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Old 16-01-2008, 05:18 PM
echinosum echinosum is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Feb 2006
Location: Chalfont St Giles
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat Gardiner View Post
Is there any other fruit that might thrive?
A few comments on things that have been said.
(1) Japanese quince, ie chaenomeles japonica, (not a true quince, Cydonia, which is what I presume you mean by Serbian quince) comes in many different forms and varieties. Some are climbers, some are shrubs, and many of them get quite large. I have one which arrived by accident, I think possibly by germination of a pip from a fallen fruit of another one I have. It grows vigorously on a heavily shaded north-facing fence, and gets plenty of flowers and fruit. Lightens up a dark corner nicely. It has fairly "ordinary" small red flowers, and climbs, so I suspect it is the equivalent of a wildling apple. There are many other varieties, which as you say are shrubby, like the sun, etc, but there's proof that you can get a vigorous wall shrub which will fruit on a north facing wall.
(2) Lagageria. In areas which have frosts, these are easier in a cool frost-free greenhouse, where they will continue to grow all winter. Out of doors, mine don't come out of dormancy until about May, so have much less time to put on the growth they need to do anything special. They need perpetual defence against slugs and snails, who find them the tastiest thing in your garden. Although the mature stems rapidly go hard and mollusc-proof, the growing tips and new leaves are what are eaten, and they don't do well when that happens. It is traditionally said you should grow them on a north wall, but actually in England they will do better if you give them more sunshine than that, in the manner of clematis. They naturally come from Chile where the intensity of light is much greater than here. The important thing is that they like it moist and humid. Also they need protection from frost until they are well established, ie roots down deeper than the frost can get. So provided the ground they are growing in is in moist shade, the upper parts of the plant would love to get out into the sun. In order to get fruit, you need to cross-pollinate between two plants from different seeds, and you have to do it by hand as there ain't no hummingbirds in Britain. In order for the seeds to be any use, they need to be straight out of the pod. The reputable specialist grower (tomorrowsplants.com) who will sell you seeds that will actually germinate distributes the seeds the day they come out of the pod and instructs you to plant them immediately. The ones that are dried and put in packets to be sold over the winter are a nice little earner, but they don't germinate. Only a dream was sold. Buy a plant that is actually growing, and leave tricky germinations to specialists. The fruits, btw, are very tasty. I've eaten them straight off the vine in Chile. If someone someday did the horticultural selection thing to get an improved fruit for eating quality, they could be very special.
(3) Eleagnus x ebbingei has edible berries, and will happily grow on a north-facing wall. But they are an acquired taste, and have large stones.
(4) Some Mahonias will grow in shady locations, and their fruits are edible, though the edibility varies with the variety. I can't say if those with fruit with good eating quality include any that will grow well in shade.
(5) Likewise Berberis are edible and some grow in the shade, but varieties of berberis with good eating quality take some searching down, and may not be in the shade-tolerating group.
(6) I've eaten ripe and very tasty berries off Amelanchier (canadensis or lamarcki, they are quite hard to tell apart) bushes growing in a reasonably shady spot in Oxfordshire. These need a fairly moist soil in which to thrive. The birds love them, so they may need netting. Mine is in a sunny dry spot, and doesn't do very well at all, it is inclined to get its leaves scorched off.