Definitely fruity here too. We live on an old homestead that had a few apple trees of unknown varieties. Two are crabapples of different kinds, one is a good producer of apples that aren't good until after a hard frost or two, and two are not doing as well. Those have sprouts coming up beside the original trunk. We decided to let the best of those grow to replace the trees because we have no idea what varieties we have anyway. In addition, we planted new trees a couple of years ago: Stanley plum, Bartlett pear, MacIntosh, Honeycrisp and Jonagold apples. We might add more. I also have Canadice and Concord grapes, plus one other whose name escapes me now. We have a few elderberry bushes that produce quite well, and I'm trying to grow blueberries which so far have been unhappy and unproductive. Wasps liked the strawberries and raspberries too much so I quit growing them as I have an allergy problem with insect stings and bites and didn't feel that it was wise to take that risk to pick them. And now I am trying to root some fig cuttings. I'll be pushing the zone to grow them. My new USDA zone is 6a.

OOOOh Patrick -- Ligonberries! My DH's Swedish grandmother insisted that the proper way to eat Swedish pancakes was with ligonberry jam, however, it is hard to find here in the US.

Glad I saw your article, Trish! It's time to order more fruits and berries. We have pawpaw, persimmon, mulberry, marionberry, elderberry, grape, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, fig, peach, pear, cherry, apples, crabapple, gooseberry, currant, plum, sandcherry, korean quince tree, filbert, hickory, pecan, walnut, jostaberry, and possibly strawberries and rhubarb....if they survived from last summer's heat. I keep lemon, grapefruit, loquat and lime in the sunroom, but only the lemon has ever fruited. I'm hoping the loquat will this year. I have a daughter in Phoenix and another in San Diego and they are willing to ship me fruit trees,so if anyone could give me advice on shipping these successfully, I'd appreciate it! Just send me a tree-mail! I'm almost envious of folks down south who can grow all these yummy citrus trees, but then I think I have a few they can't grow. Really really wish I could grow lingonberries. It's just too hot and dry here. I've tried several times. Same with cranberries. They sell them here, but I don't know of anyone who has had success.

oh, Rocklady--you can buy lingonberries at Ikea in the winter. I bought 4 jars while visiting my daughter in San Diego and put them on my carry on luggage...oops. Got pulled aside...the security person thought they were candles and then when I said they were lingonberries, she laughed and said "Ikea?" she let me go, but when I had to transfer planes in Houston, they made my put them in checked luggage. Too bad we don't have Ikea closer to home. Hope you have one near you! The big jars were only 2.99!!

I would be on the fruity side with avocado, bananas, cattley guava, Surinam black cherries, ruby red grapefruit, jaboticaba, Meyer lemon, loquat, lychee, Orlando tangelo, ugli tangelo, Murcot tangor, wekiwa tangelolo, carrie mango, navel orange, papaya, passion fruit, Fuyu persimmon, pummelo and pomegranate off the top of my head.

Jim

My mouth is watering after reading your list Jim.

Wow Cindy, thanks for the Ikea tip. I will see if I can find any around both homes, however, if not, we will be traveling to Phoenix in June for a wedding and I can surely pick up some there, however, if that fails, our son lives near San Diego and perhaps he can pick up a few jars and $2.99 is a great price. No need to worry about carry-on, etc. We will be traveling by van.

Jean, I wish I had bought a case of them! I don't envy you driving from Florida to Phoenix...wow what a long trip. My daughter has driven from Phoenix to Wichita a few times and it worries me the whole time. If ever I drive back with her, I'm coming home with a van load of fruit trees. I can't believe how much cheaper they are out in Phoenix and San Diego. Citrus is 3 times the price here. With gas going up, we may not even be able to get citrus trees this year. Lowes only carries a few, and they're around $50. Wonder if they get tired of giving refunds to people who leave the trees out in the winter??

Cindi, fortunately we will be driving to Phoenix from our Hot Springs, AR home, however, two years ago we did it from Florida. Imagine 800 miles across Texas alone! We never fly for several reasons, one of them being that we carry so much "stuff" with us -- cameras, camera equipment, laptops, and oh yes, a few clothes.

I have 1 apple, 2 pear, and one peach tree. Not sure what they are, were here when we moved in. Some years will have lots of fruit some not so, due to japanese beetle issues!

I have Mango,Myers lemon,orange, starfruit (loaded with blooms and fruit) avocado also loaded with blooms black sapote, white sapote (no blooms yet )bananas. strawberry, and a fig tree I think I may have killed :rolleyes:and a custard apple that fruits very well, so I guess I'm on team fruity.

"Does anyone know the trick of "sweetening" up these tangerines?"

I used to have an orange tree in San Diego with very sour fruit. The soil was caliche -- an alkaline soil.

Neutralize the soil and add a chelating fertilizer. Chelation is the secret to sweetening up sour citrus fruit.

Great information hazelnut. Wish I could grow them up here in Oregon. That is the one thing I miss about California.

Makes my mouth water just reading through these posts! I have native salmon, huckle, elder and thimble berry, invasive black berry, cultivated goose, straw, rasp and blue berry bushes. Apple, pear, pie and sweet cherry, plum, chokecherry, serviceberry, and crab apple trees. Wild cherries that don't produce much fruit, and native Indian plum. A white mulberry sapling in the chicken yard. Four varieties of grapes. All soon needing pruning! So, definitely Team Fruity.

Nice and yummy list Deb.

Can I grow loquats in wichita ,ks and if so please tell me where I can get a starter tree.

Hi leshellewi.
I'm not sure what your growing zone is, but loquats are only winter hardy to zone 7.

Makes my mouth water just thinking about the wonderful fruit this tree produces.

I've only grown them indoors in wichita, and even then, they didn't make it. Pretty sure I started mine from fruit I brought back from Florida. That was years ago, wish I had some now! I don't think I've seen any loquats in grocery stores here, ever.