Poncirus Trifoliata would work. The fruit isn’t very useful. There are some hybrids that might work good. I’ll try to find a website that sells them. I have it saved somewhere.
Oh, guess I don’t know if they’d be evergreen there. They go dormant farther north. I haven’t grown Citrus, but I’ve been reading up on it. I ordered some Poncirus seeds. I’m in MO so anything else is a long shot here.
Ugni tastes good and looks nice. If loquats are hardy probably feijoas are hardy too and they taste delicious. For citrus I would choose cumquats they are quite cold hardy and make the best marmelade.
Cephalotaxus (Plum Yew) and some Elaeagnus species are evergreen. You might want to have a look at the database at plants for a future, too. They list lots more.
Evergreen huckleberry Vaccinium ovatumwebpage is the answer here in the pacific northwest. Works very well as a screen between larger trees. can be sheared into any shape. I have some along my driveway that I have sheared into a 10 foot high wall.
Pineapple guava would be my #1 pick. For citrus, I would try Thomasville Citrangequat. Best tasting hardy citrus. Tastes like a lime, apparently. I think I'm going to buy one this year myself. I think our winters are a lot alike, but your summers are way hotter.
John S
PDX OR
Oregon grape was mentioned but it would be to low growing for fence use. Washington holly aka tall Oregon grape Mahonia aquifolium would be suitable and very desirable.
I've been adding some olive trees to our orchard for the same reason. The Arbequina variety appears to be evergreen and it survived this winter with two separate weeks of snow in 7b PNW.
Vern Life wrote:I've been adding some olive trees to our orchard for the same reason. The Arbequina variety appears to be evergreen and it survived this winter with two separate weeks of snow in 7b PNW.
Loquat trees/bushes perhaps. They are hardy down to around 10 deg F, although temps below 27 will kill the flowers/fruit. It can be either a short tree or large bush depending on the variety and how you trim it. Eventually (50+ years?) it will get to be a largish tree (~35 ft tall). The one I have now is maybe 8-10 years old and is perhaps 10-12 ft tall.
If you've never tasted loquats, they sort of taste like apricots dipped in honey.
What about the Pindo or Jelly palm (Butia)? Very hardy, at least as hardy as a cabbage palmetto, and more drought-tolerant. It keeps fronds near the ground for a long time, five or ten years even, and eventually produces big clusters of fruit sort of like dates in shape, with a large pit, but with juicy flesh sort of like pineapple.
Pindo/Jelly Butia palm is marginal in zone 8. We're zone 8 here. I babied one for a couple of years and it died the first winter out. Chaemerops Humilis or Trachycarpus fortunei would work better for more reliable hardiness.
Has anyone mentioned Pineapple Guava (Feijoa)? They are a lovely evergreen ornamental plant that bear a lot of fruit. I'm not crazy about it, but my family likes it.
Citrus and avocado are beautiful year-round. Passion fruit vines keep their leaves a long time -- not ever-green but almost.
John Suavecito wrote:Pindo/Jelly Butia palm is marginal in zone 8. We're zone 8 here. I babied one for a couple of years and it died the first winter out.
Well damn.
I'm suddenly interested in Jelly Palms. I was researching cold-hardy bananas last night and wound up at seedman.com, which has three different jelly palms for sale. Some of what I've seen indicates that my 7b ought to be possible, but getting them established would definitely be the hard part; several/many years of protecting the young trees, I'm guessing.
The abundance on display in these videos is what catches my attention:
PS: I cannot recommend visiting seedman.com under the influence of too much bourbon. But they did ship my seed order in under 14 hours!
Ken W Wilson wrote:Poncirus Trifoliata would work. The fruit isn’t very useful. There are some hybrids that might work good.
These are easy to sprout from seed, but very slow-growing, at least in Kentucky. My 6 year old is barely 3 feet tall. I plan to use the fruit for flavoring only, as there isn't much there for eating.
In China, apparently, the fruit is considered more of a medicine than a fruit. The peel of the fruit, if you grow it yourself and don't put pesticides on it, is very healthful. I don't like the flavor by itself, but I ferment it and put it on salads. The fruit is seedy, but like Ruth, I use it as a flavoring. I will eat them when they are extremely ripe-almost rotten. I think squeezing the juice on fish or in a drink or casserole makes a lot of sense.
By the way, they are not evergreen, at least in temperate climates like mine.
John S
PDX OR
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is the answer here in the pacific northwest. Works very well as a screen between larger trees. can be sheared into any shape. I have some along my driveway that I have sheared into a 10 foot high wall.
