Northern maritime climate and fruit trees.

Hello everyone!
Has anyone had success OR notable failures growing persimmons, pawpaws or nut trees near the oceans, or the big lakes? Preferably in northmost USA or in Canada?
My pawpaws seemed to survive their first winter here in Finland, so I am optimistic...but I have no clue if Diospyros virginiana (american persimmon), or any edible Juglans/Carya -species will produce. Hazel will do just fine, we have native  european hazel here.
-Janne

Hi Janne Not sure about ammerican persimmon but diospyros kaki could be a good bet

David
your apples are doing well

David Livingston wrote:Hi Janne Not sure about ammerican persimmon but diospyros kaki could be a good bet

David
your apples are doing well

That's nice to hear! Unfortunately my graft skills were subpar, so no luck with you scions this year...but two of your walnuts sprouted .

And regarding Diospyros kaki....really?? I thought that they can't stand much frost, and require way more temperature sum/accumulated temperature than the american version. We have here about 1700 per year (Celsius) , would that really be enough?

And someone could also tell me if you don't know what I'm talking about regading the accumulated temperature sums...I am not sure If that is the proper english term.

Since there are about 2500 cultivars of " kaki " in China and Japan I figure that there may be one out there for Finland Japan seems to get mighty cold

David Livingston wrote:Since there are about 2500 cultivars of " kaki " in China and Japan I figure that there may be one out there for Finland Japan seems to get mighty cold

Haha, I bet! I guess it still boils down to the Growing Degree Days..they must be early ripening, since nothing ripens here anymore in late october . No light, no real warmth.
I wish I could read chinese/japanese, I bet they have tons of information about Diospyros kaki in their language :/ .

-Janne

It would help us alot if you were to list your Hardiness Zone (which I am going to assume is a Zone 5 based on https://www.gardenia.net/guide/european-hardiness-zones)

Total Rainfall and it's distribution pattern
Hardiness Zone (
Growing Degree Hours
Chill Hours

Overall I would say that the following would grow in your location

Arctic Kiwi Vine
Artic Raspberry
Currants
Gooseberry
Elderberry
Honeyberry
Highbush Cranberry
Pawpaw
Grape Vine

With growing degree days, I would be able to give you more info.
I think that American persimmon will pretty much grow there, but Asian persimmon will not do well there.  I have the hardest Asian Persimmon and it really need a micro climate to service in my zone 6b/7a

The problem with some of those plants won't necessarily be just the cold but the sunshine hour/heat needed to produce viable fruit. If you look at pfaf.org it will give you a good idea of what is more/less viable bearing in mind the cultivation details are written from a southern England perpective. Thats not say it can't be done with microclimates but that it might be alot of work.  Maybe it is less cloudy up in southern Finland?!

http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Diospyros+virginiana

"The fruit may not ripen properly in a cool summer, though if it is frosted it normally develops a very good flavour[K]. The fruit can also be harvested in the autumn, preferably after a frost, and bletted. (This is a process where the fruit is kept in a cool place and only eaten when it is very soft and almost at the point of going rotten). Much of the fruit on trees in a relatively sunny position at Kew after a relatively warm summer in 1996 was still not fully ripe, though it was very nearly so and ripened well off the tree[K].'Dooley' grows well near the northern limits of persimmon culture."

-So you might be alright if you blet it. I couldn't find a source of the named cultivars in the U.K unfortunately.

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Asimina+triloba

"The mature fruit is rarely seen in Britain[182], only ripening after a long hot summer[200]. A small tree growing against a south-facing wall at Bristol Botanical Gardens had a small crop of immature fruit in early September 1996 (following the hot summer of 1995) - this was the first time it had been seen to bear fruit[K]. Flowers are formed in the leaf axils of wood produced the previous summer"

-So you you need two successive hot summers to get any fruit!-This put me off growing it which is a shame as custard apples are my favourite fruit.

There are some Juglan varieties like hickories and walnuts more suitable for growing in Britain, can't remember the names off the top of my head though so I will see if I can find them for you.

You might be able to grow a hardy variety of fig in a favourable spot if you can keep the temperature above -15 C e.g brown turkey or hardy chicago.

Thanks for the inputs!

We don't use the USDA hardiness zone here, but if the lowest temperature is the key nominator..then yes, zone 5 would be most appropriate. We also don't count our chilling hours, since just about every plant sure gets enough of them here. Growing degree hours we can get nowdays over 1700, but not every year. We really don't have bad droughts at summer, and winters are mostly wet with temperatures jumping between -23 and +5 Celsius.

I have many currants and their relatives, all traditionally grown here. Mut after the climate change has been happening, I'd like to try something "exotic" in here. Thus pawpaws, persimmons and nut trees. Mulberries seem to do okay, but for some reason nobody here sells anything but wild Morus alba/Morus alba var. tatarica.  I think I could and should at least try Illinois everbearing. Wild mulberries mature in early July here usually, so cultivars might be viable option.

Of course regarding pawpaws and persimmons, I should try to find as early ripeners as possible...right?

-Janne

White mulberry is the one used to feed silk worms best of luck with that

David

-23 C makes it a bit more challenging, makes it difficult to grow a lot of the exotics we can grow easily here. Some bamboos and gingko would grow (if you have the time and space for the latter). Maybe there is some other plants from Northern China / Japan (especially the pines for nuts).