Surh Anor is a great choice, one of the very sweet Russian cultivars.

Patty S.

If you are in zone 6 get a Kazake, it is considered the most hardy. I was just eating a fruit from my tree a few hours ago. The flavor is your standard pomegranate flavor, i.e. its good. Rolling River was selling them at some point.

Scott

Thanks Scott, I will look up Rolling River to see if they have it.

I was looking recently and it looks like they don't have it now. The one Patty mentions and Salavatski are two they have in stock that are hardy. Kazake is more hardy but those two are a close second.

Scott

I had these 3 set fruit last year for the 1st time and kazake was the sweetest and had the darkest colored arils of the lot. However it was also the smallest fruited but still decent sized. I really could not tell a whole lot of difference in flavor, all 3 were very good. Salavatski, the largest fruited of these reminded me slightly of blood orange. This year suhr anor is the most productive and I had no fruit set on kazake. I only had about 4 fruits on Salavatski and one of them weighed 2 pounds. I am not sure why the low fruit set this year, anyway looking forward to next year when hopefully I will get a lot more. Kaj acik anor is the same age but has never set a single fruit yet.

Hi Shane,

How long has it taken for your 3 varieties to bear fruit, please?

I'd love to plant the hardiest one with some protection in my zone but can't find kazake for sale at any nursery others mentioned here.

My poms are 5 years old. I grew them in containers the 1st couple years sincer they were so small. When I finally planted them in the ground they took off in growth. Rolling River nursery in CA plans on having kazake for sale in the near future. Bass at Trees of Joy in Bethlehem, PA may carry kazake. You should contact him and see. He is a great and knowledgable guy.

In terms of fruit size I have also noticed Kazake being small - I have two Kazakes fruiting this year and both have fruits that are the size of racquetballs. That and my "Hardy Russian" from EL have fruited (which is either similar to or same as Salavatski), the Hardy Russian sounds like your Salavatski. All of them taste good and not all that different from the store version.

I grew out most of my poms from cuttings, they are easy like figs. I can give you some Kazake cuttings if you want to try.

Scott

Scott,

I'd love to get kazeke cuttings from you. How do I go about getting it, please? Should I send you e-mail directly? I don't mind paying for it. Thank you so much.

Right, just send me an email.

Scott

I just started-out growing pom,s a few years back with seed,s from store bought pom,s,threy grew very fast and this year one produced 8 fruits.My last 2 winters had dipped down to -3 and -4 for two nights and they had no die back.They are most likely Wonderful,s.

Do Kazake and Salvatski ripen easily back there?

We don't get as much heat in the PNW as most do back east, so if they ripen in October back there, they probably won't ripen at all up here.
THanks,
John S
PDX OR

persimmonbob,

I can't say enough good things about Wonderful in my locale, good to see that its range includes zone 6.

Interestingly enough, Wonderful are very sweet just before they are fully ripe, even before the arils have turned completely red. It isn't until they are ripe that they develop their full flavor/tartness & deep red color, and at dead ripe they develop a mellow wine-like flavor. I often have to harvest some on the early side because the critters are drawn to the sweetness. It's a special fruit at any stage of ripeness, and has good size to it as well.

Wonderful is the standard for a reason, but I just wish it was earlier-ripening for those of us who have already had our first frost.

I understand that Wonderful's are beeing replaced by Grenada's is this true? It suppose to be better in all respects including coldhardy.If this is true i sure like to get a couple bud sticks.

How are everyone's hardy pomegranates doing this year?

I have one lone fruit on Salavatski. Does not seem like it was optimal weather for poms this year in VA.

My Austin, Salavatski, and Favorite survived last winter in ground unscathed and I'm excited for them. Favorite seems to be the healthiest of all 3. Austin seems more sensitive to rain than most and is least healthy. I'm letting a bunch more try their first winter outside this year, crossing fingers for them :).

I'd love to hear how everyone else's plants are doing.

My 3 potted poms haven't put on much growth at all in their second year. When I saw Parfianka (one of the 3, along with Granada and Red Silk) described as "Zone 7 - 9. (warm 6 perhaps)" on EL, I decided to plant it (see pic below). It's a wet spot at the bottom of the yard, so I built up the soil under it and mounded the soil around it (mulch TBD). The fabric container was falling apart anyway, so I would have had to re-pot it soon if I didn't plant it. It's on the North side of the fence, so that should block most of the winter sun, helping to keep it dormant.

I've also ordered a Salavatski from Isons, which I'll plant in the same general area.

I still haven't heard back from anyone if the hardy pomegranates will ripen in a cooler, winter rainy climate like here in PNW, but I'd love to.
Thanks
John S
PDX OR

It depends how hardy you need it to be.

Parfianka has survived a much colder winter than usual, in Olympia, WA, zone 8a, up against a south-facing brick wall in a warm and sunny spot, and is looking good 2 years later.

I'm also growing Crimson Sky, which they say should be able to survive zone 7, and should have the advantage of being able to ripen more easily, in cooler climates with a shorter growing season.

From the research I did, Crimson Sky should have slightly bigger fruits than Favorite, but Favorite is probably slightly hardier.