pomegranate?

CurlyGirlyGirl

Has anyone ever planted a pomegranate tree?  I'm curious to see if it's messy or even worth the work.

Dr.Loretta

They were growing in some people's yards on a Navy base I lived on. I don't remember them being particularly hard work. I have to figure they're pretty easy if different people were moving into these homes, some with likely no gardening experience or expertise. And we were in the middle of the desert, so they must have been pretty hardy.

~NB~

Pomegranates are NOT particularly hardy. They can survive winter as far north as zone 7, possibly even 6, but they are subtropical plants. In zone 7, they are worthwhile for their ornamental value, and showy red-orange flowers, but the growing season isn't long enough for the fruit to mature. If you live in southern CA, they should do quite well and even produce fruit.

Dr.Loretta

~NB~:

Pomegranates are NOT particularly hardy. They can survive winter as far north as zone 7, possibly even 6, but they are subtropical plants. In zone 7, they are worthwhile for their ornamental value, and showy red-orange flowers, but the growing season isn't long enough for the fruit to mature. If you live in southern CA, they should do quite well and even produce fruit.

Sorry, I meant in the other direction, temp-wise. Where we had them, the summer temps regularly topped 110F

fuzzylogic

We had one growing up. It was never pruned, watered, or touched in any way, and it regularly survived (and still does) freezing temperatures, ice, hail, drought, and the extreme heat that OK can have sometimes. There was fruit and I would pick them and eat the seeds when I was a kid. I didn't really even know what they were lol.

flame

I'm planting one in our back yard this year.  Some fo the cultivars are pretty hardy - they survive high desert temps to freezes in Albuquerque fine. The upkeep is pretty easy. My friend who is giving me the tree just prunes her trees every few years.

~NB~

There is a lot of misunderstanding about what HARDINESS means.

Hardiness refers to how much COLD a species can withstand. It does not mean that a plant is tough, drought tolerant, heat tolerant, or anything else. It only refers to HOW LONG IT TAKES A PLANT TO DIE FROM COLD EXPOSURE.

For example, a very hardy plant will survive in a climate where temperatures are below freezing 5 months out of 12. At the other end of the spectrum are tropical plants, which will be killed by a single exposure to temperatures below 40 f. Therefore, they are "not hardy". Most plants sold as annuals are simply not hardy in the area where they are being sold. Perennials are plants that die back to some degree in response to cold, but the roots survive below the ground because they are insulated by the soil. Think of somthing like Lantana- it is an annual in Fargo (not hardy), and evergreen in Key West. Most plants fall somewhe.re in between, and can survive varying length exposures to subfreezing temps. This tolerance is how we come up with it's hardiness rating

Pomegranates will not be killed by winters here in zone 7, but because they set fruit late in the season, it will shrivel on the branch over long winters. Milder climates, with shorter winters and intermittant freezes, are fine for Pomegranates.