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stephanite

Fruits!

20 years ago

Just thought it would be fun to start a fruit topic.

What fruits are you currently growing?

  • Calamondin Orange (indoors)
  • Meyer Lemon (indoors) but the one I got was kinda sucky so it isn't doing well :/
  • Raspberries - not sure what variety, they were here when we moved in. It grows in a really shady area to my surprise
  • Rhubarb - again, not sure what variety, but they were here when I moved in
  • Strawberries in a hanging container

What new plants are you planning on growing this year?

  • Wintergreen (it has edible berries!)
  • Lycium Fruit (wolfberry) - I grew these at my grandma's house, I'm going to try growing it here at the new house.
  • Honey Queen Raspberries (If I can find it! No luck so far.)
  • Fruit bush of some sort - maybe saskatoons, to divide the front and back yards.

Do you have a wish list of fruits you want to grow eventually?

  • Lingonberry - I found out Hole's carry lingonberries. I might get one this year if I figure out where I'm putting it.
  • Cloudberries
  • Cherries- a sweet kind
  • Apples of some sort
  • Apricots
  • Plums
  • Honeyberries (never tasted them but they look cool)
  • anything off the beaten path

What fruits do you wish you can grow but are out of your zone?

  • Key LImes
  • Limes
  • Pluots
  • Pomegranates
  • Oranges
  • Blood Oranges
  • Bananas
  • Pineapples
  • Mangos

How about you?

Comments (21)

  • 20 years ago

    What fruits are you currently growing?

    -Raspberries (unknown variety)
    -strawberries 'Kent' and another unknown variety
    -apples Goodland, Norland, and September Ruby
    -nanking cherry and Evans cherry
    -Arctic kiwi (not holding my breath for fruit from this one!)
    -rhubarb (unknown variety, but it's a monster!)
    -plum (has never produced though)
    -saskatoons

    What new plants are you planning on growing this year?

    Actually, once everything starts ripening, my hands are full enough right now, so I'm not adding anything this year :0)

    Do you have a wish list of fruits you want to grow eventually?

    -I'd like to try grapes sometime again, this time will just get a hardy variety and not try with the borderline ones.
    -Pear
    -Apricot

    What fruits do you wish you can grow but are out of your zone?

    I would love;
    -pineapple
    -mangoes
    -bananas

    Can I add one more category? How about, what have you tried to grow, but have since abandoned?

    For me, that would be blueberries. Tried 3 times, but I guess the soil just isn't acidic enough :(

    Laurie

  • 20 years ago

    Laurie, I want to get to the point where I have more fruit than what I know what to do with! You're so lucky!

    Can I add one more category? How about, what have you tried to grow, but have since abandoned?

    Good question! I read an article in the newspaper on how to do grow a pineapple with a grocery store bought pineapple. I've tried twice and all that happened was it rotted, not root. I've tried twice so far. I might have to cheat next time and buy one already in a pot.

  • 20 years ago

    What fruits are you currently growing?

    * Apple-unknown variety -came with the house.
    * Blueberries-a mix for cross fertilisation
    * Raspberries  Killarny & Boyne. Prefer the flavour of the Killarny.
    * Rhubarb  variety unknown.
    * Strawberries- a day neutral variety

    What new plants are you planning on growing this year?

    No new fruit. I get more fruit than I know what to do with as it is.
    There is also the consideration here of not attracting bears into town.

    Do you have a wish list of fruits you want to grow eventually?

    Here? No.

    What fruits do you wish you can grow but are out of your zone?

    * Passionfruit
    * Rambutan

    What have you tried to grow, but have since abandoned?

    * Gooseberries-the tips of the canes rooted wherever they touched the ground & the snow pressed the canes to the ground.

    Ian

  • 20 years ago

    What fruits are you currently growing?
    * Raspberries  Two unknown varieties, came with the house. They are old varieties and make very nice fruit, one is larger than the other.
    * Rhubarb  variety unknown. Laurie, my rhubarb could kick your rhubarb's butt - LOL just kidding but it's a monster too.
    * Nanking cherries - they self seed in my hedges.

    What new plants are you planning on growing this year?

    Nothin.

    Do you have a wish list of fruits you want to grow eventually?

    I wouldn't mind trying gooseberries eventually, since I like making jelly. I don't have room in my city lot for many trees and shrubs, and I don't like the messy look of brambling fruits, but I put up with raspberries so maybe a couple of gooseberries would be ok...
    Also I hope to grow a grapevine eventually.

    What fruits do you wish you can grow but are out of your zone?

    I would love a citrus tree of any kind. Also avocados, avocado trees are beautiful.

    What have you tried to grow, but have since abandoned?

    * The yard had an old Pembina plum tree when I moved in, but the branches kept dying off and the rootstock was suckering really bad so I cut it down last year.

    *The yard also had a saskatoon tree when I moved here, but it was 18' high, only 4' from the neighbour's foundation, and only produced about 3 scraggly berries a year. I don't know much about saskatoons but I didn't think they were supposed to get that large and I think you have to have more than one to get fruit. So I cut it down too.

    * strawberries have failed me, but I don't really care because I'm not that big of a fan and my dogs steal all the fruit in my yard anyway...

  • 20 years ago

    Great Questions Steph!

    What fruits are you currently growing?

    · Rubus ÂLatham & ÂBoyne Raspberry
    · RHEUM Rhubarb? They were here when I moved in
    · Ribes nigrum Black Currant
    · Prunus tomentosa Black Nanking Cherry
    · Amelanchier alnifolia ÂThiessenÂ, ÂNorthlineÂ, ÂSmoky Saskatoons
    · Malus baccata Siberian Crab  for the birds
    · Prunus virginiana Chokecherries  for the birds

    What new plants are you planning on growing this year?

    · Fragaria Strawberry ÂTristar  A day neutral strawberry. DH surprised me with a strawberry pyramid with the left over lumber from the new deck.
    · Viburnum trilobum Highbush Cranberry  for the birds

    Do you have a wish list of fruits you want to grow eventually?

    · Hardy Grape ÂValiantÂ
    · Canada Plum
    · Honeyberry

    What fruits do you wish you can grow but are out of your zone?

    · Peaches & Nectarines!!!!!!!!!!

    Sharon

  • 20 years ago

    What fruits are you currently growing?
    strawberry unknown variety
    rhubarb came with house 30+ yrs ago
    apple unknown yellow/green variety produces really good, usually have too many..
    Elderbery for the birds
    Chokecherry for the birds..
    lowbush cranberry.. has produced nothing
    blueberry have had a few berries variety unknown

    New planted last fall
    grape valiant
    raspberry yellow
    saskatoon
    high bush cranberry

    What new plants are you planning on growing this year?
    More berry shrubs for the birds..
    Anyone got any ideas ?

    Do you have a wish list of fruits you want to grow eventually?
    apricots
    plums

    What fruits do you wish you can grow but are out of your zone?
    cherries
    peaches

  • 20 years ago

    What fruits are you currently growing?
    Rhubarb, unknown variety
    Viburnum trilobum (2 years old, no berries yet)
    Eunonymous alatus (am i right on that name?) Berries in the fall.
    Nanking cherries, 2 bushes, produce fairly well.

    What new plants are you planning on growing this year?
    Not planning on any new ones

    Do you have a wish list of fruits you want to grow eventually?
    I'd like some crabapples (ornamental, probably) and dh keeps saying he'd like apple trees. Hasn't happened yet. :)

    What fruits do you wish you can grow but are out of your zone?
    Nectarines or peaches - yum!

  • 20 years ago

    We live in the mountains of Northern Vermont. -30 is common, -45 occurs occasionally. 80 to 90 day growing season is usual, but last year the frosts came very late.
    We grow many kinds and colors of both currants and gooseberries, hybrid elderberries, Valiant grapes, hardy and early ripening apples, and pears. We get virus on sour cherries, bush cherries, and plums, so they live only 8 or 9 years. Honey berries,aronias, hybrib mt ash, hardy apricots produce, but the fruits are only for the birds. We are trying saskatoons, but they are only beginning to bear. Our soil is far too alkaline for blueberries, and our subsoil is lime.
    We can't complain. We pick blueberries nearby, and have two freezers full of fruits and vegetables each fall. The secret is to seek out things that grow well in the area. Altho we always do some experimenting. How else does one know. Catalogs aren't reliable.
    We like to be able to grow dessert, seedless grapes, better pears, and Northern Spy apples.

  • 20 years ago

    rhubarb
    nanking cherry....moved it last year...planted two years ago as a small twig...so haven't got any fruit yet...will see if it survives the move in spring.
    two kinds of blueberries
    3 kinds of raspberries
    Kent strawberries.......tried tristar but they were small and went monkey faced....so pulled them out.
    wild saskatoons.

    Nothing new planned for this year.....but would like to try grapes,kiwi and a high bush cranberry.

    We also have to becareful not to draw the bears in.

    Sierra

  • 20 years ago

    Lets see, I have growing currently;
    'Kent' Strawberries, and unknown raspberries

    What am I putting in over the next couple of years?
    Apple trees (haven't decided on varieties yet, will be asking for help closer to when I'll be planting)
    Plum trees (Same thing, I'll be asking for help)
    Gooseberries
    Black and Red Currants
    Grapes
    Corylus avellana or Hazelnut, suppose to be good to zone 3 (anyone growing it?)
    Kiwi

    I'm lucky in the fact that I don't have to give precious room to blueberries or saskatoons. I can go out in the bush and pick bucket fulls. I've actually got one dog who taught herself to pick blueberries, saskatoons and rose hips. She is like a little bear when we are out as she will also take the easy route and try for your bucket when you aren't looking.

    Syreeta

  • 20 years ago

    Syreeta, I don't know about Corylus avellana (European Hazelnut), which I am seeing minimum zone 4 for, but Corylus americana is a wild shrub in Eastern and Central Canada (it grows here in MB) and it would almost certainly be hardy for you. As far as comparing nut quality, I'm not sure, the wild hazelnuts here are good if you can get to them before there's critters inside... ewww....

    Maybe someone is growing C. avellana and can help you out.

  • 20 years ago

    What fruits are you currently growing?

    Amelanchier alnifolia ÂNorthline & ÂSmoky Saskatoons
    Nanking Cherry
    Cherryplum 'Convoy'
    U of Sask. Cherry trees - my "babies" - about 18" high
    'Big Momma' now called, officially, 'Crimson Passion'
    'Big Late' now called, officially, 'Cupid'
    I also grew Physalis peruviana Cape gooseberries last year, but they didn't ripen. I have to do some modifications to this problem this year.

    What new plants are you planning on growing this year?

    ACTINIDIA kolomikta Arctic beauty kiwi
    Passiflora quadrangularis fingers crossed
    Rheum rhabarbarum German Wine rhubarb

    Do you have a wish list of fruits you want to grow eventually?
    I'm going to try to stick with what I've got now and see how everything does. I might try some honeyberries at some point.

    Shauna

  • 20 years ago

    Looks like a lot of us wants to try the Honeyberries. Holes has it listed so I might get some from them if I can figure out where to put them.

    Hole's also has Wyoming Black raspberries listed. I think I'll try some of those.

    I'm having a hard time finding Honeyqueen raspberries, but the only place that has them listed I can find in Canada is DNA gardens, who doesn't have good customer feedback so I'm wary. I might settle for Fall Gold (I think Vesseys has it listed there and Canadian Tire had some last year) but I really wanted the Honeyqueens. :/

    I think I'll try writing a few nurseries and see if they'll bring some in.

  • 20 years ago

    stephanite.....try T&T seeds catalogue for the yellow raspberries......I can't remember the name of mine as they were given to me by a friend.....but she purchased hers from T&T.

    Sierra

  • 20 years ago

    Boughen Nurseries of Valley River, Manitoba, has 'Honey Queen' raspberry, and also 'Berry Blue' and 'Blue Bird' honeyberry. I'd definitely recommend the place - excellent stock and service, bare root, shipped by mail or bus.

    A pretty unsophisticated catalogue (the same spelling mistakes show up every year in the 10 years or so that we've been getting the catalogue from them, LOL!) with few scientific names and no website but a good place.
    (I would not make anything like the same recommendation for T&T, based on my mom's very hit-and-miss results from them....yet inexplicably, she keeps ordering, probably simply because the catalogue keeps showing up - I think they do aerial drops of it over the city and countryside! )

    Anyway, if you are interested in Boughen (an excellent source of all sorts of hardy fruits and ornamentals, by the way, and also offering more and more perennials), here's the info to request a catalogue:
    Boughen Nurseries
    Valley River, Manitoba
    R0L 2B0
    PH: 204-638-7618

    Note: I see that the other "Boughen Nurseries" - the one in Nipawin, Sask. - does have a website now, but the two businesses are not associated. We only bought a small number of trees from the one in Nipawin - which were fine - but we have done enough business with the Valley River Boughen over the years to actually recommend them.

  • 20 years ago

    And I guess I should have read back a bit further before posting...

    Boughen Nurseries (Valley River, Man.) also has 'Wyoming' raspberry. We tried these - very mild flavor, which I found sort of disappointing; very long arching canes (which made me wonder if there is hybridization with blackberry in its heritage?) We dug them out after a couple years and gave them to our neighbor who has kept them.

  • 20 years ago

    What fruits are you currently growing?
    Evans Cherry
    Rhubarb (unknown as it was given to me)
    Arctic kiwi


    What new plants are you planning on growing this year?
    None

    Do you have a wish list of fruits you want to grow eventually?
    Saskatoons
    Apple of some kind

    What fruits do you wish you can grow but are out of your
    zone?
    Delicious apples (I love them)
    Peaches
    Bing cherries


    How about, what have you tried to grow, but have since abandoned?
    Ure pears (the tree died after one season)

  • 20 years ago

    oh boy this could be fun

    current:
    unknown strawberries, raspberries and cherry that came with the house.
    Found out that the cherry tree used to have 3 companions, but the neighbor also has the same variety so pollen no problem. The problem for me is that the previous owners planted everything in areas I want to use for something else!

    This year:
    try rhubarb and a self pollinating, hardy to zone 3 plum tree (Mount Royale) out front

    Future: Here's the fun!

    I want a berry hedge! We have 150 x75ft lot on a corner with almost no trees or fence. Hedges can go to edge of property to maximize yard space (flowerbeds for me!) So, while I try to convince the other half, my wish list for a hedge is:
    nanking cherry
    currant
    saskatoon

    Also saw some hardy apricots and feel i must try gooseberries (in a corner though due to thorns and kids and dogs!)

    Wish list that is ruined by weather:
    That wonderful grape arbor I had in the desert SW- both white and red both seedless and seeded 10 ft tall trunks that shaded my bbq! Almonds! Probably pears are also out.

    Wouldn't do:
    Apples- they are too easy for me to acquire all over town. Chokecherries are the same issue- I can go pick them virtually anywhere and people even GIVE them to me from their picking trips!

  • 20 years ago

    Sierra, thanks so much! I T&T has Fall Gold, which are the cheapest I've seen them, so I'll probably order from them. They also have a nice variety, so I have a feeling I'll get a few other things from them.

    abgardeneer, thanks for the heads up on Boughen Nurseries. I'll definitely give them a ring. And thanks for the warning on Wyoming Black. Maybe I'll reconsider that one.

  • 20 years ago

    My local Canadian Tire just got some Black Hawk Raspberries in. Does anyone have any experience growing these? Has anyone ever tasted them?

  • 20 years ago

    I have Fall Gold raspberries, a whole patch of them in my garden. I like the look of the yellow berries mixed into the red berries in a bowl, so I pick a few Boyne (red) and a few Fall Gold (yellow).

    Brenda

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