Heather Langley

I would love to find Yacon & Mashua tubers for sale, does anyone have any idea where to look in Canada?

I've been desperately trying to find a Cloudberry/Bakeapple plant for years, I've tried to grow from seed but no luck.  Has anyone on here been able to find a source for the actual plant?  I wonder if it's non-shippable in plant form?  Just surprised I can't find it anywhere...just the jam lol.

Awesome answers and great suggestions thanks so much!  I shall plant it carefully and see what happens.  I don't have any trailing blackberry, so far my worst for thorns are tayberry & marionberry...oh and the black raspberries.  So many ways to get stabbed lol, not sure which colour this plant will be but it will be exciting to find out.  Thanks so much to Everyone for putting me at ease.

I've recently purchased a salmonberry plant, which should be arriving any day now.  I happened to catch a video where someone had mentioned that the thorns on this plant always cause infection if they puncture your skin.  I can't seem to support this with online info, but there isn't much to be honest.  I'm clumsy and somewhat worried about this if true, just curious if any of you have any info on growing this plant.

The pink champagne currants are just a cross between white and red (I think), so yes should be quite similar.  We planted black wellington, alpine red, white pearl and the pink champagne at the same time...but the pink is winning the race to fruit.

Haskaps are also called honeyberry and likely 30 other names lol (so many names for everything).  The look like elongated blueberries and taste like a cross between a blueberry and a raspberry.  Here's a picture of a small bowlful that we got at the start of June, I love how early they are!

I am zone 6 too so yes, we can likely grow most of the same things

That is super exciting!  The harvest is the best part.  Great plant lists by the way, I love reading those, I always get ideas!

We are year 3, and although last year many fruit and plants grew, the groundhogs, birds and squirrels were too powerful for us.  We were able to get our Gold Raspberry varieties because I think the animals don't think that they are ripe lol.  This year, we have all kinds of fencing and netting...not on everything but we've managed to nap some haskaps and strawberries so far.  Definitely lost out on the asparagus.

It is looking like this will be our first year for pink champagne currants, we planted many varieties but this is the first one to actually have fruit (wrong colour still).  Jerusalem artichokes too, definitely we will have harvest but we will likely leave them be to further establish the patch.  Peaches, Pears and Apples might happen if the fruit socks work.  Hardy Kiwi might happen, I find it's hard to tell with that plant.

Congrats on all of your growing successes and enjoy the harvests!

S Bengi wrote:I only have two pawpaw, and I don't see why you would need 3 of them vs just two for cross pollination. I actually put both of my pawpaw in the same hole, about 12inches apart and they have done wonderful. The 1st year I made a trash bag roof for them because they were in full sun. And then once it blossomed I made a compost pile underneath in hopes that the flies would help to polinate the fruits. But the next year. I didn't and they cross polinated each other without any problem and zero effort from my (STUN). Also the flowers don't really have a smell that I would call noticeable. However if you pick and crush a leaf it does have a very unique smell. The two cultivars that I have are Prolific and Sunflower, they are both dwarfing. I also heavy prune Sunflower because it is the taller of the two and I really only want it for its pollen.

I also love the smell of hardy kiwi blossoms.  Its wonderful when it is in bloom. Right now there is a good amount of elderberry blossom outside.

I am also low on space so I usually try to get the dwarf cultivars/species. For example I got Regent and Prince Edward Juneberry. (on another note, I am not a big fan of it even though its native, the berries gets heavy infected every other, but maybe in your area it will be better).

Speaking of Nuts, try Sweet Kernel Apricot from Strakbro, it gives both a fruit and a nut. There is also yellowhorn. It's a shrub.

Jujube is another fruit tree that you should try out. Again plant two trees in one hole. then you can try out alot of different cultivars. Actually for my currant shrubs and gooseberry shrub. I have three different species in each hole. I have a early , then mid then later-season cultivar. They even come in different colors. So its easy for me to tell the difference. LOL.

Thanks so much for the info on the paw paws, I'm not sure why I was thinking one needed 3...definitely a really amazing plant!  Perhaps they could go in my driveway lol

Totally agree on the kiwi blossoms, I love the look of the centre of their little blossoms, they look like tiny kiwis

I have been seeking a Jujube, no luck so far finding one.  They seem like such a fantastic plant.

Never heard of Sweet Kernel Apricot before, we do have an Apricot limb on a combo fruit tree, but it is Puget Gold (I don't think we could or should eat the seeds on that one lol).  Thanks so much for the recommend, I am definitely curious!

Juneberry....I think that's the same as Saskatoon Berry?  We have a Northland planted and it hasn't done much honestly, it seems a bit bigger year 3 but no fruit, and only a few leaves.

I also never would have thought to plant 2 trees in one hole, great tip!  Thank-you so much for the amazing help :)

Cristobal Cristo wrote:I'm trying to stretch but in an opposite direction. I'm growing plants that normally would not fare too good in California climate, but due to my microclimate within already microclimatic foothills I'm able to grow plants with high chill requirements.
My chilling hours are between 1500 and 2000 here, compared to around 900 in San Joaquin Valley. I can not grow Mediterranean classics like figs (they seem not to grow and I already had 15 of them, May frosts do not help either), almonds (bloom too early, but may try late bloomers) or even pomegranates (they usually drop flowers before further development), so I decided to grow currants, gooseberries, high chill apples, pears, European plums and sour cherries.
So far they love it here. I have planted 13 various gooseberries this year and all of them are doing fine except Invicta, but it has not been hotter than 95F either, so I will see. If they survive I will add more and will also add my beloved black currants. I only have Consort and Crandall currents now and they are not bothered by the sun and drying winds.
I'm going to try aronia.

That is really interesting, I've always wondered if it was possible the other way and you are living proof!  That is really impressive what you've managed to grow, it sounds amazing!  I would love to hear who the tastiest gooseberry is!  We have 4 varieties and this is the first year we might have fruit on them (fingers crossed).  Thanks for sharing.

Great thread, sorry I'm slow to the game!

I also love Whiffletree Farms, they are literally always amazing...fast...great plants & trees and good customer service!
https://www.whiffletreefarmandnursery.ca/

I also love Bamboo Plants, I've had such good luck ordering trees and plants, great prices and again super fast shipping.
https://bambooplants.ca/

Great response thank-you!  This year I've actually put a Chicago Hardy & a Brown Turkey in the ground, good to hear that you've had luck with the Chicago.  We did try Maypop last year, but it never took, it just started out beautiful, then looked sad...then sadder, then disappeared.  They seem to be rather pricey in my area so I've been reluctant to try again.  They are so beautiful though!

We do have about 9 different hardy kiwi varieties planted (just started all but 2 this year lol), no fruit yet but the 2 older plants Isaai look like they might fruit this year (so excited).

No paw paws yet, I think they are super cool but nervous about the smell thing...and needing 3 of them (we are pretty much sadly out of space for trees).  

A pistachio tree would be amazing, I hope you get one, I would love to see pictures!  I dream of having nut trees, but not until we get a lot with more space one day.

We've never tried sweet potato, regular potatoes yes...also jerusalem artichokes yes.  Are they easy to grow?  I wonder if there are any perennial varieties for my zone (6).

We haven't tried pigeon pea either, very curious thanks for the suggestions!  I'd love to have sugar cane one day, so delicious and cool.