JGlass,
If I were back in Alabama the Beautiful - I grew up right on the z7/8 line - I'd be planting more pomegranates, many varieties out there other than the old standard Wonderful or whatever the one was that was prevalent around old farmsteads in Lee Co., back in the day... think Parfianka, Crab, and the like.

Here is a link that might be useful: Poms in GA

Yellow fleshed fuzzy kiwis - very easy to grow in zone 7. Get them from Roger Meyer.

White apricots - they taste different and sure look different! Sugar Pearls is widely available (if not the best one).

Black-skinned persimmons - Cliff England is selling these now, he is out now but will have more I'm sure.

Spring Satin plumcot - a plum with velvet-like skin.

Hesse plumcot - apricot flesh with purple skin. Arboreum is selling.

Get a "sweet" apple, like Pound Sweet if you want something unusual on the apple front -- no sours all sweets makes a very different kind of fruit. Pink flesh is a standard novelty apple, there are dozens of varieties including Pink Pearl.

Scott

Lucky - Wonderful, Nana Dwarf, and Eversweet are the three i'm starting to grow this year.

This post was edited by JGlass on Wed, Dec 10, 14 at 14:52

Love this thread and look forward to more replies!

Opal apples--- they are out of this world.

Pluots, especially Honey Punch, Flavor Grenade, Dapple Dandy, Flavor Queen, and Flavor Finale.

Golden Kiwis.

I am in Zone 7a and I have fuyu persimmons, honeyberries, jujubes, asian pears, hansen cherry bushes, kiwis, and hardy kiwis.

Well I don't really consider them completely novelty, some are just unusual. I don't care for unusual that don't work. Not sure of all of them?
Raz Blueberry, has a raspberry type taste. The breeder also created Pink lemonade blueberries, which are pink. Also Legacy, Sweetheart, Hanna's Choice, Cara's Choice, all mainstream but excellent cultivars.
Pineberries, white strawberries with red seeds. these are excellent. Best cultivar is "White D"
From my garden
{{gwi:53140}}

Ground Cherries, they come in paper lanterns and fall to the ground when ripe. taste like a super sweet tomato with pineapple undertones. Many cultivars. Prolific plant. Related to tomatillos which is the same genus as tomatoes.

Eastern Prince Magnolia vine berries. One of the 50 essential Chinese herbs. I make a tea with the berries. It is excellent and gives you a slight buzz. May be a acquired taste. I like it though!
Einset grapes taste like strawberries. Blueberry grape, name says it all.

You can Bonsai any pepper and they look pretty cool!
I'm trying 5 of them. Small peppers work better. This is not my plant
Here is one in flower
{{gwi:125629}}

The flowers are now fruits
{{gwi:125630}}

I could go on and on and on....

Drew - Was going to order some pineberries already, thanks for the recommendation for the variety to look for though.

Did not know about those grapes, going to look into that for sure.

Eastern Prince Magnolia vine berries i will probably get at some point, thanks.

Unusual is what i mean more then novelty, fruit's that don't taste or look like they should, that appeal to less people but can be better then the regular or at least a change.

I have Miracle fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) plant growing and get some berries from it which makes other fruit nicer/different.I tried growing kava but that one didnt go well for some reason.
I would love to grow Guarana but that is unfeasible

I tried some others that didn't work for whatever reason. Last summer I grew Tzimbalo, and the fruits took forever to ripen, and were astringent. I did not like them and threw over 500 fruits out, well used them as compost. I tried various way to tame them, but no matter what they tasted funky.
Burpee does not mention cultivar but they were selling White D , Now they have White Pine. That might be a decent one too. White D is the biggest fruit. Prolific summer bearing plant. Perennial Feast sells them but their web site is down.
Another unique strawberry are Musk strawberries. The taste is strong. They taste like wild alpines but a lot stronger taste. You need male and female plants.
I grow those too.
I also have other rare berries. The wyeberry. A hard to find raspberry-blackberry cross. I also have two white blackberry cultivars, Nettleton's creamy white and Burbank's white.
I have yellow black raspberries, all yellows sold are sports of red raspberries. They call them yellowcaps. I have seeds to redcaps, orangecaps and whitecaps too.

Drew - where to find those white blackberries?

Drew - where to find those white blackberries?

I traded with another gardener, they are not for sale anywhere I saw. I just put them in this year, but next year I should be able to tip root, or root cuttings.
Breeders usually have all kinds of stuff. I'm trading with bramble breeders. I suppose the seed banks have them too, but you have to have credentials usually to order.

Darn, Alright, thanks.

Nourse Farms also has pineberry. Theirs is called "Natural Albino". For some reason, it seems to only be offered as a "collection" with Sonata strawberry.

As far as "unusual" plants, if you plan on growing them in pots and bringing them in for winter, then there are many types of citrus that you could try. Most citrus isn't normally considered as unusual, but it could be when grown in zones 7/8. I have Meiwa Kumquat, Brown's Select and Owari satsumas, and Eureka lemon. All grown in pots and overwintered in my greenhouse here in zone 7.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nourse Pineberry

rob - I have orange,tangerine,lemon and lime dwarfs, and dwarf musa banana,and miracle fruit, for one's i gotta bring in for the winter growing in pots. Starting 5 different kinds of passion fruit as well that is from seed that i'll have to bring in next winter, the banana,giant, purple flesh, and two yellows and naturally have the maypop passion growing outside.

Looking to get the Musa 'Ice Cream' (Blue Java) Banana sometime soon when i find a good deal for it.
On my 3rd year with the banana dwarf and the ice cream one is more cold hardy so doubt i'll have any problems.

Ice Cream Banana trees have a hint of Vanilla taste in its
bananas, Dwarf Red Banana trees that have a hint of
Peach, the Apple Banana tree has a taste of a Sweet Apple,
Rose Banana trees have a Lemony flavor.

This post was edited by JGlass on Fri, Dec 12, 14 at 12:41

JGlass, I tried bananas last year. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn the heat on in my green house one night last winter, and accidently killed three of the plants. My Basjoo survived, and did well this year, but it doesn't produce edible fruit.

I'll eventually try them again, though. I want to try Veinte Cohol. It is supposed to fruit quickly and stays small. Sounds perfect, but they are very had to find. Goingbananas has them, but I'd like to find them a little cheaper.

Nourse Farms also has Pineberry. Theirs is called "Natural Albino". For some reason, it seems to only be offered as a "collection" with Sonata strawberry.

Yes it needs a pollinator, so they offer one. I would just get White Pine from Burped. Self fruitful.
Also Natural Albino is only Dime size, it's very small.
OK, I looked at Burpee again and that Pineberry looks like White D. It's expensive. I bought one. it produced numerous runners which I planted out. In year two I had hundreds of Pineberry fruits.
In June this is what I picked daily
{{gwi:44118}}

Also I can mail small plants to anybody. Just let me know by PM, no trade needed. Blackberries or even pineberries. But next fall would be best. My pineberries are mixed in with Musk strawberries, and I have 3 or 4 cultivars all growing together. I would need to mark plants once they fruit (so I can tell what they are), dig them out in the fall. But not a problem.
This last fall when cleaning my strawberry beds up. I threw away about 150 runners.These plants are weeds! I rooted some to grow elsewhere. After a few years you want to remove older plants, and keep runners. Next year I'm pulling all old plants.

This post was edited by Drew51 on Fri, Dec 12, 14 at 13:36

For bananas, try the members at International Banana Society.

No greenhouse here, just growlights in the den + window, so space is limited overall, so trying to keep it fairly limited inside wise. My one banana is now 14 from side growths separated

Looking forward to hearing more types of fruit's to check out.

Updated - ordered the jazz blueberries that were recommended, double gold and purple raspberry for 13$ still looking to find a good price on those apples and plouts listed and sugar pearl. Any deals for ones listed would be helpful,thanks.

Drew - Sent message about the plants,not sure if it worked,first time messaging on here.

This post was edited by JGlass on Sat, Dec 13, 14 at 17:04

Is there any special raspberry flavor or grapes?

Raspberry flavors will vary by climate. Heritage tastes poor at my home but Bababerry is extremely good.

Grapes are also variable, but it has more to do with disease resistance and survival than taste. Flame Grape is a very poor choice for my area but grapes with a loose cluster habit do very well. This attribute is not suitable for commercial production, especially since the ripening time varies within each bunch but for a homeowner in my area there are wonderful rewards. For my area: Black Monukka, Gold Monukka, Southern Home, and Suffolk Red are excellent table grapes to grow.

I got a few choice's up for what I may get so far and up for recommendations, which would be the best value or possible the best fruit outcome? I'd most likely just be buying one of the choices, or two out of the 4/5.

starting with
choice 1.
Which one of these pluot's would be better?
4 in 1 pluot one with
Geo pride,Emerald drop, Splash, Flavor grenade
or Dapple dandy, flavor queen,flavor king, flavor supreme
+ these
Newberry Blackberry
Rosanna Raspberry
Cascade gold rasphberry
Eversweet pomegranate
with free Rosa Rugosa Alba, Tulameen raspberry and caroline raspberry

for 117 at raintree.

Choice 2.
Apple banana, Ice cream banana, and Goldfinger bana and petite negra fig for 39.80$ greenhousebusiness

Choice 3.
Prelude,Tulamagic,Nova,Nantahala,Joan J Red, Himbo, Encore raspberry and prime-ark freedom, for 30$ from penseberryfarm

choice 4.
Candycrisp apple, Goldrush apple, Bubblegum Plum,
and up for the best mcintosh flavor apple though
would be about 110'sh from starkbro's

choice 5. totally up for alternative place with a mix of these for fairly similar price.

I already have some that'll come in the mail ordered like honeyberry 'Honey sweet,Wild Honey", Jazz blue berries that were recommended that I am much looking forward. Marionberry, black magic blackberry,etc

Anyone tried "black magic' blackberries? I found little info on them.

This post was edited by JGlass on Mon, Dec 15, 14 at 14:02

On the pluots, to me it's a toss up. Some on both trees are nice, some on both trees are not.

I would not get Rosanna. It tastes excellent but it is low cropper, weak grower, and can get rust. I would get Polka.
It is disease resistant, a heavy cropper the 2nd year (looks weak the 1st year) and taste is right up there with the best.
Here's a photo of polka from my garden. 6 foot canes, 2nd year primocanes.
{{gwi:48156}}
Berry size is medium to large. Here are some of the large ones.
{{gwi:122474}}

Bubblegum plum is going to need a pollinator.

Drew - That sounds like a recommendation for the bottom pluot.
.

I will get Polka then instead, thanks.

- if those white blackberries root and able to with strawberries of any kind, would love to get some.

This post was edited by JGlass on Thu, Dec 18, 14 at 18:18

Drew - That sounds like a recommendation for the bottom pluot.

I really don't have enough experience with them to give a good recommendation. I do have the FK,FQ,FS, DD one, but I want the other one too! I'm moving so will have to start over. I will purchase both probably or just FK, FG, and DD as a pollinator, I would like FS, but it is one that has low germination rates. I will see how well mine crops before I decide. My tree was planted in the spring of 2013. No fruit yet, all buds killed last winter, may happen again this winter. 2 of ten years it get's too cold here. I got unlucky it was this year.

Yes, will contact you next fall about the blackberries. They need to establish here and such. So long time away, but yeah no problem! I will mark the strawberries after fruiting too. taking them now or in the spring is a pure guess as to what they are. I have them all covered with straw and pine needles now.
Also I like Rosanna, I have no plans to get rid of it. But have another 20 cultivars too. You know next fall I can send you a cane to try.
OK well if bubblegum will not fruit, you can add another at that time. Sounds like enough to cover it.
Bubblegum may just be Toka, or a Toka cross. So it has American plum and Japanese plum in it. It's more a plum for colder areas, but it should do OK. I myself would use Black Ice to pollinate, but that is a super cold hardy type. Another used is Pipestone. But my guess is what you already have will work.
I bought a weeping Santa Rosa, but it was young when last winter hit. it's alive but damaged a lot. I'm going to replace it next spring. I should not buy anymore I'm moving in three years, but it is just as much for looks as it is for fruit. I need a tree in front no matter what. The house will sell better if landscaped well.

JGlass,
Not sure how you are going to manage bananas in zone 7B. You'll need a 25 gallon pot to grow them in, 11 feet of headroom for overwintering indoors, plus an overhead 8-bulb T5 VHO 6400-6500 Kelvin fixture at 10 hours a day per plant.

Also, in regard to banana varieties: what is sold commercially as "Ice Cream" and "Gold Finger" is 99% of the time "Dwarf Namwa". Well no problem, it's a better cultivar anyway. Yea, dwarf and needs 11 foot of headroom.

For pluots I endorse Flavor Grenade because it is great tasting and a proven pollenizer of Bella Gold Peacotum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bella Gold Peacotum - Dave Wilson Nursery

Hermitian -I do have a few 25 gal pots laying around I got on cleance for a buck or two. I have only 1 those, but four-six feet long one with four lights,and a single light one for seeds. Do plan to get more later,but will most likely hold off till last for them. Can manage it in the living room though just nearly then.

Drew - thanks. Last winter sucked indeed

JGlass, then I'd recommend you hold off on the bananas until you can get some real daylight support indoors.

I have a 4 bulb VHO and man my electric bill really went up, the wife's not happy! Looks like I hav to overwinter smaller plants! Bye bye pepper trees!

After other recommendations, most likely will get
rootstock - g41 for frostbite, sundance, gold rush
+ bubblegum plum from cummings nursery.

and raintree one at a later time.

I do have a question though, Kept trying different ways to phrase it and did not find it googling.

When growing apples, at the edge of their zone-listing, what would the possible problems be? Growing an apple more for north, in the south.

Also to more on topic with the title, the other topic "Next year's apple grafting candidates" has some "novelty' type apple scionwood from ARS that one could possibly get.

Updated - KaBluey, anyone grow it? does it have the peach/strawberry flavor?

This post was edited by JGlass on Tue, Dec 16, 14 at 10:53

I've got 3 of the 4 trees you list from Cummins and Frostbite is on order for next spring.

Goldrush- great, and very flavorful. Must have.

Sundance- I'm not sure about this one. It has a harsher, more acid taste than Goldrush, which is already pretty sharp when first picked. I've got a few Sundance in the fridge and am testing to see how they keep, so I may have a different opinion of them soon.

Bubblegum- It bore for the first time this year (3-4 fruits) and I liked it, but it has a few potential drawbacks. The fruit is pretty small and on the dry side for a plum. Not dry as in bread, but not running with juice. It was fine for me, as I find too drippy annoying, but some people want that (Superior was very juicy plum which also had very good flavor). The flavor was interesting and I'm looking forward to a larger sample next year.

JGlass,
There's great discussions of growing northern apples in warmer climates over on the Dave Wilson Nursery Forums. Generally, many of them work just fine. One of the things we've noticed is that the red coloring (blush) on most apples (other than say, Washington Red) is a feature of how cool the summer nights get in the growing area. In otherwords, expect far less blush. There's an enthusiast from the CRFG who lives in Riverside CA that gives talks on his experiences growing a few dozen or so northern varieties in zone 9b.

Thanks Hermitian & bob for that information and feedback. I feel alot more confident now about about my choices.
I personally could care less about the blush so that won't bother me.
bob - Keep me informed on how your frostbite does, this apple I haven't found any real info on and most interests me as I have a sweet tooth. I don't like candy or a lot of sweet's, but when I do, I like it extremely sweet, or even pure sugar is good.

I requested Fleshred, Saltcote Pipin, LemoenSunrise, Duchess Favorite, Merton Beauty, PRI 672-1, KAZ 96 07-07 from ARS,hopefully they will send me them, Lemon, Hazlenut banana,strawberry,other type flavors noted in them.

This post was edited by JGlass on Tue, Dec 16, 14 at 15:04

You've probably already noticed this thread, but I'll mention it in case you haven't, as it talks about unusually flavored apples. Make sure to checkout the CloudForest link from it, as that discussion is pretty interesting.

I've been to the coudforest link before, as for the thread I have somehow not crossed that yet. Thanks.

That Pound Sweet apple sounds interesting. According to Starks, it is supposed to be hardy here. Comments from people who have tried it?
I have several Kabluey blueberries. They haven't had many berries, so I think they are not fully hardy here. Of the few I tried, I don't recall them tasting much different from the other varieties.
I think that in general the term novelty simply means they taste weird or are very difficult to grow. The one that surprised me was the kolomikta kiwis, which were easy to grow and taste good.
Northwoodswis

Novelty, Niche,unique, uncommon, appeals to a smaller group. Not mainstream, Requiring actual searching or most likely never finding it to experience it in your life.
Is generally what i mean.

Some difficulty may be expected but if not is totally welcome. Most from what I see that should taste very good, just isn't machine harvest able or have a short shelf life, or dose not fit the standard "beauty" requirements even if its way easier to grow and tastes better.

I'm not looking for harder to grow, but harder to find generally. I'm a noob at best regarding gardening experience but i'm giving it my all.

This post was edited by JGlass on Wed, Dec 17, 14 at 9:14

That was a great post JGlass exactly! You nailed it. But I like the novelty too! I want to eat purple mashed potatoes! They happen to have extreme amounts of antioxidants, but really it's more the Dr. Seuss in me than the health nut as to why I want them! My wife just doesn't get that. Your post will help explain it better. I'll leave out my purple mashed potato comment though!

One example to - White sweet potato's, looks like normal ones, to trick you into eating them if you didnt want to before because sweet potato's are orange or whatever that color is and people dont like that either and just eat it to be healthy but end up liking it more once they give it ago. - Kind of a novelty

This post was edited by JGlass on Wed, Dec 17, 14 at 10:33

The white and the purple Ipomoea sweet potatoes are easy prolific growers. My Thai neighbor will only eat the purple one and won't try the white - even though I can't distinguish a taste difference between the two!

Seems we have quince and pawpaw's and Maypots growing in and around our entire yard since forever, parents didnt know they were editable. No luck harvesting any though yet, animals got the them but the only one i did get was a quinces that was way to sour after cooking to eat.

This post was edited by JGlass on Thu, Dec 18, 14 at 18:20

Raspberries is a great way to start growing fruit. Fairly easy, big payoff. Although they do have some problems. Borers, rust etc When they look ripe, leave them a day. They should just about fall off. I myself like just ripe, or even slightly unripe. They have a tart taste at that point. The last day sugars flow like crazy and they become sweet.
You picked some good ones. It was fun making yellow raspberry jam. And I brought fresh yellows to a social function and many never seen them before. They are in general sweeter and do taste different than the reds. I like the blacks for jam, that seems to bring out the best flavor. Not the best eating fresh, OK, but nothing special. I have Allen black raspberry and the plant is so prolific, I expect 1 thousand berries off of one plant. Jewel has a better flavor, but not as prolific.
You mentioned watermelons Orangeglo an orange one is really a good one.
This year was the first year I one day had something from the garden for breakfast lunch and dinner. So far I have been able to eat something from the garden daily. Yesterday it was frozen green beans. Today I'm making goulash and adding pickled peppers. I usually put fresh peppers in goulash but want to find a way to use garden product preserved. I have frozen peppers too and will try them at a later time. Yeah I blanched the green beans, but fresh is so much better. I like them pickled better.
Green beans are fun to grow, so prolific, but cheap to buy too. I made about 20 quarts of tomato sauce too. That will go into the goulash today too., Also I grilled some New Mexico green chilies skinned, seeded, chopped, and froze. I love green chilies. Such good taste. Those will be added too. Anyway I'm having a ball doing this! I bought a food mill to remove skins and seeds for tomatoes. it works really well. I grow some cherry tomatoes for fresh eating and salads, but otherwise grow paste and sauce tomatoes for sauce. I'm trying different ones, hundreds of varieties out there. See what works well here, what has decent taste.
I also made Chile powder, and paprika.
Next year I want to grow a bunch of herbs. See what varieties work here. About 5 different basils, oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary (a few types). I planted garlic already for next year. I'm growing onions too, and potatoes next year. Lettuce, sugar snap peas, radishes. I grow a lot of stuff. I want to try a lot of peppers too. Growing some different paprika peppers, and some sweet peppers, but not bell peppers. Many sweet peppers are not bell peppers.
More green chilies, and red chili for enchilada sauce.
I grew hots this year and have enough hot chili powder and dried whole chili's to last 10 years! I froze most of the powder to keep it fresh. I don't use that much of it.

Lemon Verbena (can grow 6 feet/like a small tree i've read, mine's at 2 feet+, used for tea/food/etc and smells amazing all the time), and Lemon grass (west and east type for tea/thai food), Honey Melon Sage(mainly for the smell, havent had a chance to cook with it) are the only 3 herbs I brought in for the winter.

I am already covered on all the novelty/less commen herbs possible that I could find from the last year and a half, now moved onto fruit as you can see, which is more longterm/care/lifetime wise generally.
I have about 15 types of mints I will regret planting later im 100% sure but worth the wonderful scents, outside in cinder blocks down the pathway i'm building with 50+feet of flowerbeds and trellis's around the side of the house that has never been used, on month 10 clearing it out from weeds/building plant related/sidewalk), On the left each cinderblock with a different mint to spread down the unwalkable/passable hill full of weeds. thats used to keep anyone from falling down the 20-30+feet and mints/catmint, goji bush,strawberries and kiwi at the with grapes for the trellis's, and right side Saffron bed with a few hundread bulbs now from the previous 50 and that is with animals digging them up to poop in the flowerbed, gotta protect them better. Tulip bed, flowerbed, etc on the right,
Somewhere among this and on the porch and other locations,
Lemon thyme, golden lemon thyme, with the following basil's - Cinnamon,Lemon, Lime, regular, sweet, Genvue, Box, Purple, Thai, spicy,red, and some others, Lemon grass west and east types. Lavender, couple parsley, cilantro, marjoram, lemon blam, garlic/onion chives,catnip,catmint,
Mints - Orange Mint, Apple Mint, Berries n' Cream Mint, Hillary's Sweet Lemon Mint, and Lime Mint, Cotton candy mint - Of those only 2 made it? and none were pleasent overall, was refunded but i've given them a chance outside to smell better. But for sure have/better sources as well peppermint,lemon, apple,sweet,orange,banana mint (lowgrowing) pineapple,spearmint,chocolate,Kentucky Colonel, The best of something,curly, and at least 5+ types i have no idea what the name is, from the botantical/other places.
Which are all unlabeled/labels faded/neighbors dog stole labels, or got mixed up, and all mostly near each other

I have the seeds for that watermelon, moon&stars and some others. I didnt get any of those to fruit this year, I just found a watermelon in the yard yesterday in the monkeygrass, i mistakenly broke it and it fell out of the monkeygrass when i was digging it up yesterday, smelled so sweet, but it was cracked in half with dirt in it from the shovel. Random event actually. It was a yellow watermelon.

I don't really use the herbs for food mostly for smell. Gotta love a breeze from any direction most of the year and get a good wiff of delightful mixed aroma of various plants. I did make some tasty applemint chips by mistake trying to dry them in the toaster oven, actually pretty tasty.

This post was edited by JGlass on Wed, Dec 17, 14 at 12:32

Are there any special figs? I'm just finding ones named because of color, not flavor. Thanks.

I've tasted many figs, hundreds over the years at Wolfskill and the Fig Festival. When I moved to my new home last year, I didn't have room for more than 3. These are the ones I picked for my climate:
Violette de Bordeaux,
Panache,
Janice-Kadota Seedless.

I ordered the frostbite, goldrush, and Sundance on g41.
And have on the way,hopefully I didn't pick anything to bad.

Directgarden
5in1 pear tree
boysenberry

-Indiana berry -
Razz blueberry
Doublegold Raspberry
Royalty purple Raspberry

-Henryfields -
Honeyberry wild & sweet
Key Lime dwarf, 3x Nanking bush cherry
2x Saskatoon blueberry, plum superior, Blackberry Apache, Random Blueberry
Seeds - Gaint Sunflower, Mixed Gourd, red sunflower

-Gurnney's -
2x PREMIUM BLUEBERRY (Ka-Bluey most likely)
Blackberry - Ouachita, Blackmagic, Jumbo, Marion
Raspberry - Sweet repeat,mammoth, Jewel, Anne, Caroline, Red latham

I will look into those figs sometime.

This post was edited by JGlass on Thu, Dec 25, 14 at 8:06