Pomegranate tree, evergreen or deciduous?

[John Ladasky]

Hi, folks.

Gardening in San Jose, California -- USDA zone 9b, Sunset zone 16.

My wife would like to add a pomegranate tree in our front yard. There used to be a Deodar cedar in the spot where we would plant the pomegranate tree. Although the cedar was far, far too large, it was evergreen and provided a year-round privacy screen between our yard and our neighbor's yard.

I like the look of a pomegranate tree, and the fruit. But my gardening manual (Sunset Western Garden Book) says that pomegranate trees are deciduous. If this is true, we would not be restoring our year-round privacy by planting a pomegranate. However, my wife says that she has never seen any of the pomegranate trees in our neighborhood without leaves. Thinking back over my memories of our periodic walks, she may be right.

A Google search with the key words "pomegranate evergreen deciduous" has led me to conclude that pomegranate trees are indeed sometimes evergreen, and sometimes deciduous. Gosh, that was almost helpful. What I would really like to know is WHEN a pomegranate tree will remain evergreen. Does the variety matter? If the climate matters, what are the conditions which influence leaf drop? Presumably, there's a critical minimum temperature...

Thanks for your advice!

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[Olin]

In Phoenix AZ (USDA 9b, Sunset 13) full size pomegranates like 'Wonderful' are deciduous and always lose all of their leaves in the winter. But the ornamental dwarf 'Nana' (fruit not palatable) is evergreen. I would suspect similar results in Palo Alto. We have had both varieties for over 20 years and find that 'Wonderful' suckers easily and it is much easier to grow as a large shrub. The shrubs are still very vigorous but it helps to thin by pruning out some of the older shoots every 2-3 years.

Olin

[John Ladasky]

Thank you Olin, that was a helpful beginning. It leaves me a little pessimistic about the possibility of an edible, evergreen pomegranate in my climate -- but at least I know.

+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+ | Ladasky Home Solar, Inc.: blowing sunshine up your | | power grid since March 24, 2005. Fiat lux! | +-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+ | Uptime Downtime kWh generated kWh consumed | | 555 days 6.5 hours 10544 10475 | +-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+

[dwdw]

This is a 14 year old thread, but I want to know if you found a pomegranate that is edible AND evergreen in zone 9b, so I'll take a chance that this will generate an email and that you will respond! Thanks!