Well over twenty years ago I bought a packet of pomegranate seeds from the sowing of which only one plant survived; it has been sitting in a large pot in my garden for years, has required very little care and has given a display of attractive red flowers for quite a few summers past. I remember that the seed packet said that the plants were purely ornamental, but now, for the first time in the plant's life, a fruit has begun to develop. I wonder whether this might be due to the change in our climate which has taken place in recent years. I hope that the fruit develops in size before the cold weather sets in! Has anyone else ever grown pomegranates and, if so, have they ever had edible fruits from the plant?
Hello Jack by the hedge! You have obviously treated yours well as you have had it for twenty years! Well done! Pomegranates can be grown in a wide range of climates but the fruit will only develop and ripen when summers are hot and dry. I know there are a couple of folk here (meaning on GC as opposed to Portugal!) who have grown Pomegranates and perhaps they will come on later and advise you regarding growig them in the UK. It is a beautiful shrub with very striking flowers and a bonus if you get fruit! They are deciduous, even here.
I love pomegranites, havnt had one for yonks dont see them in the fruit shops that often what time of the year here in england do we start seeing them yum yum, mind they stain your fingers something terrible
Think around Christmas time as they are just fruiting here now, then have to get them packed up and shipped off to foreign countries ready for the holiday season! Personally, all the pips annoy me but the juice is nice and full of vitamins!
You lucky, lucky chap Jack! We've got one in a container which we grew from seed from a fallen fruit we picked up in Greece in 2002. I dried it in the GH and cracked the fruit open (it was hard as a nut) in 2003. The bush is now about 2 feet high, looks nice but only produces very tiny flowers. It gets moved into the GH for late October and taken out again in May. Pomegranites make very nice and quick bonsais by the way.
Hi jack I have plants I grew from a packet of seeds years ago also, as far as I know most seed sold over here is the dwarf pomegranate, its a smaller plant and produces very small fruit. I've never managed to ripen them, the temperature drops before this can happen, and they tend to rot, I find.
Thankyou all for these replies. The fruit in Pete's picture looks about the same size as the one developing on my plant. I can't recall giving it any protection in the winter months (although I probably did in its first few years) and it certainly has survived very well outside now for a good many winters.
We get light frosts here, too, Jack, and it doesn't affect most of our delicate species. Although in saying that, two years ago we saw groves of orange trees a few kilometers up the road decimated at the top by the frosts but they recovered! It's the long, hot dry summers that are essential for fruiting.
Mines taken at least minus 6C in a pot jack, although I think I'd give it a bit of protection if we ever get a continuous frost, like we used to.
From a hardiness point of view, the pomegranate is relatively tough coping with minus 8C without incurring any damage. However, it does need hot, sunny summers if the wood is to ripen sufficiently to produce flowers or withstand prolonged cold. It is a warm-temperate-cool subtropical tree, that is rarely damaged by our winters. Unfortunately it rarely if ever performs well as a fruiting tree here either because sustained warmth and sun is needed for fruits to develop and ripen. As an ornamental however, it has a lot going for it. The flowers can be spectacular in some summers and the foliage is always attractive - especially in autumn when the leaves turn yellow. Mulu have some very large, mature plants with 30cms. diameter trunks going for just over �£100 if you want that instant gnarled look.
A 30cm dia trunk must be pretty ancient, wouldn't want that cut to ground level by frost. :D :D Obviously imported Dave, do you think that could affect the hardiness?
They take savage morning frosts in Turkey, but like the summer baking. I have a couple on my terrace with fruits about 6cm across at the moment. They obviously won't ripen but its nice to look at them, they remind me of warm places and happy times. Mine came from Nine Elms Market (the grimmest of the grim) but they aren't the dwarf variety I am please to report. Nor do they have trunks 30 cm girth!!! I think their finest feature is the length of interest they deliver: March to May their delicate leaves come out the colour of a nice Rose wine. From mid June they are covered with flowers of that unique waxy terracotta colour till maybe late October or the start of November, The autumn colour is a fine, clear yellow, and the leaves aren't a nuisance! I also like their shape (though I personally prune out a lot of the shoots to expose the bush shape better). I knew a chap in India who loved to grow the miniature kind as Bonsai. The flowers and fruits were, frankly, ridiculous but it gave him enormous pleasure.
Well worded, Jazid, just like you were savouring a good wine! I love the pomegranate trees when they are in flower ... they are exquisite ... my photo on this site is me under one because I love them so much! I must work on one for my Bonsai collection! Have two lychees, a pear and a Jacardanda (which I discovered yesterday growing in a planter which had seeded itself from one of mine which I'll nuture along for a while before potting up) all on the go now, and also my 20 day old Albizias, five of them! My eldest is a 13 (plus or minus) year old Ivy from our house in Bucks, unfortunately lost my 15 year old Cotoneastr due to lack of attention in the heat here. Have a variety of others also.
As grim as it may be, but that is where you find what I would call decent fruit and properly riped, which I always struggle to find in a supermarket. i love pomegranates, even if: yes, ok, the pips take a lot of room...
