Tree Fruits
Home grown fruits are one of the highlights of summer. What could be better than enjoying a fresh crisp fall apple from your own tree or sweet juicy raspberries from your own garden? It is amazing the varieties of fruits that are hardy for our prairie climate, including apples, pears, hardy apricots and cherries! While it is true that we cannot grow oranges and bananas (planted outdoors) take heart. There is an amazing variety of fruits that we can grow, many of which are surprising.
We have in the tree yard for sale small fruits like raspberries, strawberries, grapes, and rhubarb as well as tree fruits, apples, apricots , plums and pears.
Time to start that patch of homegrown fruit you have always dreamed about!
The following varieties are zoned for a zone 3 and some for zone 2. We are in zone 3 and zone 2 is a colder, longer winter and do very well here.
Apple Trees
- Gemini - Hardy to zone 2. A tasty, sweet, large fruited variety with good winter hardiness in the tree. This tree is a cross between Norland and Haralson. The fruit have a red colouring over yellow. Delicious!
- Red Gemini - Hardy to zone 2. Medium to large apples with red blush that ripen in August. Stores well
- September Ruby - Hardy to zone 2. A good storing apple with medium sized, dark red fruit. Good for eating fresh, storing or cooking. Rescue x Haralson cross
- Prairie Magic- Hardy to zone 2 conditions. Ripens by mid-Sept..
- Prairie Sensation - Hardy to zone 2 conditions. Ripens by mid- Sept.
- Parkland - Hardy to zone 3 conditions. Ripens by mid August. Great for snacking or baking.
- Norkent - Hardy to zone 2 conditions. Ripens in late August. Crisp and delicious fruit that have red over yellow colouration.
- Harcourt - Hardy to zone 3 conditions. Red skin with a crisp white flesh. Ripens in mid August.
- Battleford - Hardy to zone 2 conditions. A large fruit with red over yellow colouring that ripens in mid-Sept.
- Dwarf Gemini - Grows the same size fruit as Gemini, only the tree itself is dwarfed. Easier to pick and requires less square footage to grow to maturity.
- Dwarf Norkent - Grows the same size fruit as Norkent, only the tree itself is dwarfed. Easier to pick and requires less square footage to grow to maturity.
Applecrabs
- Rescue - Hardy to zone 2. A reliable and heavy fruit producer you can count on it to produce quantities of small sized apples that have fresh, fruity apple flavour. Excellent for fresh eating, pie or a mild flavoured juice. This tree should be essential in an orchard in our area. First introduced in 1936 it has proven success in providing generations of Canadians with apples.
Pears
Pears not only produce fruit but make an excellent ornamental tree. These ones are hardy for our climate and produce small fruit that taste like a mini-Bartlett.
- Early Gold - Hardy to zone 2. Great tasting small pears that are hardy for our climate.
- Prairie Welcome Pear - Hardy to zone 2 conditions. Fruit ripens in early September.
Apricots
- Manchurian - Golden -yellow fruit on a cold hardy tree. Hardy to zone 3.
Plums
- Pembina - A smaller tree with delicious dark red fruit.
- Brookgold - Medium sized golden yellow fruit. Hardy to zone 2.
- Tecumseh - Juicy, sweet plum, good for fresh eating and jams.
Starting a fruit orchard may seem daunting and expensive. Where to start? These would be our first picks because of hardiness, fruit quality and ease of growing:
- A hardy favourite apple like a Parkland.
- A Rescue Applecrab. Reliable producer of tasty smaller apples. Very hardy, it thrives despite the most brutal winters. Easy to grow.
- An Evans Cherry. Productive and hardy, this self pollinating shrub blooms beautifully in the spring. Fruit are great for fresh eating, canning, freezing or drying. Easy to grow.
- Definitely get a rhubarb plant going. Oh, those mouth watering rhubarb crisps! Easy to grow.
- You just can't go wrong with a few raspberry canes. Easy to look after and they sucker to create more of themselves. Very easy to grow.