North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[natelson@stehlinclinic.com]

Dear Marie,

     Several years ago I received cuttings of 22 numbered and named
Russian (15) and Iranian (7)pomegranates.  One turned out to be a
dwarf and it is the least cold hardy of the bunch (yes, we
occasionally have freezes here).  It lives, but has never fruited. 
It might be useful as a dwarfing rootstock.  Their names are all as
unpronounceable as Sverkhranniy.  I have fruited virtually all of the
rest and several are very large and heavily productive, and some are
sweet.  The closest to your spelling are R-31 (Saartuzski) and R-5
(Sakerdze).  Despite their being collected from very cold climates,
here in Houston(zone 9)they ripen at the same time as well-known
varieties such as Cloud and Eversweet.

     If you can spare a cutting of Sverkhranniy, I would like to try it
with its cousins, and see if it is any earlier to ripen. Moreover, if
anyone wants any of mine, I would be happy to provide cuttings.  My
address is Ethan Natelson, 8707 Wateka Drive, Houston, TX 77074.  I
would reimburse you for any postage, etc. Thank you.

                             Regards, Ethan

> As you know, zone 4/5 is just too cold for in ground pomegranates, pots
> are the only way.
> There is a variety called "Severkhranniy" the name means super early that
> ripens in some areas in early August. It is a sweet tasting variety. The
> very early ripening, dispenses with the need for long summers and some of
> the heat requirements. Now as to blooming and setting fruit, most of the
> varieties that have been tried were breed in either Florida or California,
> the orignal wild pomegranates in Central Asia have been blooming and
> setting fruit in a cold climate for centuries. The varieties that have
> been breed/found in the colder areas of Russia/Central Asia are a better
> bet to bloom and set fruit in cooler area it appears. The pomegranate is a
> very adaptable plant if natural selection is used. There are very low
> growing wild pomegranates growing in areas of Central Asia with winter
> temperatures of  15 below(F).
> You are very right about the standard US varieties not being worth the
> trouble in these colder areas.
> There are a lot of other factors that those I just mentioned above, to
> achieve good fruiting, that is why site testing is needed for these
> Russian/Central Asian varieties.
> Richard Ashton
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: lee reich
>   To: North American Fruit Explorers
>   Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2005 9:48 AM
>   Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Pomegranate
>
>
>   I got around the winter kill problem for pomegranates here in zone 4/5
> by growing my plant in a pot which I kept in cool storage after it went
> dormant for the winter. The problem is that after 5-10 years, the plant
> had still never bloomed. I finally got rid of the plant. Any
> suggestions, beyond the obvious, for the lack of blossoming?
>
>
>   It seems to me that another limitation for pomegranate in the in the
> northern areas of eastern U.S. would be that there would be insufficient
> heat and time to ripen the fruits well. Not to mention untimely rains
> splitting the fruits open. All of which is why I chose to grow mine in
> pots, where I could get the plants growing early and then ripen them, if
> needed, in the greenhouse.
>
>
>
>   Lee Reich, PhD
>   www.leereich.com
>
>
>   Books by Lee Reich:
>   Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden
>   A Northeast Gardener's Year
>   The Pruning Book
>   Weedless Gardening
>
>
>
>
>
>
>   On Dec 2, 2005, at 11:03 PM, MARIE ASHTON wrote:
>
>
>     Are you in 6a or 6b?    6b is down to -5 and there are some possible
> varieties that might work. 6a at down to -10 is a little chancey but
> worth a try. Since pomegranates bear fruit on new wood you do not have
> to worry about buds being killed. If you have a winter snow cover then
> there is also a variety that might  work (under the snow cover).
>     But to state again 6b is a good possibility with the new (in the US)
> Russian/Central Asian varieties. The varieties that I would recommend
> are "Kazake" or "Salavatski". "Agat" if under snow cover (a low
> growing, good fruiting
>     pomegranate). If want to try one let me know and I will try to see
> that you get one to try, but pomegranates like a lot of fruit trees do
> not reach their best cold hardiness until about the third year and
> would need to be somewhat protected the first two years.
>     Richard Ashton
>       ----- Original Message -----
>       From: Ginda Fisher
>       To: North American Fruit Explorers
>       Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 8:47 PM
>       Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Pomegranate
>
>
>
>
>       On Dec 1, 2005, at 2:02 PM, MARIE ASHTON wrote:
>
>
>         How many of you are interested in pomegranates. It seems that many
> people think they are too much trouble to eat. They are somewhat
> troublesome, but some think they are worth the trouble.   The
> easiest  way to utilize them is to juice them with a common
> citrus/orange press, that's just a pressure press not the kind
> with the reamer as that kind will get the partation material and
> skin into the juice and that is bitter (tannin). There are a lot
> of new varieties available now and some cold hardy ones.
>         Richard Ashton
>         zone 7b/8a Central Texas
>
>
>
>
>       I am interested in pomegranate, but here in zone 6, I think I will
> have to content myself with indoor plants.  If anyone knows of a
> pomegranate hardy to zone 6, though, I'd be excited to try it.
>
>
>       Ginda
>       eastern MA, zone 6
>
>
>
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