AMERICAN GARDENER

Cold-hardy berry bushes are among the most rewarding food plants for northern gardens. Berry bushes are woody shrubs that bear small, soft fruits, and most begin producing within two or three years of planting. They take far less space than fruit trees and are easier to protect from birds and frost. Many of the world’s … Read more

Cold-hardy melon varieties are a special case, because no melon can survive a frost. Melons are tender, heat-loving vines in the same plant family as cucumbers and squash. For a melon, being suited to the cold means ripening quickly and setting fruit in cool weather, so that the crop is finished before the first autumn … Read more

Cold hardy plum fruit trees are among the most dependable stone fruits for northern gardens. Plums belong to the same family as cherries, peaches and apricots, all of which carry a single hard pit. They fall into three broad groups, the European plums, the Japanese plums and the native American plums along with their hybrids. … Read more

Cold hardy peach trees extend one of summer’s favorite fruits into regions where ordinary peaches fail. The peach is native to China and has been cultivated for several thousand years. China still grows most of the world’s crop, and the United States harvests roughly 680,000 tons a year, led by California, South Carolina and Georgia. … Read more

Cold hardy strawberries make it possible to pick fresh berries in places where winter lows fall far below zero. The garden strawberry is a low, leafy perennial that spreads by runners. It arose in Europe in the 1700s as a cross between two wild American species, and it is now grown on every inhabited continent. … Read more

Cold hardy blueberry varieties have opened northern gardens to a fruit that once stopped short of the coldest regions. The blueberry is native to North America and was first brought into cultivation in the early 1900s. It grows as a woody shrub with white, bell-shaped flowers, blue fruit and brilliant red fall foliage. Blueberries are … Read more

Cold hardy raspberry varieties are some of the most dependable fruits a northern gardener can plant. The raspberry belongs to the rose family and grows wild across the cooler parts of Europe, Asia and North America. Its roots live for many years, but each cane lives for only two. That two-year cycle divides raspberries into … Read more

Cold-hardy blackberry varieties are harder to find than hardy raspberries, because the blackberry is the more tender of the two. Blackberries belong to the rose family and grow wild across much of the Northern Hemisphere. Each berry is a cluster of tiny, juicy segments, and unlike a raspberry it keeps its soft core when picked. … Read more

Cold-hardy cherry fruit trees make it possible to grow cherries where winter lows reach -30°F and beyond. Cherries are stone fruits in the same family as plums and peaches. They fall into two main groups, the sweet cherries eaten fresh and the tart cherries used for pies, juice and preserves. The two groups differ sharply … Read more

Cold hardy kiwi varieties bear little resemblance to the fuzzy brown fruit in the supermarket. The familiar kiwifruit is native to southern China and is grown commercially in mild climates such as California, Italy and New Zealand. China itself accounts for about 55% of the world crop. The kiwi group is much larger than that … Read more