Plump Plants

What’s the most delicious fruit flavour combination you can imagine? Is it kiwi-peach? Watermelon-grape? Cherry-mango? How about banana-prune? Ding ding ding! We have a winner! It might sound weird, but the last combo is actually super tasty, AND it’s found in a fruit that’s native to northern climates: the nannyberry. DESCRIPTION You’ll be forgiven if this is a new one—outside of landscape gardening and foraging circles it’s not very well known. I’d never heard of them until I was taking a walk with my sister-in-law/forager extraordinaire a few winters ago. I would have walked right by the shrivelled looking fruits, but...

As a kid, I used to spend hours playing with my dollhouse. I was obsessed with the miniaturized toiletries, dishes, rugs, lamps, and everything that made the house feel real. I remember a tiny pale blue hand towel hanging from the medicine cabinet, the size of a postage stamp. It was all uncanny in a magical way.  I feel the same way about hardy kiwis. They’re kiwis, but mini! Hardy kiwi fruit is about the size of a large grape and grows on a vine. It doesn’t have the fuzzy skin that we’re used to on regular kiwis, which is...

Hackberry trees have a bad reputation. I’m talking really, really bad. Listening to some people rag on them you’d think a hackberry tree swindled them out of their life savings or ran away with their dog. I’ve heard it described as a “trash” tree, and that one should always “hack it down.” Whoa! Let’s calm down folks. I’m inviting everyone to take another look. To know the hackberry is to love the hackberry. Part of the reason people don’t like the hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) is that it’s bark is kind of funky looking. It develops layers of spongy bark that...

Growing plants that are potentially lethal is kind of exciting. It’s like, “Don’t cross me! I could poison you with my ancient druid wisdom!” That’s how I feel about my elderberry bushes.  That being said, it would be pretty hard to secretly get someone to eat the eight or so pounds of elderberries required to take out an adult human. I’d have to settle for inducing an episode of “gastric distress”.  Just kidding!  The beneficial qualities of the elderberry (Sambucus) are equally wondrous.  In nature, elderberry bushes grow along the edge of woodlands, streams, and ditches. They like well-drained moist...

Did you know that Romeo and Juliet are Canadian? And from Saskatchewan, no less. These two might be lesser known than their Italian namesakes from fair Verona, but they deserve our applause as well.  The Romeo and Juliet dwarf sour cherry (Prunus cerasus x Prunus fruiticosa) are part of the Romance series that was released by the University of Saskatchewan in 2004, after 60+ years of research and development. The other varieties in the series are Cupid, Valentine, and Crimson Passion. What makes them so special? They’re cold hardy to zone 2. They’re sweet and tart and great for fresh...

Can you think of a major city named after a fruit? Bananaville? Melontown?  How about Saskatoon?  That’s right—the Paris of the prairies is named for the Saskatoon berry, which comes from the plant’s Cree name, “misâskwatômina.” It’s a pretty big accomplishment for a pretty small berry. DESCRIPTION Sitting in my Saskatoon berry patch, I feel transported to the windswept plains of the prairies. The small berries are like purple jewels in a landscape where native fruit is scarce.  I’m not the only animal that likes to eat Saskatoon berries (Amelanchier alnifolia)—they’re attractive to smaller critters like squirrels and chipmunks, birds,...