Pretty sure, some are still out there and have not made it here.
I'm still hunting for sweet cherry!..LOL

Konrad

LOL, I planted two bushes of nankin cherry and one evan's cherry last summer. I've been told they are not sweet but that's the best for my zone in Edmonton.

Let me know if you find one!No sense two people looking since I'm sure you are so much better at it LOL

I have ordered a passion and a cupid cherry from the Saskatoon Farm, down here near Okotoks, they are both supposed to be sweeter. There are two other varieties can't remember them, they were all developed at the U of S. Check out their website. www.saskatoonfarm.com there is a link to utube where you can view their crops and comments. When I ordered their larger size they were about 18-24in whips I hope in the next two years I will see some results. Cheryl

I guess cold hardy plants do not need to be sweet from a reproduction point of view. I mean, plants from the tropics have to compete among each other to atract animal (including humans) to eat their fruits.

I don't think the competition is that hard on cold climates. LOL

However, I think there are good fruits to be found. If I was an explorer I would concentrate in Russia and China.

I wonder if people still explore looking for new plants on those countries.

It is natural that there are MANY very good varieties that has been developed in other cold places such Russia, Czech Republic, Poland etc ... many of which may never make their way to Canada :(

Terry

Terry,

why is that?

Our world is getting smaller and smaller, especially with internet, still, Canada brings in people from these
Countries every year and so does some of the fruits....eventually.
I have some from Russia, Germany, Croatia and Switzerland.

Konrad, can you list your plants from these countries. I'm interested in getting a bigger orchard area going. Anything that might grow in the foothills? I did here of a lady from Yorkton growing apricots (Manchurian) native to Japan and she is having great success. The only problem I have had is that I have only found seed for them so far. But it is a long winter so I might get some time to locate a tree for next year. Thanks Cheryl

Cheryl,..not sure if I can help you..what do you need, plum, cherry, pear apple??
The one from Switzerland, yellow plum on the [talk about plum thread], I have introduced to the Edmonton region
about 10 years ago, but have it growing on the tree in my backyard in Beaumont for about 14 years.
Didn't know at that time that it is a Green Gage, rated for zone 5.
Someone from the Edmonton Fruit Club is bringing in pears from Russia, [apparently Russia has no Sweet Cherries] but the jury is still out to what might be expected, apparently they should be of BC type pear quality.
Germany I have 2 prune plum, Wangenheim and Auenbacher, [also in the plum thread] they have produced good last year but they are also tender to zone 5 or so.
From Croatia have one sweet cherry, hasn't done much, not sure if it will be any good.

Nothing rock hardy yet!

There are allot of wild sweet cherry seedlings growing along forest and ditches over in Europe, [bird droppings] I have tasted myself some
when I was a kid, they are very good, only slightly smaller,...who cares if you have none..right?
I hope, some of these are hardy, if I could just get my hands on some of these.

Konrad

I did not know there was an Edmonton Fruit Club. Can anyone give me some contact info?

This is a informal group, we meet twice a year, April for scion wood exchange, fruit show in September at Devonian
Garden. I see you have no private e-mail in your page set up, you can private e mail me on my page on top
then I give you our organizer's e-mail address.

Konrad

What makes me believe that there are more unknown hardy fruits out there is the Evan's Cherry itself.

The tree is being growing in Edmonton for long time and nobody new about it, except for the owner and the tree almost disapear at some point.

Anyway, is very likely we still have something in Canada . Not need to say the word.
LOL.

Has anyone tried Seaberries? They apparent originated near the China-Mongolia-Russia border and are very hardy and high in vitamins. No idea how they taste, but I understand the Germans used them as a source of Vitamin C during WWII when no oranges were available to them. I have found a few sources in the States, but they are quite expensive.

The Manchurian Apricots are all seedlings, so they vary a lot from individual to individual. You sometimes have to plant several of them to find one that will bear in your area--some bloom too early, others too late. I have no idea why no one has grafted these to standardize them unless they lose the seedling vigor when you do. Perhaps there are no rootstocks that are as hardy as the the fruiting tree themselves. Does anyone know?

Sea Buckthorn have been known for a while here in Canada. Available at some nurseries.

DNA sells 3 cultivars [German]
Have seen some around but I wouldn't know what to do with them, you sure don't want to eat tem.

Konrad

Here is a link that might be useful: DNA

I saw Garden's North also has the Sea Buckthorn as seed.

Just wondering if anyone has tried honeyberries (haskap)? I know you can get them through a couple of nurseries. But was wondering if they were worth the space. Cheryl

We had a thread going....

Konrad

Here is a link that might be useful: Honey berries

Can you buy from US nurseries? Shame if you can't, b/c so many are now offering great "finds" from places like Siberia. So far, the honeyberry "bushes" I got are tiny whips with a few leaves (second spring, they're a tad better now). The siberian bush cherries look pretty good--very lively "sticks" with loads of short side branches and leaves. Hoping for bloom this spring (planted last spring). My fave hardy fruits are blueberries and "native" yellow plums, tho' the possums and raccoons beat me to them.

Have you looked at Baker Creek Heirloom Seed? Started by an Amish kid when he was still in high school! He's barely shaving, but he's got people traveling the world and bringing back seeds from interesting fruits they find in the markets--of Afghanistan, Tibet, Honduras, wherever.

I do hate the "great divide" between gardeners north and south of the Canada/US border!

I've been looking at kiwi's a lot and apparently there are one or two varieties of kiwi that are hardy to zone 3, so you could make a go of it in zone 2 and see what happens. Sounds like they take a bit of work, and space, but the vines can produce for 60 years commercially and the oldest known one is 600 years old in N or S Korea, and still producing.

I used to live 4 hours north of Edmonton, now I'm in central Texas.... and missing all the wild berries from home!!