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Cold hardy banana varieties let gardeners far from the tropics grow one of the world’s most recognizable plants. The banana is native to Southeast Asia and is not a tree at all, but a giant herb. Its trunk is a tight roll of leaf bases, and the true stem lies underground. Bananas are among the … Read more
Cold-hardy apple varieties allow orchards and backyard trees to thrive where winter lows fall to -30°F or -40°F. The apple originated in the mountains of Central Asia and has been cultivated for thousands of years. More than 7,500 varieties are now grown around the world, though only a few dozen are planted on a large … Read more
Fruits that look like kiwi share its most recognizable features, which are a small oval shape and a dull, brown, fuzzy skin. The kiwifruit itself is native to southern China, where it grows as a woody, climbing vine. It was first exported under the name Chinese gooseberry and was renamed in 1959 after New Zealand’s … Read more
Cold tolerant avocado varieties make it possible to grow this subtropical fruit well beyond the frost-free coasts where most of the crop is raised. The avocado is native to Mexico and Central America, where wild trees still grow in mountain forests. It is unusual among fruits because its flesh is rich in oil and contains … Read more
Fruits that look like pears are common enough that botanists have a word for the shape, pyriform, meaning narrow at the stem and swollen at the base. The true pear is one of the oldest orchard fruits, cultivated in both Europe and East Asia for several thousand years. More than 3,000 varieties exist, though only … Read more
The best tasting pomegranate varieties are not always the ones sold in stores, because supermarkets favor fruit that ships and stores well over fruit that simply tastes good. The pomegranate is one of the oldest cultivated fruits, native to the region from Iran to the Himalayas. More than 500 varieties have been named, and they … Read more
Types of pomegranates run to more than 500 named varieties, though only about 50 are widely grown. The fruit is one of the oldest in cultivation, native to the region from Iran to the Himalayas and farmed for at least 5,000 years. Its leathery rind encloses hundreds of juice-filled seed sacs called arils, which are … Read more
Types of quince fruits are far more varied than the single yellow fruit most shoppers picture. The quince is one of the oldest cultivated fruits, native to the Caucasus and Central Asia, where wild trees still grow in Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Many historians believe the golden apples of Greek myth were quinces. The tree … Read more
Types of hornbeam trees number between 30 and 40 worldwide, and some botanists now accept as many as 45. They are small to medium hardwoods in the birch family, spread across the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Most people know only one or two of them, usually as a clipped hedge or a shaded … Read more
Types of aspen trees are fewer than most people expect, with only about half a dozen true species spread across the cool forests of the Northern Hemisphere. The rest of what is sold or described as aspen consists of natural hybrids, forestry crosses and named garden selections. All of them share pale bark, rounded leaves … Read more