The lovely pomegranate is in season

By Mary Reid Barrow

Correspondent

THE BEAUTIFUL pomegranate tree in Lana Wolcott's Virginia Beach yard makes it look like she is rushing the season.

Red pomegranates hang from the tree like big round Christmas balls. Not only is the color seasonal, the fruit hangs gracefully from slender twigs as though someone had carefully decorated the tree.

"They are so pretty," Wolcott said, "that I don't like to pick them."

She was prompted to purchase a pomegranate for her Bay Colony yard because she remembers fondly a tree that her aunt had. "We would love to go to her house and pick them and eat them."

As children, they just popped the juicy seeds into their mouths, she added. With a little more trouble, pomegranates make a delicious juice. You can halve the fruits and ream them on an orange juice squeezer. Pomegranates give the pretty red color to the grenadine syrup in many cocktails. The juice also can be used to make jellies and dessert sauces or to flavor cakes and fruit dishes.

Wolcott found her tree at Smithfield Gardens five or so years ago; it's probably 10 feet tall now. She can't remember what kind it is, but Les Parks, nursery manager at Smithfield Gardens, said he bets it's a variety of fruiting pomegranate called Wonderful that the nursery has been selling for quite a while.

Smithfield Gardens also sells a variety call Favorite and a smaller ornamental variety, Nana. The latter blooms like the fruiting varieties but is a smaller shrub, and although the fruit is colorful, it is small and inedible. However, Parks said he has more customers interested in the fruiting variety.

"Any of your readers who are into edible landscapes should have one."

After seeing Wolcott's tree, it is easy to agree. The exotic beauty of a tree ladened with red fruits in November can't be beat.

"This is their time of year," Parks said.

But early summer is not so bad, either. That is when the tree bursts forth with bright orange flowers.

Pomegranates are native to the Middle East, but Spanish settlers introduced them to America in the 17th century. Semi-tropical, they could be called small trees or big shrubs. They are cultivated commercially in the West.

Pomegranates do well in our hot summers, Parks said. They are listed as growing in zones 7 to 11, though he hasn't seen them much beyond Williamsburg and the Eastern Shore.

Parks recommends planting a pomegranate in full sun and well-drained soil, enhanced with good organic mulch. Fertilize with fruit tree food, according to the directions. You can plant them up until mid-December.

"They are not overly water-needy," he added.

Wolcott has her tree in the back of her Bay Colony yard where she has no irrigation and it did well this summer.

And particularly well right now.

"It's stunning," Wolcott said.

P.S. A reader wrote in about a black walnut cracker that he says makes a hard job easy. "The Duke walnut cracker is the one I have," he said, "and it sells for $31.99. It is simple to use and does a great job." It is available at www.mainstsupply.com/product.cfm/3/7/52207.

Mary Reid Barrow, [email protected].

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