I am trying to pick cultivars for middle TN, recently reclassified to zone 7b. First frost is generally around Oct 15, forst hard freeze not til around Nov 15. We get near zero for one or two days in most winters, but we generally only have one or two weeks of truly cold weather. We do have unstable spring weather, frequent late frosts. Wet winters and springs, humid summers, dry autumns.
I have picked out five varieties, but I would like to whittle that down. Major criteria are cold hardiness, early fruiting, and taste. Which of these should I cross off my list? Or is there another variety or two I should consider?
Thanks for any input!
Ariana
Crimson Sky
Kazake
Parfianka
Sverkhranniy
Help me choose -- 7b
Re: Help me choose -- 7b
Welcome to the forum!
Parfianka is a pomegranate everyone should have despite it not being very cold hardy. Protect it and you won't be disappointed. This really is the champagne of pomegranates.
Sverkhranniy is early but not super cold hardy. Protect it and it will do well in your zone.
Kazake is very cold hardy but needs a long season to fully ripen. It's fruited once for me in Michigan and most of the poms were very small. If it had another month or two to fully ripen it would have done better.
You may want to consider Belbek which provides cold hardiness and will ripen in your zone.
Parfianka is a pomegranate everyone should have despite it not being very cold hardy. Protect it and you won't be disappointed. This really is the champagne of pomegranates.
Sverkhranniy is early but not super cold hardy. Protect it and it will do well in your zone.
Kazake is very cold hardy but needs a long season to fully ripen. It's fruited once for me in Michigan and most of the poms were very small. If it had another month or two to fully ripen it would have done better.
You may want to consider Belbek which provides cold hardiness and will ripen in your zone.
Re: Help me choose -- 7b
Spring seems to be more of a problem than winter.
Poms don't stay dormant long in most situations.
So you will need a plan for when they come out of dormancy and you get a frost while they are breaking bud and leafing out.
You could cover them or you could just wait and see if they survive and see what science decides.
When doing research look for varieties that leaf out and come out of dormancy late,
but also take into account the location where it was reported what the dormancy end times were.
I am in dry desert zone 7b in central New Mexico and all of my poms come out of dormancy in February.
Humidity has been known to cause problems as well.
I am not too familiar with TN but most of that region is humid in the summers.
Look for varieties that have been known to have fewer issues with humidity.
There have been experiments done in Florida where several varieties had issues with the fruit rotting due to humidity.
Also when someone says that "Parfianka is the best" but they are in California, keep in mind that your location will produce much different results.
Poms will survive in several different locations, but they don't fruit reliably in places with a cold spring, long winter and short summer.
There are always exceptions, some varieties seem to adapt better than others.
In the Pacific North West, the summers are not long enough for ideal ripening of fruit.
Lots of reports of fruit rotting before it can ripen as well as reports of the day time temps not being high enough for enough days to ripen fruit.
Sumbar and Sverkranniy have been known to ripen there though.
It has been said that poms need at least 120 days of temperatures above 85 degrees to fruit reliably.
For your location it seems that selecting varieties that are cold hardy and early ripening would be what to look for.
Nikitskii Rannii/trademarked Crimson Sky is said to be from the Nikita Botanical Gardens in Crimea,
but also in Bulgaria(don't know where in Bulgaria).
Don't know if it was brought from Bulgaria to Crimea,
or if it was developed in Crimea at the botanical garden then brought to Bulgaria.
It has been said to ripen end of September and both of those places have cold weather.
I am trying one but it is too early to have any information. I put it in the ground last spring and it survived the winter.
It woke up in Feb and now is leafing out.
I will see how it handles the upcoming light frosts that are coming.
Salavatski is known for being reliably cold hardy and usually regrowing from the roots when it does freeze but most importantly was known to do better in humid environments with less rot than other varieties.
It is usually pretty easy to find.
Its all an experiment and you have to try as many as possible in as many different sections of the yard to know.
Try as many as you can.
I don't really think you will have good luck in TN. Winter is too long and spring is too unpredictable with warm followed by frost.
Then not sure what to think about the humidity, humidity has been documented to be a problem for some varieties.
Maybe do them in pots and then bring them in, but the ground is really the ideal way if they will handle it in your location.
Type in "pomegranate trials and studies" and as many variations of those words as possible into google,
there are studies out there but I don't have the time at the moment to find them.
There is a good one done in Florida that would probably apply well to your situation due to humidity.
I guess if I were in your situation I would try a Crimson Sky from OneGreenWorld since that would be the cheapest way to find out if it works since it is one that is known for having some cold hardiness and early ripening.
OneGreenWorld sells it for $25 and shipping is about the same.
Poms don't stay dormant long in most situations.
So you will need a plan for when they come out of dormancy and you get a frost while they are breaking bud and leafing out.
You could cover them or you could just wait and see if they survive and see what science decides.
When doing research look for varieties that leaf out and come out of dormancy late,
but also take into account the location where it was reported what the dormancy end times were.
I am in dry desert zone 7b in central New Mexico and all of my poms come out of dormancy in February.
Humidity has been known to cause problems as well.
I am not too familiar with TN but most of that region is humid in the summers.
Look for varieties that have been known to have fewer issues with humidity.
There have been experiments done in Florida where several varieties had issues with the fruit rotting due to humidity.
Also when someone says that "Parfianka is the best" but they are in California, keep in mind that your location will produce much different results.
Poms will survive in several different locations, but they don't fruit reliably in places with a cold spring, long winter and short summer.
There are always exceptions, some varieties seem to adapt better than others.
In the Pacific North West, the summers are not long enough for ideal ripening of fruit.
Lots of reports of fruit rotting before it can ripen as well as reports of the day time temps not being high enough for enough days to ripen fruit.
Sumbar and Sverkranniy have been known to ripen there though.
It has been said that poms need at least 120 days of temperatures above 85 degrees to fruit reliably.
For your location it seems that selecting varieties that are cold hardy and early ripening would be what to look for.
Nikitskii Rannii/trademarked Crimson Sky is said to be from the Nikita Botanical Gardens in Crimea,
but also in Bulgaria(don't know where in Bulgaria).
Don't know if it was brought from Bulgaria to Crimea,
or if it was developed in Crimea at the botanical garden then brought to Bulgaria.
It has been said to ripen end of September and both of those places have cold weather.
I am trying one but it is too early to have any information. I put it in the ground last spring and it survived the winter.
It woke up in Feb and now is leafing out.
I will see how it handles the upcoming light frosts that are coming.
Salavatski is known for being reliably cold hardy and usually regrowing from the roots when it does freeze but most importantly was known to do better in humid environments with less rot than other varieties.
It is usually pretty easy to find.
Its all an experiment and you have to try as many as possible in as many different sections of the yard to know.
Try as many as you can.
I don't really think you will have good luck in TN. Winter is too long and spring is too unpredictable with warm followed by frost.
Then not sure what to think about the humidity, humidity has been documented to be a problem for some varieties.
Maybe do them in pots and then bring them in, but the ground is really the ideal way if they will handle it in your location.
Type in "pomegranate trials and studies" and as many variations of those words as possible into google,
there are studies out there but I don't have the time at the moment to find them.
There is a good one done in Florida that would probably apply well to your situation due to humidity.
I guess if I were in your situation I would try a Crimson Sky from OneGreenWorld since that would be the cheapest way to find out if it works since it is one that is known for having some cold hardiness and early ripening.
OneGreenWorld sells it for $25 and shipping is about the same.