Casa Granada
“Pomegranate House”
For the west-facing bed by my front door, which I tore up last weekend in my craving for something less ordinary, I’ve decided on a pomegranate. Punica granatum ‘Wonderful’, to be exact.
‘Wonderful’ sounds, well, wonderful. A small tree that can be kept at 8 to 10 feet with pruning, it thrives in hot, dry conditions, has showy, scarlet flowers (I love red), fruits beautifully, and grows in an arching vase shape. Pomegranates are long-lived and untroubled by most diseases and pests. I’ve even read that they are deer-resistant, if there is such a thing, but I don’t have that worry (as yet) in my in-town garden.
I’d always associated the pomegranate with the Mediterranean and Spain, but it is native to the Middle East, I’ve learned. At any rate, it brings to mind fond memories of central Mexico. When my husband and I visited San Miguel de Allende last spring, we stayed in a lovely B&B called Casa Granada, whose symbol is the pomegranate.
I’ll keep the orange-and-red blooming cigar plant in that bed, to go with the pomegranate’s red blooms and fruit, and I’m leaving one Salvia leucantha and the Lindheimer muhly grass, though I’m moving them around a bit. I’m planning to add a bamboo muhly to replace the bicolor iris I grew tired of, and I may add a dwarf maiden grass and an artichoke agave. Maybe even a few bluebonnets in time for this spring. I’ll have to wait a week or two for the pomegranate, as the spring stock hasn’t come in at the nurseries yet. But I’m still working the soil anyway and thinking about companion plants.
I need to stop posting and start digging.
Pam, we planted a “wonderful” last year, and it’s… wonderful. Ours set six fruit the first year (from a 10′ bareroot planting), and they tasted excellent, although they did not develop great sugar in our cool climate, but I bet they love your Austin summers, as long as they stay dry enough.
Oh good! I was hoping for feedback from others who’ve grown it. I’m impressed that yours set fruit the first year.
Man, I’d love to find a 10′ plant, if I could afford it. One nursery I visited yesterday does have some 4′ bareroot pomegranates, but I’ve never planted bareroot before and wasn’t sure about it. Any tips on planting bareroot? —Pam
Okay, making another attempt to comment…
We planted a ‘Wonderful’ last fall, chosen partly because I’ve wanted one for years, and partly because they’re growing in other yards in our neighborhood, which makes me think they do well here. Fruit would be cool, but the flowers are reason enough to like them!
Will you now be calling your house Casa Grenada, Pam:)
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
And how did it do for you last year? Did you measure its growth in inches, as you’ve done for your other trees?
I love the name Casa Granada, but it sounds as if I’d have competition from the many other folks that are growing pomegranates in your neighborhood! I haven’t seen more than one or two around my neighborhood, but maybe I haven’t been looking carefully enough.
By the way, did you have trouble commenting earlier? —Pam
Pam, our pomegranate was only planted a few months ago, just in time to lose its leaves. We measured it for the first time last week, with the longest tips reaching to 65″.
Although I never came up with a real name for our house, I call it “Veranda” on my Google Earth saved places. Have you ever played around with ideas for yours?
I commented soon after you made this post, but it had disappeared when I came back.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Sorry, Pam, I kind of lost track of this thread. When we bought it (and all the specimins were at least 8′, though no more than 1″ diameter, and I think around $30), they told us to water it in, then withold water until it leafed out. Which worked perfectly (although it is the rainy season here, so it got plenty of natural water) for the pomegranate, but not for a redbud we tried at the same time. (Luckily I started to hate it before I realized I’d killed it).
And leafout took a long time: we planted mid-Jan., and there was no action until late April.
Thanks for the info. I ended up getting a potted, smaller tree, but it’s good to know about bareroot planting practices. —Pam