Gardening

Rare And Wonderful Fruit Trees Featured At February 4 Seminar & Sale

By Alcestis “Cooky” Oberg, Galveston County Master Gardener
for Dr. William M. Johnson, Galveston County Extension Agent - Horticulture

January 25, 2006

'Burgandy Plum.' Photo Credit: Heidi Sheesley

Have you been to some insanely expensive restaurant where the chefs garnished your duck with an exotic red blood orange or served your salad sprinkled with pomegranate seeds? And when you’re pushing your cart through the produce section of a gourmet specialty market, have you ever noticed that Meyer lemons cost $1.50 each and little kumquats cost $5 a pound? Meyer lemons, kumquats, pomegranates and blood oranges are all top gourmet fare, but can be easily and inexpensively grown in any back yard in Galveston County.

An enormous assortment of fabulous and rare citrus trees along with new luscious plums, peaches, persimmons, pomegranates, apples and pears will be featured at the annual Galveston County Master Gardener Fruit Tree Seminar & Sale at the Wayne Johnson Community Center in Carbide Park (4102 FM 519, La Marque) on Saturday, February 4, 2006, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Prior to the fruit tree sale, Heidi Sheesley of Treesearch Farms will provide a slide presentation on featured fruit trees from 8:00-9:00 a.m. in the Wayne Johnson Community Center. Preregistration in not needed but seating is limited, so come early.

Master Gardeners will conduct ongoing workshops on "Proper Pruning for Fruit Trees" and will be available to answer questions on fruit trees. Visit the web site below or contact the Galveston County Extension Office for additional information (281-534-3413, ext. 6). Proceeds from the plant sale are used to develop and maintain the Horticulture Demonstration Garden which the public is invited to enjoy and learn from year-round. The Horticulture Demonstration Garden is located at the Galveston County Extension Office.

Citrus Bonanza

Forget going anywhere else to buy a citrus tree this year. There are 30 varieties of citrus trees that are perfect for our soil and climate conditions – something you won’t find anywhere else in Houston. Satsuma varieties such as ‘Owari’, ‘BC2' and ‘Satsuma-satsuma’ have been grown for decades in our area, and have provided us with huge harvests of luscious fragrant fruit every year.

Texas A&M is excited about two new varieties – ‘Miho’ and ‘Seto’ – which have done well in their tests. In our own taste tests, two oranges – the ever popular ‘Republic of Texas’ and the sweet pink ‘Cara Cara’ – have been stars for many years, along with ‘Meiwa’ kumquats, ‘Pong Koa’ and ‘Atlas Honey’ mandarins, ‘Bloomsweet’ grapefruits, ‘Meyer’ lemons, ‘Thornless Mexican’ limes, and ‘Chandler’ pommelos.

Impossible to find elsewhere are two varieties of blood oranges, the ‘Sarawak’ pummelo (highly prized by the Asian community) and ‘Buddha’s Hand’ – a rare and ancient citron that is cut up and used to fragrance houses all over the Orient.

Beautiful to Look at and Good to Eat

Some exotic fruit trees have magnificent, showy blossoms that double as magnificent ornamentals in the home landscape. New and exciting in this year’s sale is the Edible Barbados Cherry. A native of Australia, this cold-sensitive tree can grow to 15 feet tall. This cherry tree is covered with tiny pink-white flowers in the spring, and full of Vitamin C rich cherry-sized sweet/tart fruit in the summer.

Pomegranates grow as either bushes or trees, and have magnificent red or pink/white blooms in the spring. The jewel-like garnet or ruby seedy fruits are the new “must-have” additions to salads in posh restaurants. Pomegranate juice is the new “in” drink in California. Three exciting varieties of pomegranates are offered in the sale, romantically named ‘Garnet Sash,’ ‘Sharp Velvet’ and ‘Red Silk.’

Persimmons are the most highly prized ornamental trees in Japan. They blossom profusely in the spring and have beautiful dark green foliage in the summer. When they lose their leaves in the fall, the persimmon fruits hang like ornaments on the tree, ripening to a soft, ultra-sweet perfection. The Japanese cut open the top and eat the soft, pudding-like fruit inside the outer skin with a spoon. Some freeze the persimmon whole, and eat it like ice cream. There are seven varieties of persimmons available – all the most sought after ones in the world: ‘Suruga,’ ‘Fuju,’ ‘Jiro’ and ‘Hachiya.’ Persimmons are very hearty, and very easy to grow in Galveston County.

Normal Stuff

For ordinary folks with ordinary tastes, there is the usual assortment of apples, Asian and European pears, plums, peaches, figs, grapes, blackberries, and pecans. Exceptional among the selections this year are the peaches and plums the University of Florida has perfected for our warm Gulf climate: The “Gulf” series of plums (‘Blaze’, ‘Beauty’, and ‘Rose’), and the new peaches, ‘Gulf King’ and ‘Florida Prince.’ There will also be an abundant supply of our own favorite peach, ‘Tropic Snow’ – a run-down-your-face juicy, sweet white peach.

And for the Very Adventurous . . .

Some gardeners will be delighted by some very different, can’t-buy-them-anywhere fruits that may do well in our yards. These trees include the ‘Pakistan mulberry’ tree and two different avocados. However, there are some fabulous new apricot-plum hybrids which have been big commercial successes wherever they’re offered for sale: pluots, apriums and plumcots.

Jujubes are called “Asian dates” because they taste somewhat like a date when eaten as dried fruit. They grow very well in Galveston County.

Pawpaws are trees that were cultivated by the Indian tribes of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. They are large, somewhat seedy. Their flavor is described as similar to a banana mixed with a mango and a pineapple. Pawpaws have to be pollinated by hand and grown in a moist area.

Dr. Johnson is a horticulturist with the Galveston County
Extension Office of Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas A&M University. Visit his web site at http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/index.htm

Alcestis "Cooky" Oberg is a Certified Texas Master Gardener and Extension volunteer with the Galveston County Extension Office of Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas A&M University. Visit the Master Gardener web site at http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/index.htm. For more information, contact the County Extension Office, 5115 Highway 3, Dickinson, Texas or call 281 534 3413 ext. 6.

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