There's a magnificent huge ancient tree in Seattle's International District that bears fruit every year. I have one in my yard in W. Seattle, but it is only a few years old and has not borne fruit. There's a 15 ft. tall tree a few blocks from here that I don't believe has ever borne fruit yet. Plant in a protected spot.

when i was in oregon i had some loquat seeds i planned to sow but never got around to it. at the time, i knew that they would survive the winter temps, given some protection at the harshest times, but didn't know too much about fruit set. also, i don't know how many times i've loitered in that azumano parking lot when i was in college, but i never noticed that tree! i'll look for it when i got back for a visit. the other reason i had considered growing loquats at the time is that i had heard they made fairly decent container plants.
now that i'm in tucson, i see loquat trees everywhere. the night temps here in the winter can dip to freezing and the winter daytime temps can be fairly chilly, too. loquats are all setting fruit now, at a time when i think it would be too cold in oregon.

just a note. if you are buying loquats, make sure you aren't buying any that are seed grown. the quality of fruit can be unpredictable, though the tree is still nice.

-ming

Here is a link that might be useful: loquats, crfg

Eric,

Thanks for the encouraging news. Can you let me know the approximate location of the tree in Seattle's International District? I may look it up when we come up to visit close relatives who live nearby. What variety is your loquat?

Ming,

I got the information about loquat tree in Corvallis from the link below and I followed it up with a call to Azumano
and had a nice chat with a lady who works there who provided me with the information. It is right next to the building, I am told and fairly big.

I planted a Gold Nugget seedling and will take a chance with the taste of the fruit.

Here is a link that might be useful: Loquat tree in Corvallis

I don't know the street, but it is one or 2 blocks north of Dearborn, and about 2 blocks east of weller. It's in the yard of one of the few houses in the International District. It's big and dwarfs the house. You can't miss it.

I don't know the cultivar I have. It's fully green, not bronze-leafed.

There are large specimens in Portland, but I do not know if they have fruited successfully.

The Seattle location I've been to where there were fruiting loquats had at least four of them. Part of the fruit was lying on the ground/pavement beneath, like a capet of yellow golfballs. The site was mostly buildings and (alot of) pavement, so it was probably nice and hot in summer.

I think the 1990 winter was pretty hard on this species here. Jacobson, TREES OF SEATTLE - SECOND EDITION says "In Seattle, uncommon: most are young" and lists 8 addresses where loquat trees can be seen (including one "about" 33' high).

Mine may be seed-grown. It has nice leaves but has not flowered or fruited. It is planted on the south side of my house by a concrete house wall. Parts of Portland and Seattle near the water have very moderated temperatures, where frosts seldom occur. I would think you might need that environment to get fruit.

I saw one at the south end of Lake Washington fruiting nicely at least once, it was back from the street but it could still be seen that it looked just like 'Gold Nugget' lollipop trees that had been in local nurseries. Later it melted in the 1990 winter, as did others--a frosted loquat is not a happy sight, effect is like corrosive acid had been poured over tree.

Don't remember if it came back and is still there.

I just saw the International District tree in Seattle. WOW!! It is amazing. Dwarfs the house.

The +/- 33 foot one is at 612 NW 65th St.

There is a wonderful fruiting loquat in Portland at the corner of SE 12th and Clinton, hanging over the sidewalk. Yum :>

Genia,

Thanks for posting the location of the loquat tree in inner SE. You have provided me with the most concrete affirmation yet that loquats are indeed viable in Portland. I will check it out soon, even if it means that I have to create an excuse to go there (maybe a trip to Portland Nursery). The loquat seedling that I planted is in inner NE, near Sabin Elementary, fairly close to the tree you reported and at a similar elevation. So hopefully the climate is pretty comparable. I plan on protecting the seedling from freezes for a few winters (anti-transpirant spray, covers) and then leave it to its own devices and hopefully it will thrive like the one at Clinton and 12th.

Hi, I'm trying to grow loquat trees here in Beaverton Oregon. I've been following your conversation on this. Loquats are my favorite fruit, and as you know is not a known fruit here in the NW. I bought 4 very young trees about 10" tall. I plan to replant in larger pots as needed. I plan to bring them in to my garage during the winter until they are a stronger tree. Once they are I plan to plant in my yard. Do you have any suggestions.
Thanks,
Kimmers49

South exposure out of cold winds. As you can see from above discussion long-established examples of some size, that manage to fruit at least part of the time are present in urban communities in this region so I would not say the tree was unknown here - local garden centers offer these rather consistently. As with many other broad-leaved evergreens that are planted on local properties what happens occasionally is that these are burned by colder winters here.

For description, listing and photo from a local dealer scroll down to Eriobotrya.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cistus Nursery : Mail Order : Plant Catalog : C-G

This post was edited by bboy on Thu, Jan 29, 15 at 14:36

I don't know about Portland, but I bought one from a grower here in Canada last week near Victoria, BC. He had many outside and they were beautiful. Http://www.fruittreesandmore.com

We have two loquats, they are about 6 or 7 years old, and one of them is fruiting for the first time this year. We don't know what variety they are, and honestly we never expected them to fruit.

I realize this is a very old thread, but hoping for any updates about loquat success/failure stories here in Oregon? Thanks

I have a loquat tree that was about a foot tall that a friend from Cali gave me. It was in a cheap plastic container and left on the side of my house which is located in SE Portland near the 205. By the time I remembered it was out there we had been hit with the snowpocalypse of 2017 (which consisted of multiple ice storms and foot deep snow). I'm not sure there was a leaf left when the spring came round. To my surprise, after replanting it in a larger container, it is now 3' tall and the foliage looks quite prolific. I'm debating leaving it in the container since it looks so nice on my patio... or planting it on my undersized property. I'm also wondering if I brought it inside in the winter and put it under led lights if it would increase or decrease the health of the plant. Ultimately, my goal is to have it fruit regardless of it's location.

Plant it in the ground outside.

Its an old thread but wanted to add some details.

There are atleast 4 trees > 50 years old in Seattle.

They flower and fruit EVERY year, including this brutal year with the coldest recorded February.

All these 4 trees produced a substantial crop of fruits in June into early July. The fruits were large size on a couple of trees and quite flavorful. The other trees were ok but the fruit size was small.

It is easy to grow loquats in Seattle. You need to choose varieties that rebloom when they are frosted out. This isn't as rare as you might think. Unfortunately many/most? of the Southern California named varieties will not produce fruit here unless they are protected during the coldest parts of winter. Better approach is to get varieties from Northern Florida where they do suffer frosts.

One option is to graft scionwood to quince to keep the trees small (under 6 feet tall) and then protect them in winter. The other benefit of quince rootstock is it induces precocious fruiting and enhances fruit size and sugar accumulation in the fruit. Modern commercial orchards use quince as loquat rootstock.

So what varieties of loquat are recommendation for Pacific Northwest or Seattle areas?

I'm not sure it makes any difference :-) While the tree itself will grow here easily (lowlands of the Puget Sound basin), it is unlikely to produce any edible fruit except if an abnormally hot summer. And we don't see many of those. And a late Arctic front - like we experience from time to time - can damage the winter blooming flowers as well.

btw, you can order a loquat through Raintree or One Green World if it proves difficult to find in local nurseries

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) had you planted some loquat here for your garden?what areas is it? Any fruiting so far at all? Thank you for information.

Don't grow it myself. But it is not all that uncommon in area gardens and I have spec'd it for various design clients. Fruiting will be very much hit or miss in our area....simply because it blooms during the worst of our winter weather and it needs more heat in early summer for the fruit to ripen than we typically receive.