There are a number of interesting and useful edible fruits that are not commonly grown in gardens.
Although they have little or no commercial value, they are unusual for their flavors and culinary uses.
Most have no serious insect or disease troubles, and some can tolerate lower winter temperatures and drier conditions than our common garden fruits.
Common Persimmon
The Native American or common persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) grows natively south of New York and westward to Kansas.
Early ripening varieties mature in Geneva, New York, in October and early November.
Frost is unnecessary to ripen the fruits, and when immature, they are even ruined by hard freezing.
Fully ripe fruits, however, are not injured; they remain on the tree in edible condition until Thanksgiving or later.
Fruit Characteristics
The fruit of the common persimmon varies considerably in size, color, flavor, and ripening time.
In the best varieties, it is nearly 2” inches in diameter, yellow or orange, with a reddish cheek.
It has a very rich, sweet, characteristic persimmon flavor. The immature fruits are very astringent, but this unpleasant feature disappears at full maturity.
Trees grow to 50’ feet in height, with narrow, round tops and dark green lustrous leaves that are attractive for garden use.
Best Flavored Varieties
Male and female flowers are borne on separate trees so that a male must be present in every planting to provide the pollen essential for the fruit set.
Garrettson, Early Golden, and Kansas are the best-flavored varieties of the 20 or more persimmons that I have fruited.
These varieties have ripened every year at Geneva and are much superior in size and quality to the general run of wild persimmons.
Trees had also withstood winters, except in 1934 when some small seedlings were killed to the ground when the thermometer dropped to 31° degrees Fahrenheit below. Give plants a well-drained, silty loam.
They need no pruning and mulch to control weeds. Wild trees in the south grow on poor soils with no care.
Asimina Triloba “Papaw”
The papaw (Asimina triloba) is another interesting native fruit wholly unlike the fruits commonly grown in the northern states.
The only member of the custard-apple family, which is hardy in the northern states, it grows naturally on rich bottomlands south of New York.
A few colonies are known in western New York and even on the north shore of Lake Ontario.
Papaw Fruits
Fruits are borne in pairs or clusters of 5 or 6 and ripen from mid-September onward here at Geneva.
4” to 6” inches long, they have a thin yellowish skin and edible pulp embedded in numerous seeds as large as Lima beans.
The flesh suggests the banana in texture and is highly perfumed, very sweet, and rich, containing 435 calories per pound.
Papaw grows to 20’ feet or inure in height to become a round-topped tree, with large, Long, glossy leaves hanging downward, giving a tropical appearance wholly unlike that of other small trees of the north.
Dull red flowers borne profusely on bare branches before the leaves appear interesting and distinctive but not handsome.
Dwarf Juneberry
The dwarf juneberry (Amelanchier stolonifera), also known as service-berry and saskatoon, is a low shrub, growing from 3’ to 5’ feet tall and spreading slowly by suckers to make a wide hush.
The black fruits, rather bland in flavor, are as large as peas, with a heavy bloom which gives them a superficial resemblance to blueberries.
Combined with lemon juice or rhubarb, they make a good pie. The berries ripen in the strawberry season and are beloved by the birds. Some sell the variety Success.
The small white flowers of the dwarf juneberry are borne in great numbers, making the bushes mounds of white in late April.
A native of the Great Plains region, it is a tough plant that can tolerate cold winters and hot, dry summers.
Buffalo Berry
The buffalo berry (Shepherdia argentea) is a thorny shrub of the Rocky Mountain region from Saskatchewan southward.
Like the juneberry, it is very hardy, drought-resistant, and a useful native fruit where few other plants can grow.
The berries are about the size of currants, bright red, acid, appearing in compact clusters in the axils of small branches. They ripen in July and remain in the bushes until fall when they are gathered for jelly.
Buffalo-berry grows from 5’ to 20’ feet high and has silvery leaves, which make it an attractive ornamental shrub in harsh climates.
Male and female flowers are produced on separate plants, necessitating plants of both sexes for cross-pollination.
American Elderberry
The American elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) has long been used for making pies and elderberry wine.
A few hundred tons are canned commercially, and some interest is developing in making commercial plantings to supply the canning factories.
Selections somewhat superior to the general run of wild plants in cluster and fruit size have been developed, but only the Adams variety is now available from nurseries.
Plants of two clones are sold under this name to provide for cross-pollination.
Several interesting stone fruits of unusual hardiness and small stature are occasionally grown in gardens for eating and as ornaments.
Nanking Cherry
The Nanking cherry (Prunus tomentosa) is perhaps the best of these. Plants grow to 6’ or 8’ feet tall and are compact and wide spreading.
The fruits of the Nanking cherry are small, bright red cherries borne in great profusion, making plants in fruit an attractive sight.
The Minnesota Experiment Station has introduced Drilea and several unnamed selections.
Western Sand Cherry
The western sand cherry (Prunus besseyi) grows in the Great Plains, where its resistance to low winter temperatures and hot, dry summers make it a very useful fruit. Considerable breeding work has improved it far beyond the wild species.
A low-growing, gracefully spreading shrub to three to four feet, it has glossy, silvery green leaves. In bloom, plants are a mass of white.
Fruits are usually purplish black, bitter, and astringent in wild plants but sweet and fairly palatable in the improved varieties.
Improved varieties available as budded plants are Sioux, Brooks, and Black Beauty. Hybrids with other cherry species include Opata, Sapa, Zumbra, Compass, St. Anthony, Nicollet, Tom Thumb, and Oka.
Korean Cherry
The Korean cherry (Prunus japonica) is another very hardy low shrub that attains about 4′ feet and bears heavy crops of dark red, cherry-like fruits, about the size of sour cherries but much firmer.
The general run of seedlings is sour and astringent, but a few are of fair quality and make good pies.
Plants are attractive in bloom, and the autumn foliage is colorful, too. Two Minnesota Experiment Station selections, No. 20 and No. 60, are available in the trade.
Beach Plum
The beach plum (Prunus maritima), a native of the sand dunes of the North Atlantic coast, has long been prized as a jelly fruit in regions where it occurs.
The useful fruit and handsome appearance of the plant in flower make the beach plum One of the best plants for seashore planting, particularly on the dunes where few other plants thrive.
Wild plants’ fruit varies greatly in size, color, flavor, and ripening time. Selections have been made and propagated, but these are unavailable from the nursery vet, except for Raritan and two others.
Mulberries
Mulberries have long been occupants of gardens, where their usefulness as bird food is associated with them.
Old specimens grow to large sizes and produce fruit freely for several weeks in mkt-summer.
Plants should be set where the messiness of the soft, juicy fruits, with their purple juice, will not be annoying.
Some old and good varieties have existed for many years, but apparently, they are now difficult to purchase, true to name.
The bower actinidia (Actinidia arguta) is a handsome, vigorous climbing vine with greenish-yellow, inch-long fruits and a pleasant sub-acid flavor that makes an excellent jam.
The very vigorous vine requires considerable space on which to ramble. Crops are rather light for the size of the plant.
44659 by George L. Slate