Love the idea of creating an edible (for human) landscape. Have a few books on the subject, but am interested in talking to people who have actually done this.
What plants have you found success with in the PA (Zone 6) area? Plants I would like to include are Amelanchier, Cornus mas, Blueberry, Daylily, Roses, Pansy, American Filbert etc.
I am working along that line, also. I have a couple large planter boxes in the side yard that are growing strawberries, and I put in a couple peach trees this fall. I also have a little landscaped round bed in the front yard that has blueberries in the center and the perimeter is lined with Iris(s). I tried to grow a grape vine out back but it didn't take off like I wanted it to!
I would love to hear about how others are creating a beautiful edible landscape!
Hopefully more people will post after Thanksgiving. I didn't realize Iris was edible...what part do you eat? Do you cover the strawberries or fight the birds for the fruit?
The Iris is not edible that i know of - it just looks good with the blueberries! :-)
I got tired of the birds eating all the ripe strawberries so I built little screen cages over both planter boxes, made out of 1/2" wire mesh. The wood frames have little handles on each side so I can lift off the covers and tend to the berries. So far I have been able to keep out everything except the ants!
I just did a trade for some sunflower seeds for some marvelous tall sunflowers! I can't wait for spring so I can plant those happy seeds out back where there is lots of sun!
What other ideas do you have for your edible landscaping?
I was really inspired by the following book:
The Practical Garden of Eden, Beautiful Landscaping with Fruits and Vegetables
by Fred Hagy, published in 1990 by The Overlook Press
See if you can find the book at a local library... it's full of wonderful ideas like espaliered fruit trees, strawberries in hanging baskets and mixed fruit and vegetable beds.
Just seems to make sense that at least of portion of our landscaping plants should be edible. I realized the birds and criters would harvest most of the fruits and nuts, but it sure would be wonderful to be able to walk outside and pick your own snack.
I just bought my first home in March and am so financially strapped that I don't anticipate being able to afford landscaping for several years!!! So I should have lots of time to develop a master plan for the property.
Funny how so many gardeners and environmentalists spend so much time and money feeding the birds with seed from stores. Then they have problems keeping the squirrels away from the seed!! All people need to do to attract birds to their property is provide the proper plants for food, shelter and nesting!!
Even though I'm no gourmet cook, it would also be great to walk outside and clip some herbs for dinner.
I too love the idea of wandering through the yard & garden, nibbling as I go! My husband jokes that my plants are required to multitask -- my ideal plant is pretty, smells great, tastes great, and provides goodies for the birds or butterflies as well! I'm a believer in adding pretty vegetable plants or strawberries to landscaping beds, too. The neighborhood kids get a kick out of the notion that there's almost always something to taste in our yard if they ask. The summer after we moved here, one young girl introduced me to a couple of her new friends: "This is Miss Jill. She eats flowers!!!"
I like to do windowboxes with edibles.... Nasturtiums are a good choice (leaves & flowers are peppery, and the seed pods can be pickled like capers), and last year I had a pretty combination of 'Sweet Pickles' pepper & 'Lemon Gem' signet marigold. (I have seeds for both on my trade list!) I love planting a deck pot with a cherry tomato and basil (instant salad), and last year I also put 'Tumbling Tom' hybrid cherry tomatoes into several containers (small trailing plant with perhaps the most tomato-tasting fruit I've ever had in a cherry variety). I also love the little wild-type alpine strawberries for containers; the berries are too small to try to pick enough for a pie, but the flavor will knock your socks off.
We love all sorts of herbs, and fresh herbs really are incredible in the kitchen. I even freeze them for the winter (mince the leaves in the food processor & add a little oil, as you would for pesto, them freeze in ice cube trays). We've had good luck with everything except rosemany, which hasn't overwintered for us -- I think even the hardy varieties like 'Arp' have a tough time with the warm then cold again conditions we've been having around here in winter.
I like edible flowers, too. Violas and pansies are easy, and some of them (especially the blue ones) have this wonderful bergamot or cucumber flavor (others just taste like not much). Borage has a pretty blue flower with a cucumber flavor...
I haven't ordered from them yet, but there's a nursery in southern VA called Edible Landscaping.... http://www.eat-it.com/
We keep meaning to get down there as part of a day or weekend trip to the Blue Ridge Mtns...... maybe this spring!
Jill
Jill, I've been in 6b for several years, where everyione says rosemary won't overwinter. I've grown some as large as 4 feet wide by 5 feet tall, living 5 years until I decided to move them (wrong!).
The secret is a heat sink. In my 2 cases, an adjacent rock wall to soak up some winter sun's warmth, and a brick-lined flower bed up against a concrete blockwall that got midday sun.
Thanks! I'm really glad to know somebody has done it, and how!
I'm hoping to get my new herb garden going this spring. The site is in a protected ell of the foundation, so I'll put some rosemary against the south-facing wall, and we'll see if that works. It gets sun nearly all day long, so that should work as a heat sink, and I'll put some bricks around them too.
BTW, Tom DeBaggio (herb guru) told me a couple of times that Rosemary really will overwinter in our zone as long as I choose a hardy variety like 'Arp' but no luck so far.
Secludegardens,
You wanted to hear from someone who had landscaped with edibles. I'd like to share my 18 year gardening with edibles experience with you. Store bought fruit and vegetables pale by comparison.
I started landscaping with edibles about 20 years ago. My husband and I moved 3 years ago and are starting from scratch again. We lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for eighteen years before moving and that is the landscaping I would like to share. That house is located on 1/4 acre in the eastern foothills overlooking San Jose, CA (Zone 16 according to Sunset Gardens Magazine [Zone 9 by USDA standards]). The building pad for the house and part of the garden are on flat ground, but the eastern side of the property has a 4 foot retaining brick wall with a steep bank behind it.
When we purchased the house, the yard had one lonely Red Delicious apple tree. The rest of the yard was covered with English Ivy and junipers. About 1/3 of the yard was covered by a cement patio placed on the south and east sides of the house.
I had grown up about twenty miles from our new (To us.) house so I had a very good idea about the climate, but I needed more specific information. It took us some time to pull out the junipers and ivy so I used that period to do some research. I also bought a rain gauge, a max/min thermometer and a log book and kept records.
With the number of chill hours (1,000+) that part of the Bay Area gets, and the fact that the temperature seldom gets below 32 degrees, I could grow just about everything.
I planted the trees first. For the most part, the trees are in walled berms on the slope behind the brick wall. This places them up almost level with the yard fence and so they get sun all day. Except for one pecan tree, planted on the west side of the backyard, I decided to go with dwarf or semi-dwarf trees chosing nuts and fruit the family enjoyed. I could have bought full sized trees, but I would be limited to only three or four trees. Dwarf or semi-dwarf tree are easier to manage. Pruning, spraying and picking fruit don't require mountain climbing equipment. I picked self pollinating varieties if possible, otherwise, I bought fruit trees in pairs that were capable of pollinating each other. The pecan tree, planted in the middle of a 2 foot raised bed, took several yeard to get established, but then it took off and soon we had some very decent shade in the patio. As the tree grew, my husband pruned the bottom branches until the lowest branch was 10 feet above ground level. While most of the shrubs planted under the pecan are ornamentals, I planted two tea camellias, several ferns whose new fronds were edible and nasturtiums. There is enough morning and filtered sunlight for the nasturtiums to grow and reseed well and robustly. I used the trailing variety so the vines pour over the retaining wall.
Before I ran out of room for trees, I had one each of the following: apples ('Red Delicious', 'Cox Orange Pippin', 'Granny Smith' and 'Gravensein'), almonds ('All-in-One', a pink flowering 'Prince'), apricots ('Moorpark', 'Blenheim'), a 'Wonderful' pomegrante, a 'HoneyGold' nectarine, a 'Washington' navel orange, and a un-named fig given to me by a friend. I planted three of my favorite fruit: two 'Fuyu' and one 'Hachiya' persimmons. (These are regular sized trees, but they remain small or can easily be kept small.) I espalied a 'Flame' grapevinein a small west facing space next to the garage. I had two dwarf cherry trees, but one was girdled at the graft point about 5 years after it was planted. There were no cherry trees within pollination range so it remaining cherry tree would not produce fruit. Sadly, we had to chop it down.
I used several genetic dwarf peach trees as shrubs. The fruit from the older variety is not the best but the dark pink double flowers are gorgeous. I put a couple of sets of 4' wide by 3' high posts, strung wire between each set and planted grape vines between each set of posts. Over time, I had leaders trained along the wires. The overall effect during the growing season is that of loose long twigged shrub.
I considered most of the cement patio a waste of space — how many tables and chairs does one need? So for a number of years, I added 24 or 30 inch pots to my birthday and Christmas lists. I planted two lemon trees ('Eureka' and 'Improved Meyer'), two kumquat ('Meiwa' and 'Nagami'), a 'Star Ruby' grapefruit, a 'Trovita' navel, a 'Bearss' lime, a 'Rangpur' lime, a 'Kaffir' lime, and a 'Black Jack' dwarf fig. I had smaller pots for herbs.
I added ornamental shrubs and shade tolerant annuals for color. The squirrels got all but a few of the pecans. We had plenty of fresh nuts and fruit, gave some to our neighbors and dried the rest. The 'Meyer' lemon produced flowers and fruit all year round. I had begun adding shrubs with edible fruit when husband decided he was tired of the crowds and we moved to a ranch in central Texas.
It's important to know the chill hour requirement of of the fruit and nut trees and shrubs. Find out how many chill hours your area gets every year. Err on the safe side. Stick to varieties that will produce in your area. You can push the zone heatwise by providing warm microclimes, but you can't provide chill hours. Since I've had to start from scratch again, I've noticed that most fruit trees only seem to be available in a dwarf or semi-dwarf form although full sized ones can be found. I hope this long narrative has given you some help.
BettyDee
Wow, what a fabulous description, BettyDee! That gives me hope for my own long-range plans. I'm sure you hated to leave all your fruit trees and great landscaping, but I hope you're enjoying your new home! In case you haven't found it, there's a new TX gardening forum.... Thanks for posting from your experience!
wow - BettyDee- that is so inspiring! I'll bet that was a truly breathtaking view out your back door!
secluded gardens, I left my garden and home place of 50 years after my husband died and moved here to this higher area. There was nothing here except sagebrush and grass. Of course where i had been we had 80 acres of apples so tree fruit growing is not new to me.
Here i grow 2 varieties of cherries, 2 varieties of apricots, 4 diferent peach trees, 1 white mulberry tree. Have four varieties of raspberries, 3 or 4 kinds of strawberries, 4 blueberry bushes, 2 wonderful thornless blackberries. 2 varieties of Honeyberry. June berry(Service, Amelanchier) 2.. 6 or 7 kinds of Elderberries, black currant, Have a I think brown fig, that is very good, but has to be moved inside for the winter. I don't grow apples or pears as have friends who do and they require much care to be grown organically. There are probably others that i don't think of right now, but as you say it is wondeful to be able to go out into the garden and taste ones own fruit. Donna
Wow, looks like I missed all the action!!! I must have hit the 'Unwatch Thread' link in December when Hmstyl and I finished our exchange. I have been in and out of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia with my son and we finally arrived home on the 21st of January.
Anyway, I'm really excited to find all this interest in edible landscapes.
Jill...it sounds like you really make good use of your property. I didn't realize that Marigolds were edible. What part of the plant is edible? I hate the smell of Marigolds and don't think I could stand to eat them, but they would be a beautiful accent in salads (especially the central disk petals). Thanks for the tip about Borage...my son loves cucumber so maybe I can serve him some borage this summer! Do you have any pictures of your gardens, landscaping or containers that you can post for us?
BettyDee...Wow, it sounds like your experience could be a chapter out of the edible landscaping book I read. I would really love to see photos of your property in California. Any chance you can post photos for all of us to enjoy and learn from? It's hard to believe you fit all those trees and shrubs into such a small lot. Oh, can you tell us how to determine the chill hours for our area? I've never heard the expression and am not even sure what it is let alone how to figure out my chill hours.
Donna...I can't image leaving a home and 80 wonderful acres of fruit trees after 50 years. Well, at least you have the memories to reflect on. I love Amelanchier, and am told that the fruit is one of the best for human consumption. Do you like the fruit or do the birds always get to it first? I would love to see pictures of you old homestead or your new home.
Looking forward to more information and pictures!!!
We planted a variety of fruit and nut trees last summer so we haven't had a harvest season with them yet but my hubby seems to feel that if we feed the birds ie; provide a bird feeder for them then they will leave the trees alone. He bought a seed feeder and it is loaded with birds so I guess we will see when the fruit and nuts start. I love the idea of being able to just walk outside and pick a snack. I went to a nursery last summer and all the trees had fruit or nuts on them. It was the neatest experience to walk down aisles of trees and taste the fruit before we bought the trees. It's something that I will never forget. We bought 2 bing cherries, a keifer pear, a jonathan apple, a napolean nectarine, and two almonds Nonpareil and Ne Plus. It takes two different varieties to grow almonds.
-Juli
I don't care much for most marigolds, either -- they're so cheerful & colorful, but I agree with you about the smell! I think marigold petals are edible in general, though, and I wouldn't think that the petals would have that strong odor.
However, that's what makes 'Lemon Gem' special. The foliage has a nice *lemon* scent! And it's the little flowers that are edible. I harvested a bunch of the seeds last fall, and since they're my only marigold they should come true, so let me know if you want seeds. (Check my trade list & postings on the seed trade forum.)
I think signet marigolds & french marigolds are considered to be the "tastiest." As with any "edible" flower, YMMV. Personally, I find that many flowers may be "edible" but still be fairly tasteless, more like lettuce -- but much prettier!
I hope I'll get lots of good pics next summer with my new digital camera, but meanwhile here's a shot of that marigold:
Secludegardens,
I'll see if I can find some photos of my garden in California. We still have a lot of our things stored in the barn. Dwarf and semi-dwarf trees can be spaced much closer to each other and having a two tiered helped a lot, too. Miniatures grow well in large pots. When I started gardening, I wasn't aware of chill hours either. I succeeded only because I used varieties grown commercially in our area. University of California Extension Service was starting its Master Gardener Program and I was accepted into the program. I really learned a lot.
There are differing opinions on what constitutes a chill hour, but most agree that only the hours between 45ºF and 32ºF count as chill hours. The chill hour requirement of a tree represents the number of hours required to break dormancy and start the blooming process and vegetative growth. The easiest way to find out how many chill hours your area gets is to contact your county extension agent. The Extension Service is associated with a university system in your state. I've enclosed a link that might help you. http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomframe.jsp?query=need+for+chill+hours&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3D7e0e77212a6d2ba6%26clickedItemRank%3D6%26userQuery%3Dneed%2Bfor%2Bchill%2Bhours%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Ffruitsandnuts.ucdavis.edu%252Fweather%252Faboutchilling.shtml%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DNSCPResults%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Ffruitsandnuts.ucdavis.edu%2Fweather%2Faboutchilling.shtml
BettyDee
Critter...thanks for the information on the Marigold, and yes I would love some seeds. I don't have plants for trade, how about a few handmade botanical notecards in exchange for some seeds? Just bought my first home (small) and didn't plant anything this year.
Let me know if you want to trade. Here are a few of my butterfly cards.
Thanks for the info Juli...I visited CA a few years ago and wanted to move there just so I could grow a garden year round. I am envious of your climate!!!
BettyDee...I will check with my extension office about the chill hours. Are chill hours that different from Zones? Seems like plants with the same chill hours would grow in the same zones. I went to college for landscape design/horticulture and I never heard mention of the expression 'chill hours'. Of course I aware of the time/temperature period needed to break dormacy but not familiar with 'chill hours'. Maybe I was sleeping during that class! Looking forward to seeing your photos.
Secludegardens,
If you talking about USDA Plant Zones, these refer to probable minimum temperatures — cold hardiness. Chill hours is the amount of cold the plant needs and is independent of its hardiness. Since hardiness is independent from chill hours, it is possible that different plants may have the same chill hour requirement, but may vary in cold hardiness.
I really don't know know when the use of chill hours started. I know that northern plant varieties don't do well in the south and vice versa. I did some research and found that the number of chill hours within the same zone can very considerably — up to 600 hours. The number of chill hours can vary from year to year in your area. Your county agent may be able to tell you how much that can vary.
Meanwhile, enjoy making up your plant list. Given your latitude, I think you'll end up with a list that is longer than you'll have room for in your yard.
Another thing to consider when you plant is microclimates. You might be able to provide some extra protection for plants that are slightly less hardy for your zone.
Let me know if I can be of more help.
I'll keep looking for the photos.
Thanks for that information BettyDee. Edible landscaping is something that has interested me for a while, but my son is ill right now and we are pretty much broke. We moved into this house in March of 2004 and have done nothing with the landscaping to date. I was hoping to start some projects this year, but with my son being ill I doubt it will get done.
My property has enough trees, and I don't want to block out any more sunlight. Does anyone have any suggestions for shrubs with edible berries that are managable in size and not mangy looking. I would love to hear which cultivars of Currant, Blackberry and Blueberry are well behaved.
I will keep this information handy and start my planning this year. Hopefully next year I will be able to spend some money on landscaping.
I'm so sorry to hear your son has been so ill. I hope you'll be able to start a few seeds together..... watching seedlings sprout & grow has always been one of my favorite encouraging activities.
It's always good to take your time with the planning stage, especially when you're reworking an entire area. My DH teases me that I started planning our yard as the house was going up, and he's right! I draw out designs on graph paper as I go through the catalogs and make my lists. That way, I can put in a few things here and a few things there and still "save room" for other things I want to add later. Pay attention to mature sizes of trees & shrubs so you don't plant things too close to the house or too close together... those babies look so puny on their own at first that it's tempting to "fill in" with other plantings. Also, double check growing conditions for various plants so you know which ones need full sun, moist shade, etc. It'll save you headaches down the road if you think in terms of groups of plants with similar requirements for water, pH, light, etc.
Check out lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium, 1 to 3 feet tall), American cranberry bush (the no-bog kind, 8 to 12" high), and wintergreen (6 to 8") for plants that can serve as an edible groundcover.
If you have an area that gets sun even half the day, think about growing alpine strawberries ("wild" type). I grew red ones from seed a couple of years ago, and now I have a nice patch going as well as some in containers. I'm sorry I didn't save seeds from them (I'm new to this), but I'll do so next year. The tiny berries won't ever be enough for a pie, but they are awesome to snack on, with an intense, sweet, strawberry-candy sort of flavor.
Sounds like you need some good "understory" plants. If you have room for smaller trees, you might consider Chokecherry, Serviceberry, Paw-Paw (thought I saw a thread on how these can take a while to fruit, but sounds like a nifty little tree), American Persimmon.... You can find "native" varieties of these, and I think I've also seen cultivars bred for tastier eating. Also think about the lesser known "small fruits" such as bush cherry, gooseberry, honeyberry, currants (you mentioned those). I'm sorry I don't have good info on specific cultivars, but these are all further down the road in my plans.
I'm not sure there's any variety of bramble berry (blackberry, raspberry) that's well behaved, but if you have a sunny spot you could establish a bed of them and just chop around the edges every so often to discourage runners.
I'm sorry I don't have more in the way of actual experience to post..... Maybe somebody else can help recommend specific cultivars of these fruiting shrubs & smaller trees? Please?
Thanks for the info Critter...I'd forgotten about American Cranberry Bush. I will definately try all three of those. I would love to have some form of Blueberry but I have to check out which cultivars do best in my area.
I'm picky, I want all my plants to do at least double duty (ie. fragrant flowers, excellent winter form, attractive berries, edible or attractive for arrangements). Like you said, first I need to create a master plan then I can worry about the plant selection.
This is turning into a great little thread with lots of helpful information. Thanks everyone.
I planted a trio of American Cranberry that I got from Stark Bros. last fall. I will post a report on whether they survived the winter and how they do for me next summer. The lowbush blueberries should do fine your zone -- There's a native plant nursery (Clear Ridge) in Union Bridge, MD (probably zone 6b) that has them, and I think this is also the "wild" type found in Maine... I had a pair of them, but they were mowed twice by an overzealous neighbor & never recovered.
Secludegardens,
I'm sorry to hear that your son is ill. Critterologist is right. I think your son might enjoy planting seeds with you. When I was teaching before moving to Texas, my students and I would plan a vegetable garden and start the seed. They would take some of the seedlings home to plant at home and we planted the rest in our community garden. They really enjoyed it especially when we'd start to harvest.
Do you know your soil's pH? Blueberries require acidic soil. Adding aluminum sulfate would acidify the soil and there are varieties that somewhat tolerate soil pH changes.
BettyDee
secluded g, I will try to post some pictures all taken with 35mm , some as long as 14 or 15 year ago. i sold the house and moved here 9 miles away and 500 feet higher in elevation , almost 10 years ago. I scanned two photos at once. I redid the front garden area about 3 or 4 years before i sold. The first two pictures are just after finishing most of the replanting. Donna
The large evergreen trees in the background of the lower picture are White Spruce that i planted at 4 inches of heighth, the white blooming tree to the right is a magnnolia stellata. I brought the wooden bridge and the swing glider seat here to this place when i moved.
The second set of photos , the smaller photo is of my rockery and the pool at the foot. i built the pool in 1957, using cement reinforced with chicken wire, it lasted quite well until I moved. Next to the large rock steps going up the bank was a small water stream coming out of the bank and falling down on rocks. My husband and I hauled all those rocks and lots more that are not in view from a newly at that time road about 15 miles away, had lots of slabs from dynamited banks. I placed all the but the very largest rocks myself. Do you suppose that is why i had to have both hip joints replaced?/ Donna
And here are the last two from my other place. They are of the house which we remodeled 3 times over the 50 years. The house was built in 1912. When we move in in 1994 there was no water to the house, and there was a light bulb hanging down from the ceiling in each of the 8 rooms. I couldn't locate the photo of the house (I went and looked through another album and found an old black & white of the house in 1944).
The large tree back of the house are American Elms, beautiful trees. The tree to the left and in front of the house is a 100 year old (now) apricot tree. Wonderful tasting fruit but had to be canned immediately or made into jam. In the other photo a gazebo is just barely visible. I really hated to leave that gazebo, I had it built by a carpenter friend, took a long time especially for the roof since it is octagonal in design and so most of the wood shingles had to be trimmed. Donna
Here is the very old photo of our house when we moved in in 1944, black and white. Wish i knew how to enlarge it but I don't. donna
Now back to the present, here is my home taken 2003. The large tree is a Raywood Ash, which gives shade to the deck. Next to it is a Red Leaved Birch, I forget which particular one it is. The daylily border looks pretty bad had not been trimmed back after bloom. Donna
I hope I have remembered which two pictures are next. One is of the grass path that goes from lily pool area to the west garden, lined with daylilies, which are mostly through blooming. the other photo is of the lily pool area looking east. The wood bridge has aged to pretty much gray now about 15 years after the previous photo. Now instead of the wood gazebo I have an all metal one that is slowly being covered somewhat at least with vines. The glider swing is in the enclosure to the right of the photo , has a Thompson seedless grape at the back and a clematis The President on east end and a pink fragrant clematis at west end. The quail love to roost at the top in the grape vines. Donna
Here are the last two photos , at least for now. The top photo is of what is my new woodland garden. it was started just 3 years ago, so all is new except th Apricot tree at rear left and the large service berry shrub behind trellis at right, which I have maybe eaten 10 or so juneberries off it , the birds love it. So everything you see has been planted in the last two or three years. Behind the trellis to the right is my veggie and small fruit growing area.
The lower photo is of the path leading to the woodland garden area. The corner of the lath shadehouse is to the right. The tree is a Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Katsura, very nice tree. Then right next to the gate is a Cotinus coggyria, purple smoke tree. Behind the trellis is my fairly large storage building that was built before the house was moved in. Donna
I have 60 or so Cornus mas here in Iowa, I love them! Their rich foliage has a delicious sweet smell all summer, the fruits are fabulous IF harvested ripe. Before that they're pretty astringent. There are large fruited varieties, presumably brought in from Europe. I once traveled to Romania and toured their fruit research station. Their fruits are quite large compared to our ornamental varieties. One of the guards there (they need to keep people from grazing their cows in the research station) quite obviously enjoyed fermented products from plums. I have a number of named Amelanchier (though I've forgotten the names), these are the smaller shrub varieties that reach about 6 feet. They're easy to care for (basically no care needed, just like Cornus mas), attractive, and yield very large quantites of fruit that are delicious out of hand, a little less delicious cooked. They don't replace blueberries in cooked products, but are very similar if eaten fresh IMO. Pawpaws are probably growing wild in your area, but I really like mine - very attractive and easy to care fore. Medlars do reasonably well here too, attractive simple rose flowers and interesting fruit from a tree that looks a little bonzai-like without much care. American cranberries get out of hand in my experience, I destroyed all of mine. Aronia melanocarpa is an quite ornamental shrub that yields pretty heavily with some attractive black fruits. They've been used in soda pop in Europe, but I've not mustered the courage to try them. Sea buckthorn (latin name hard to spell, Hippophae rhamnoides?) does well here, a very attractive tree similar to russian olive that yields very attractive edible fruit (from females) with seemingly less disease problems. I got a lot of my information years ago from Lee Reich's 'Uncommon Fruit Worthy of Attention'.
Thanks, phaem! You've given me several ideas to add to the "master plan" for the back yard. The cranberries are welcome to get a little out of control, as they're planted between 2 driveways.... same area we figured would be fine for mint, as spread will be largely contained. Right now, I'm just hoping they survive the winter.
I'd never heard of Cornus mas (Cornelian Cherry Dogwood), but I will definitely look for it! Are yours grafted cultivars or seed grown? If seed grown, please let us know if you'd be willing to offer seeds some time for trade or SASE.... I'm sure I'm not the only one who saw your post, looked it up in Plant Files, and thought, oooooohhhh!
I'll make a note of that book title as well; sounds like a unique reference.
I've thought about planting some Cornus mas in my garden, but since I'm starting from scratch, I'll have to wait a while before buying any. I've seem the larger varieties in the RainTree Nursery catalog — I'm enclosing a link —
http://www.raintreenursery.com/
How do you know when the fruit are ripe? I'd like to try some of the named varieties from RainTree. I've ordered quite a number of trees from them and have been very pleased with their trees. How long after planting did you reap your first fruit?
I've always been interested in growing rare and unusual fruit. For a while I joined Rare Fruit Growers Assoc. in California, but then we moved.
Wow. All the fruit you mentioned are in RainTree's catalog. I have a few caralogs that I use as part of my wishlist and RainTree Nursery is one of them. I hope to eventually try the ones you mentioned.
I did have one Medlar for about 4-1/2 years. Medlar is member of the rose family and as such susceptible to fireblight — very susceptible in fact. I was able to harvest only two crops before I lost it to fireblight within a year. It hit my apple trees, but I was able to salvage them. The Medlar went rather quickly. The fruit have to be bletted and I wasn't able to get enough information to get that part right. Sometimes it takes some experimentation to get it right. Then again, the results looked very unappetizing.
BettyDee
I've added RainTree nursery to my bookmarks.... Thanks!!
Phaem...I love Cornas mas too. It's a great small tree for flowers, fragrance, fruit (although I have been told humans rarely get a chance to pick them before the birds strip the trees), attractive leaves and great small tree for children to climb with low branches. Would love to plant this and Amelanchier but my lot is small 1/4 acre and I already have a number of trees. I lived almost my entire life on properties with dense shade and am so excited to finally have some sun that I think I will stick with shrubs, perennials, annuals and veggies.
Donna...love seeing and hearing about your experience with edibles. Your gardens are beautiful! What spectacular view you have...I am jealous. What mountain range are you looking at?
;Secludedgardens. I live on the east slopes of the Cascade Mountains. I really haavae beautiful fiews form every window, some garden and some the mountains. Thanks Donna
