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gonebananas_gw

Who grows tree fruit or nuts in the Carolinas?

gonebananas_gw
12 years ago

In addition to the apples common in the mountains and inner piedmont, figs elsewhere, and pecans.

Coastal plain apples?

Pears? European? Asian?

Mayhaws?

Plums?

Peaches?

Persimmons? Native? Japanese?

Pomagrenate?

Others less common?

Chestnuts?

Other nuts less common?

I'll know additionally there are a lot of muscadine grapes among the vining fruits, and I'll bet some bunch grapes and kiwis here and there. And of course blackberries and some raspberries among cane fruit. And a lot of strawberries.

But what of the bush and tree fruits? Having any good luck with them?

Comments (7)

  • dottie_in_charlotte
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Let's see..the pomagranate I planted last year (wants full sun) never leafed out and I was tempted to toss it but noticed a side shoot about 10" from the plant so hoping it will recover.
    Almond nut. Tossed out a few raw almonds for the critters in an unused flower bed and in one season a sprouted nut grew to 2 1/2' tall with leaves that look like peach/apricot leaves.

    Persimmons are semi native in my area but I think you have a male/female need to get fruit and you must have a killing frost to sweeten them up.
    Sometimes the fruit fall ripe but sour because of the mild frosts and general warmer climate of late fall.
    Kiwi is another that needs a male and female and while I had that, both growing vigorously on a fence, I never got flowers or fruit so one of them must have been mislabelled.
    (or sexually confused,LOL)

  • hemlady
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Blueberries - the rabbiteye kind do very well. Denise

  • jimfnc
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I've got many blueberries (rabitteye and southern highbush), blackberries (wild, thorny & spreading but very productive). A cherry tree that took 6 yrs to 1st crop & then birds got them. A couple apples and adding a couple pears (no fruit yet). Check out Century Orchards near Reidsville that sell apple & pear saplings that do well in this area. Lots of peaches and pecans in various parts of the state. NC Ag Extension did a series of seminars on homegrown fruit trees last year-check their website, good recomendations - emphasize growing what works well in Carolinas, not trying to grow stuff that needs large chill hours if we don't get that here.

  • wertach zone 7-B SC
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm in 7B, Piedmont of SC. I have a huge 40+ year old fig tree, 3 apple trees, one is at least 40 years old and still produces very well, 2 peach, 2 cherry, 2 pear, 1 nectarine, 3 pawpaws,2 hazelnut, 2 pecans, and 4 blueberry's.

    Quote "But what of the bush and tree fruits? Having any good luck with them?"

    So, I guess the answer is yes? ;)

  • trianglejohn
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I will try to grow just about anything. I have plenty in the ground and way too much in pots that I drag around the yard during the summer and shove into a makeshift greenhouse for the winter.

    February marks my second year in this new house (which is actually an older house) so a lot of what I have is still too young to fruit.

    Even things that normally were not my favorite flavor ended up growing on me so now I can't imagine gardening without them (guavas come to mind).

    I guess the oddest thing in the ground is my Arbequenia Olive which is planted right up against the brick wall of the house and doing just fine. They are rated zone 8 and I am a warm zone 7b. In its entire life (most of which was in a pot) it has only made ONE tiny olive that made it all the way to maturity. I joke that I could have squeezed one drop of oil onto one tiny crouton with that crop.

    This year's lack of winter is making what looks like bumper crop of Loquats - we'll see. They don't ripen til April.

    I have the best luck with the small pomegranate sold by Plant Delights as 'State Fair'. It is a small bush with half sized fruits that are more brown than red but the flavor is great and the bush is very very very prolific. It pretty much blooms from early spring til December and sets more fruit than you can pick. It even self sows, the ground under it is covered with babies.

    I have good luck (sort of) with the bush cherry series: Jan, Joel, and Joy. The bushes are way cute when in bloom but they do catch every plum disease out there and the fruit is often disfigured. But right about when you think they should be starting to rot is when they finally taste like regular cherries - otherwise they taste more like wild plums.

    Some people don't like the flavor of Goumi's but I flat out love them and plan on growing an entire row of them this year. Sweet Scarlet is very prolific but Red Gem has better flavor (with only a fifth of the fruit). They taste kinda like a cranberry and more berry like than their cousin Autumn Olive which is highly invasive.

    Years ago I stumbled upon a very tasty form of native passionvine. I have allowed it to escape into my yard and so far it has behaved. The fruit is nasty looking but tastes like Hawai'i to me. It makes a great smoothie mixed with orange juice and guava.

    I have European pears which do fine but lack any great flavor. I have two Asian Pears but only one of them has produced so far and the raccoons got all the fruit. I have apples which do ok - I haven't sprayed in the past and the fruit really suffered. I have peaches but they didn't care for the high heat and drought of the past two summers. I have no problem growing raspberries and blackberries and elderberries.

    I am growing but so far have not gotten any fruit from: fuzzy kiwi, hardy kiwi, pawpaw, wineberry, pineapple guava, service berry, cornelian cherry, shippova, quince, che, medlar, mulberry.

    I've already ordered sea buckthorn, aronia and honeyberry to plant this year (they should show up in early April).

    The greenhouse is full but worth all the hassles to keep it warm - guavas all fall and citrus all winter - yum.

  • gonebananas_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lots of interesting experiences. Thanks.

    I will look up the NC Extension material.

    I have purchased from Century Farm and got nice plants.

    The maypop (native passionfruit) intrigues me. Some are said to be significantly better than the average. How is yours notably tasty? Does yours still have that slight bit of musty aroma? If it is notably better than the average you might consider propagating it. Others would be interested.

    I have tried many things, not a few failing. Now I target more what is suitable for my climate (except for potted citrus).

  • trianglejohn
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Some years the maypop's fruit are very hollow but this year they were full of seeds and juice sacs. They taste best if you let them shrivel and fall off the vine. There isn't a ton of juice in them but a little goes a long way if you're mixing it in a smoothie. I found this one at an I-40 rest area in Arkansas heading west. I picked up the dried up fruit because the dead vines were short and loaded with hundreds of fruit so I thought its seedlings would at least produce a lot of flowers. I have been very pleased with it, but it hasn't over taken the yard yet.

    People that have tasted it love the flavor - some of them have never tasted passionfruit before and others have lived in the tropics and agree it is as tasty as P. edulis.

    I will share seeds in the summer.

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