Thursday, July 4, 2013

Wish List Plants

I love looking at One Green World and Raintree Nursery catalogs, going through the large selections of all kinds of plants, but most especially the perennial fruiting plants. It is almost the same as going through the Christmas catalogs when I was a kid, the only difference is that I might actually get some of the plants. Anyway, the result of the plant ogling is that I have created a list of plants that I really want to try growing in this area and finagle into doing my bidding (mwah hah hah), i.e. grow tasty fruit that makes my belly happy.
  • Honeyberry, a.k.a. "Blue Honeysuckle"
  • Goumi - I have a friend in the neighborhood who grows these and they seem to do okay, especially the part of the bush that gets more sunlight. But the fruit production is only so-so. The flavor reminded me of pie cherries (sometimes called "sour" cherries). I really like that goumis are nitrogen fixers, too.
  • Jostaberry - hybrid of gooseberry and black currant
  • Black raspberry, purple raspberry, yellow raspberry - I just want to add more colors and try the different flavors
  • Shipova - hybrid of mountain ash and pear
  • Black apricot - naturally occurring hybrid of Prunus armeniaca and P. cerasifera
  • Peacotum - hybrid of peach, apricot and plum
  • Paw paw - produces the largest edible fruit native to America, plus some say the fruit tastes like vanilla custard. Yeah, I want one... or maybe two.
  • Persimmon - I want to really try to promote native American fruit, 
  • Mulberry - I grew up with a mulberry tree and I really enjoyed them. And maybe it will keep the birds out of the cherries.
  • Pomegranate (in a pot) - exotic plant that would heighten my hard core grower status just by having one. Actually getting fruit from it would just be gravy. Sweet, delicious gravy.
  • Jujubes - I think that name just sounds cool, which is enough for me to want to grow the tree. Add on the fact that it produces edible fruit and I'm convinced. It needs hot summers to ripen which makes me wonder why it is not regularly grown here because it has been plenty hot.
  • Maypop - native to the eastern U.S., it is a passionfruit vine that dies back in the winter and pops out of the ground in may. The flowers are exquisite and exotic. Plus, I want to eat my own passionfruit.
  • Almond - my favorite nut might taste even better if I could grow my own
  • Yellowhorn - nitrogen-fixer that produces small nuts. Another nut tree that does not take up most of the yard.
  • Bamboo (specifically Phyllostachys nuda) - building material, edible, just plain neat.
  • Blood orange (in a pot) - some of the best tasting fruit that I have ever eaten. With this and the pomegranate I could really get started on my indoor orchard.
  • Prickly pear - I know it grows wild in much of the western U.S., but I have seen and tasted how much better the fruit is when it gets a modicum of attention. And the results were delicious.
Do you grow or have you grown any of these plants? How did it go? Would you recommend any of them? Why or why not?

1 comment:

  1. Did you ever get a honeyberry!? I planted 4 this year and am excited to try some! Google led me hear and I just wanted to mention that I appreciate your blog, especially since you like the Book of Mormon like me! I hope that more and more members will catch on and follow principals like you described in your profile! I am totally with you on that! My husband is also into permaculture and developing software! Keep sharing!! :) JUlie

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