieties eventually ripen but they don't get sweet like the earlier ones do.

Scott

These are the varieties I have: surh anor, kaj acik anor, kazake, salavatski, dk from shevlon, favorite(lyubimi,sp?), and al sirin nar. The ornamental ones I have are: state fair, eight ball, and flora plena. Do not take my word for state fair not being good quality I have never tried eating its fruit. They are only slightly bigger around than a quarter so I just assumed they would not be that good for eating. They may have good flavor. If mine fruits this year I will try one. Eight ball may have good tasting fruit as well but mine has never fruited so I am not sure.

The varieties I grow are 'Russian' (from Edible Landscapes), 'Angel Red' & 'Wonderful' (from a vendor at our local farmers market), a pink flowered form that has never set fruit and 'Compacta' from a local plant sale - its fruit are very similar to my 'State Fair' in size. My 'State Fair' was a gift from a worker at a local botanic garden who said it was a left over plant that had been kept in a pot for years. She said it was 'State Fair' but it was not tagged. Whatever it is, it blooms most of the year for me in south Raleigh and sets lots of fruit. The fruit from the earliest flowers will size up to tennis ball size, later flowers make even smaller fruits. The exterior is kinda brown with a red blush. I wait until the fruits split open, sunshine makes the arils color up pink and red (otherwise they would be white). The flavor is close to store bought 'Wonderful' to me. I juice them and blend them into smoothies.

I was told that some poms have seeds that can upset your stomach. I was told that 'Eight Ball' was one of those.

Allot of pom growers here in NC :) I have had 2 verities in ground for 3 years now, longer in pots (Wonderful & Parfianka). I had the wonderful flower but they were knocked off last year so didnt fruit. I have 2 Parfianka but one got mowed down 2 years ago but came back. Its in a well protected spot in the yard & is now 6 or 7 feet tall. The second is out in the open & it died back to the roots last winter but came back nicely, it hasn't died back this year (3 ft tall now). Iv got maybe 10-15 different verities in pots that Iv collected over the years. I plan to put them all in the ground close to a long south facing wall as a landscaping attempt. I don't expect them all to live but a fun experiment for me! Can you guys post pictures of your poms? Id love to see other specimens here in central NC .
Thanks

In the Pacific Northwest here (Olympia, WA) zone 8a and it is possible for regular pomegranate varieties to grow here but they normally get killed down to their roots about every five to eight years during a particularly cold Winter. There are cold-hardier varieties though.

I have a Parfianka planted right next to a Crimson Sky. According to some sources, the cold hardiest pomegranates have hard seeds, a trait that appears impossible to breed out while still maintaining the genes for cold hardiness, but these are both soft-seeded varieties and pretty cold hardy.

In this climate they don't really begin leafing out until late May, but they make up for it with vigorous growth in the Summer. This far north, another important consideration is to chose sweeter earlier-ripening varieties (These earlier ripening varieties oftentimes have a smaller fruit size, but that doesn't always have to be the case). A standard pomegranate like Wonderful isn't going to ripen very well here outside.