When I brought the scrubby little pomegranate bush loaded in bright red blossoms swelling with the promise of fruit home from the nursery this spring, I had hope. Well, pleased to report, our little pomegranate experiment has been a success!

Well, almost. There is potential… we got fruit! Our Angel Red Pomegranate produced a couple of nice little fruits for us in just its first year! These were fruit that developed on a late round of blossoms and so didn’t have time to fully mature, but just wait until next year!

This was our first growing season with one of the newest additions to our edible landscape, Angel Red Pomegranate. Hardy in USDA zones 7-11 means it can stand a freeze down to about 5 degrees (F). That, plus it is reported to produce sweet, juicy, choice red fruits! So last spring when I stumbled upon this exotic edible landscape plant at my local nursery and read all that it promised on the tag, I couldn’t help myself. I had to have it.

How We Cared for Our Pomegranate

They say it is a heat lover so I gave it the choicest position in one of the hottest, sunniest spots in the garden. I decided to plant it in a container for the first year so I could keep an eye on it and so that I could move it if it decided it wasn’t happy in that particular spot.

The guy I spoke to at the nursery had planted one in his yard the year before. He suggested making sure it gets plenty of water to help it produce fruit so we tied it in with our automatic drip irrigation system with a couple of dedicated emitters.

Loaded with deep red blooms and swelling fruit when we brought the shrub home from the nursery in the spring, I was a bit disappointed when these fell off, but half expected that to happen. Most plants don’t seem to like change and will typically go into a period of shock with a major move. It must have liked it’s new home because before long it bloomed again and this time set about five little pomegranates.

Beware, the deer like those juicy little fruits, too. This is not a deer-proof plant. We learned this the hard way when they busted through our fences this summer. A cage around the container kept those pesky wood rats at bay for the rest of the season.

The remaining two fruits continued to swell until recently the larger one split. You could see inside to the deep red flesh-covered seeds inside! We are getting pretty close to our first freeze so I didn’t really expect these late set fruits to have time to mature and sweeten anyway. I thought I might just be getting Christmas ornaments out of these poms this year but now it looked like we might actually get to try this one.

Breaking the orb open it was loaded with the random little clusters of juicy red seeds. They weren’t quite as plump as the fruits from the market but give the little guy a break it is his first year and he got a late start. Next year, I anticipate that the early spring blooms won’t have any problem maturing now that the tree is planted in its permanent spot and won’t have to endure the shock of a major move.

Being fall and the time of year to set new plants in the ground (or move them if that is what is needed), we settled this little guy into his permanent home right where its container had resided for the summer. Being deciduous, it will lose its leaves for the cold season and in the spring when everything begins to wake up for the year, I will cross my fingers and hope and pray that this little guy’s buds begin to swell and show that it survived the winter.

A pomegranate. In the Pacific Northwest. Hmm.

More About Growing and Using Pomegranates

Complete Plant Profile for Angel Red Pomegranate

Medicinal Benefits of Pomegranate

Have you grown pomegranates, or are you interested in trying?