Encyclopedia of Fruits Berries Nuts
A cornucopia of photographs follows. Flavor and color descriptions are included for hundreds of fruit, berry, and nut varieties. Hardiness, time of fruiting, and special care requirements are discussed. he information in this encyclopedia is designed to help you choose the best possible fruits for your garden. It describes the best and most popular fruits. Some varieties are known by more than one name. In these cases the most common name is used with the less well known alternatives following...
Filberts Hazelnuts
Filberts and hazelnuts are one and the same. Species hail from Europe, North America, and eastern and western Asia. One European species, Corylus avellana, is called European filbert, and both North American species, C. americana and C. cornuta, are often referred to as American hazelnuts. But there is no strict naming convention. The standard nut-produc-ing filberts are inclined to grow into large, suckering shrubs that form patches or thickets in time. They are usually trained into small...
Early Varieties
'Fairhaven' This large peach is bright yellow with an attractive red cheek and light fuzz. The firm freestone flesh is yellow with red at the pit. The fruit freezes well. The tree has showy flowers. Good for the West. Origin Michigan. 'Flavorcrest' A large, firm, yellow freestone with good flavor, its skin is blushed red. Good for California. Origin California. 'Garnet Beauty' This variety is an early sport of 'Redhaven'. Medium to large semifreestone fruit hangs on the tree until overripe. The...
Blackberries
Blackberries and raspberries are closely related and have similar growing requirements, but blackberries are larger and more vigorous, and some varieties are less hardy. Blackberries come in two fairly distinct forms erect and trailing and have a number of different names. The ordinary blackberry is a stiff-caned, fairly hardy plant that can stand by itself if properly pruned. The trailing kind, generally called dewberries, are tender and grown mainly in the South. Trailing plants from the...
Asian Pears Apple Pears
Asian pears are true pears, but are a different species than the common pear. The common name apple pear has probably been given them because their texture is crisp like an apple, and some of them are shaped like apples. But they are not crosses between apples and pears. They are a distinctly different fruit, with their own unique flavor. This group of pears is native to Japan and China. They were selected for size, shape, flavor, and lack of grittiness. The fruit is eaten firm like an apple,...
Apricots
In the colder regions of the country, the selection of apricot varieties is limited because apricots bloom early and may suffer frost damage. In recent years, however, breeders have produced a number of hybrids with hardy Manchurian apricots, and now varieties such as 'Chinese' will fruit fairly regularly even in the northern plains. The choice of varieties widens in milder regions, and more tender varieties such as 'Moorpark' will bear even in the eastern states. Dwarfed apricots on special...
Cherries
Cherries come in three distinct forms with many varieties in each category. The sweet cherry sold in markets is planted commercially in the coastal valleys of California and in the Northwest, espe cially Oregon. There are also extensive commercial plantings near the Great Lakes. All cherries require considerable winter chilling, which rules out planting in the mildest coastal and Gulf climates, but they are also damaged by early intense cold in fall and by heavy rainfall during ripening. Sweet...
Pecans
At heights of 70 feet or more, with a spread nearly as great, pecans are imposing shade trees. For best nut production, most pecan varieties need another tree nearby as a pollinator, so commitment to a pecan crop requires a considerable investment in space. One word describes the best pecan climate hot. A tree needs a long summer with hot days and nights in order to produce fully ripe nuts. Outside of native pecan territory in the southern and south central United States, the southwest desert...
Currants and Gooseberries
Currants and gooseberries are among the most beautiful of the small fruits, but they are good home garden shrubs for other reasons as well. You won't often see fresh fruit in the market, since crops from the limited commercial plantings go to processors for commercial jellies and canned fruits. But since the plants are ornamental, easy to care for, and productive, northern gardeners can tuck a few among other shrubs for the bloom, fruit, and fall color. The crop can be used for jelly, pie, or...
Strawberries
If you have grown strawberries for any length of time, you know that flavor and yield are not predictable but vary from year to year depending on spring growing conditions. Strawberries are also very regional in their adaptation and the best variety in one state may be only fair in another. A good nursery can be a big help, since the staff keeps abreast of developments in plant breeding and offers plants that should succeed. Your county agricultural agent can help, too, especially if you've had...
Nectarines
The nectarine is simply a fuzzless peach. Peach trees sometimes produce nectarines as sports, and nectarine trees will produce fuzzy peach sports. The two plants are nearly identical, but nectarines are generally more susceptible to brown rot. Gardeners in the South may have trouble with the disease because hot humid weather encourages it. You will have to spray regularly to control it. Otherwise, nectarines require the same care as peaches. 'Earliblaze' This is a me-dium-sized, clingstone,...
Plum Varieties Taste Best
Of all the stone fruits, plums are the most varied. They range from hardy little cherry plums and sand cherries to hybrids with the hardiness of natives, sweet European plums and the prunes made from them , and sweet or tart Japanese plums. European plums tend to be small, and most varieties are egg-shaped. The flesh is rather dry and very sweet. Prunes from these plums are the sweetest and easiest to dry. The plants are fairly- hardy, but some varieties do well in mild-winter areas. All...
Crabapples
Fine for jellies or pickled whole fruit, crabapples are also the most decorative of fruit trees. Flowers range from red to pink to white. The fruits are of many sizes, from tiny cherrylike varieties to large, yellow, pink-cheeked kinds. The varieties sold for their flowers also have edible fruit, but the iarge-fruited varieties are better if your aim is to grow the fruit for jelly. Crabapples range from small, 10-foot trees to spreading trees 25 feet tall. The large-fruited kinds are larger...
Genetic Dwarf Peaches and Nectarines
The genetic dwarf peaches and nectarines form dense bushes, with long leaves trailing in tiers from the branches. In spring the branches are entirely hidden by flowers that are usually semidouble and always very showy. In winter the bare plants are also visually interesting. The fruit is of normal size. Most require moderate winter chilling 400-600 hours below 45 F for good bloom. None are blossom hardy in really cold places, but they can be grown in containers and protected until the warm...
Grapes
In the earliest periods of human history, four foods were recognizably important. In the North there were apples and honey. In the South there were olives and grapes. commonly grown today the American and the European. The American grape entered our history more recently than the vine of Europe, but it. has already played an important role since its roots saved the European grape from extinction during the Phylloxera vilifoliae plague of the last century. This plague threatened to destroy the...
Walnuts
Walnuts are both domestic and foreign. Most familiar in the marketplace and certainly-most important to the home gardener is the so-called English or Persian walnut Juglans regia , which hails from southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia. The nuts are large, flavorful, and enclosed in relatively thin shells. The black walnut J. nigra from the eastern United States is famous for its fine-tasting nut encased in a shell of rocklike hardness. Another eastern tree with a similar reputation is the...
