Think outside the box of everyday backyard fruits-—apples, pears, peaches and raspberries. There are more ‘exotic’ things you can grow. What about pawpaw, jujube, figs and currants?

As gardeners we are always searching for new plants, rare plants or plants that delight our senses. For the edible gardener (one who gardens with edibles or with mosquitoes and ticks) we are concerned with taste, production and how easily a plant can be grown. For that, many of us dabble in backyard fruit growing of the more common fruits; apples, cherries, peaches, pears, plums, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. Growing one if not many of these fruits can bring years of gustatory satisfaction. Yet for a gardener who wants to go on a culinary adventure, there are many other fruits that can be grown easily and enjoyed.

Many unusual fruits, in fact, are not unusual at all. Take the pawpaw (Asimina triloba). Pawpaw is native from the eastern half of the U.S. to Eastern Kansas and is found along wooded creeks and north-facing slopes. The tree and fruit have a long cultural history and it is known as the Missouri banana, Indiana banana and insert-state-name-here banana. Pawpaw, however, is entirely unrelated to the banana, but its taste, texture and clustered fruit growth all suggest banana. Pawpaws flower in April and the fruit is ripe from late August to mid-September. There are a number of cultivars, including ‘Davis’, ‘Prolific’, ‘Sunflower’ and ‘Pennsylvania Golden’, that have been chosen based on productivity and fruit size. Pawpaws are not self-fertile so having multiple varieties will increase production.

Moving away from native fruits we have the jujube. No, not the gummy-type candy sold in movie theatres, but a fruit more commonly known as Chinese date. Jujubes have an over 4,000 year history in China, but are hardly known in the U.S. The species, Ziziphus jujube, is a many trunked small tree that spreads by stoloniferous roots. The leaves are small, ovoid and quite glossy. The fruit is roughly the size of an olive, and ripens from green to a glossy mahogany. The fruit texture is crisp like an apple, but the taste is like pure sugar, hence the name “date.” There are many cultivars on the market of which ‘Li’ has the largest fruit at 2 inches in diameter. It is recommended to plant more than one cultivar to ensure adequate pollination and fruit production.

While figs might not seem unusual to those living in warmer climates, those of us where winters are, well winters, consider figs a luxury fruit that is most often enjoyed in Newton form. But the average Zone 5 and 6 gardener can grow them. If sited correctly in the landscape, in a warm well-drained location, figs will produce every year. For us, we need to treat figs just like a perennial—they send up shoots in May and produce fruits in the fall, and then in April we cut them back to the ground. Some local fig growers go to extremes and insulate the trunks on the fig; this provides winter protection that allows the wood to overwinter providing an earlier and much larger fig crop. Cultivars ‘Hardy Chicago’, ‘Peter’s Honey’, ‘Italian Honey’ and ‘Stella’ are reliable producers.

Then there are other fruits, the currants, especially the clove currant, Ribes odoratum, grown not only for its spicy sweet smell in April but its spicy tart deep purple fruits in summer. Gooseberries, of which ‘Hinnomaki Red’ is an excellent sweeter cultivar, but the native Missouri gooseberry (Ribes missouriense) is the best for pies. There are serviceberries, or June berries (Amelanchier spp.), a fruit that rivals blueberries on large shrubs that fit into any style of landscape. There are hardy kiwis (Actinidia spp.), which vines produce smaller, yet sweeter kiwis the size of large grapes. There are Apriums^® and Pluots^®, hybrids between plum and apricots. And don’t forget persimmons, of which many selections have been made for size and taste.

You can also research rare fruits for Zones 5 and 6. One valuable book on the subject, which was a big help in the planning process for the Heartland Harvest Garden, is “Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden” by Lee Reich. There is a world of fruit beyond apples, pears, and peaches; all it takes is a little labor for these fruits to be enjoyed.

 

Nikita’s Gift persimmon is a hybrid between the native North American persimmon and the Asian persimmon. The fruits are nearly seedless and are twice as big as the native fruit. Another plus, you don’t have to wait for a freeze for the fruit to sweeten, this variety ripens in mid-September and is non-astringent.

 

Pawpaw trees are small—normally 15 to 20 feet tall—and while native in shaded areas they produce much better in full sun. The trees are short lived at only 10 to 20 years, and the root stock will form patches via stolens. They are an excellent fruit for fresh eating or freezing and using in baked goods like pawpaw cookies or pawpaw cheesecake. The pawpaw is also the host plant for the native zebra swallowtail butterfly. These suppliers sell cultivars of pawpaw and many other unusual fruits: One Green World (www.onegreenworld.com), Raintree Nursery (www.raintreenursery.com) and Burnt Ridge Nursery and Orchards (www.burntridgenursery.com).

 

Jujube ‘Black Sea’ has oblong fruits while ‘Li’ has large round fruits.

 

 

Clove currant (Ribes odoratum), the true native, is more floriferous and fragrant while ‘Crandall’ is more fruitful.

 

 

(Photography By Matt Bunch.)

 

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Matt Bunch is the horticulturist for Heartland Harvest Garden in Powell Gardens. The 12-acre Heartland Harvest Garden is the nation’s largest “edible landscape.” Visit www.powellgardens.org.

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