Haku-Botan: A Japanese Pomegranate

[pombazaar]

There were a few varieties this year that I was really hoping to root. Haku-Botan was one of them. Of all my cuttings, this one grew the tallest at over 3 feet! I've added two of these plants to my collection and hope to see fruit by 2024. This is a double white flowered pomegranate originating from Saitama, Japan. The hull is a light yellow or white color and the arils are white. It produces sour fruit, medium size with medium hard seeds. From now until November I'll be taking extra care so it bulks up. Fingers crossed that it survives the winter

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[greenfig]

Congrats!! There are 2 trees growing in a nearby park. I really like the flowers but not a big fan of the fruit. I would treat it as a mostly ornamental variety. There are also flowering poms with red and red-white flowers, equally pretty ! I believe they are Japanese as well.
I found the HB fruit too small and too sour for my buds but maybe yours will be different.

[pombazaar]

Thanks! The flowers on all Japanese pomegranates are stunning! I was thinking that perhaps some time down the road it would be fun to experiment and develop a cross breed with a well known producing variety.

Do you know if the trees have tags? I'd be curious to know what the other one is. There are 4 other Japanese pomegranate varieties I plan to root next year.

One other question: How small were the Haku-Botan you've seen?

[greenfig]

Yes, the trees do have tags, I will take photos the next time I am there.