Pomegranates combine the best of all worlds: A drought- and heat-tolerant plant that bears unusual and delicious fruit while looking very attractive in the process.
Lush in summer, the trees change color with the season, turning a brilliant gold to provide an autumn accent in the landscape.
And better yet, they grow great in the Sacramento area, loving our summer heat. The hotter the weather, the sweeter the fruit.
The spring flowers are a vibrant red-orange that resemble Halloween tissue ruffled around a golden cluster of stamens.
As the fruit matures, the six-pointed calyx looks like a small crown. When ripe, the mature pomegranates hang like bright red Christmas ornaments from the tree's branches and will cling to limbs long after the leaves are gone.
Deciduous in winter and naturally bushy, pomegranates do have thorns and need pruning. Their fruit is born on the tips of new growth. They can be shaped into small, attractive trees.
Tolerant of poor or alkaline soil, they are best planted as bare-root seedlings in fall or winter, but can be transplanted from containers year-round. Miniature varieties are now available, too, and make excellent container plants.
According to Tom Tjerandsen of the California Pomegranate Council, pomegranates can grow almost anywhere but need three things: 600 chill hours under 50 degrees (to induce dormancy), protection from wind, and dry weather for the month before harvest.
The winter chill starts its annual cycle. Without it, the trees will bloom too early and lose their fruit. Since the tree grows more like a bush, the limbs are fairly weak and wind can cause damage. And October rain will cause the fruit to swell up and split before harvest.
As a gardener, I discovered pomegranates by accident.
Thanks to a bird, a pomegranate sprouted in the junglelike portion of my former backyard, back behind the hydrangeas and a thicket of perennials.
It quickly grew into a small bush with glossy green leaves. It was pretty and I was curious, so I let it grow.
Within two years, it bore those unusual blooms, attracting a family of hummingbirds. It quickly grew into a small, bushy tree, providing a few dozen pomegranates each fall.
When we moved to Sacramento, it didn't take long for me to plant another pomegranate tree, this time on purpose.
I chose a 3-year-old Wonderful, a variety popular with professional growers, and planted it at the back of a rose bed near a fence facing east.
That small tree has thrived. Trimmed back three times, it throws out several fast-growing limbs topping 10 feet, which create a huge display of spring flowers. This season, many of those blooms produced fruit.
This small tree, with a spread of less than 8 feet, yielded more than 50 pounds of pomegranates. Some of the fruit is out of my reach, so I'll leave it for the birds.
Hopefully, one of them will pass on my discovery.
Call The Bee's Debbie Arrington, (916) 321-1075.
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