Pomegranite in flower!

 
A year or so ago, I said I'd let you know if my mini pomegranite bush
managed to flower outdoors.

Well, I got one vast flower this spring, but I didn't think that really
counted.

However, the bush is now absolutely covered in large silky bright orange
flowers (no, the flowers, not just the buds), and clearly loving its
southfacing position.  It is more or less deciduous in winter, and about 2
feet tall.  It's been living outside for 2 years now, with no winter
protection.


The outdoor plant is doing so well, I think I'm going to plant out my other
plant, currently residing in a pot in the porch.

They are about 5 years old, grown from seed, variety 'orange master',
horribly abused through forgetting to water them a few times...

I'm not holding my breath for pomegranites...

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

 

Sounds lovely - nice to know when an "experiment" comes off. Must try
pomegranates:-)

Chris S

 
Well done.  Mine hasn't, though it came through last winter in a pot
outdoors.


Not something that they worry about unduly.  Do it too badly and they
will drop their leaves, but they will then sulk and recover.  They
come from places where that happens ....


Not in this perishingly cold climate :-(


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

 

about 2

my other

master',

As a child I was in a boarding school.  One of the teachers had a
pomegranate hedge which three of us raided one night.  Unfortunately
we were caught and reported to the housemaster.  The following day, we
were called to his study where each of us received six of the best.
After this, the housemaster solemnly informed us that the teacher
whose fruit we had raided, apologised for reporting us, and handed us
a large box of luscious pomegranates with the compliments of the owner
of the hedge.

Franz

 On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 19:02:39 +0100, Victoria Clare wrote:


Well, you should! <pretentious harumph>

There's a marvelous double pomegranate cultivar in the standard
scarlet-vermilion-orange-flame color that's worth seeking out.
Mine is about fifteen years old, only 2.5 meters high, or so,
lives against a south wall, and has survived even our coldest
weather when we get an outflow of Arctic air (temperatures down
to -10C). It flowers well every summer (better if watered), and
the leaves turn a beautiful clear yellow in the fall.

I admired this small tree (nearly a shrub) for many years in the
University of Washington's arboretum in Seattle, but was never
able to root a cutting. I finally found a very small plant of it,
which has done very well since planting out.

Once in a long while you can find a sort-of rose colored double
pomegranate in garden centers here, but it's not worth space. The
whole raison d'etre of the pomegranate lies in the color of the
flowers, unlike any other plant I know. (Some crocosmias come
close, but are not quite so glowingly brilliant.)

I suspect, but have never been able to verify, that a number of
other ornamental pomegranate cultivars are grown in California,
among them a double yellow.

So *do* hold your breath for pomegranates (sensu flore, not
fructu).

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]