Are you a green apple lover? ‘Granny Smith’ is the variety for you! It grows versatile apples that taste great, either fresh or cooked. Learn all there is to know for a successful harvest each year with this apple guide from gardener Jerad Bryant. If you love apple pie and caramel apples, ‘Granny Smith’ is the variety to grow at home. The fresh-picked apples taste delicious and are hard to compare to store-bought ones. Grocery stores sell apples before they ripen, and they lack the sugar content that makes homegrown produce preferable. Of all the apple varieties, ‘Granny Smith’ is iconic for its green fruit and tart flavor. If you’ve eaten a green apple in your life, chances are you ate a ‘Granny Smith.’ From its humble beginnings in an Australian homesteader’s orchard, this tree now grows in orchards throughout the northern and southern hemispheres, from Australia to the United States. Have you heard that fruit growing is a challenge? There are chill hours, ripening seasons, and pollination buddies to consider. Fear not, as we’ll learn everything there is to know about growing a thriving ‘Granny Smith’ tree below. What are ‘Granny Smith’ Apples? ‘Granny Smith’ is an apple tree that produces bright green, tangy, and juicy apples. Unlike most other varieties, the fruits are ripe when they’re green. They make excellent caramel apples, applesauce, and other prepared apple dishes. When cooked, the zesty flavor complements the sugar content. Each September, they ripen on my backyard tree. Right before the tree’s leaves change color, I pick the green apples to make apple jam. If you like sharp-tasting apples, they are also excellent fresh. Just know you might pucker up a bit after eating one! Apple trees not only create delicious produce, but they also form graceful statures in maturity. They sprout sweet-smelling flowers that are a boon for pollinators, as the bees and bugs in your area benefit from the surplus of apple nectar. Native Area For more than 100 years, apple breeders have crossed and bred species to produce the hybrids we know and love today. Species like Malus sylvestris from Europe and Malus coronaria from America shared pollen and created new hybrids. To make classification easy, most cultivated apple species are now considered Malus domestica. Apples are native to central Asia and Afghanistan, although they now grow in Australia, the Americas, Europe, and Asia. They are a worldwide fruit phenomenon beloved by many different cultures. Each variety has growing preferences, and with hundreds of options, there is surely an apple that will thrive in your garden. The ‘Granny Smith’ parent tree originally grew in Australia at the hands of Maria Ann Smith. It prefers a long and hot growing season, and ripens later than most apples. In the United States, the West, the East Coast, and areas of the South have optimal conditions for growing this variety. Characteristics I value my ‘Granny Smith’ tree for its ornamental beauty and its bountiful fruit production. It is deciduous, and the leaves turn a buttery yellow each fall. In the spring, it sprouts pinkish-white blossoms that bees and pollinators love. This variety grows to 12 feet tall as a dwarf, and 16 as a semi-dwarf. Standard ‘Granny Smith’ trees can grow over 20 feet tall! Dwarfs make excellent espaliers. Semi-dwarfs and standards spread to be anywhere from 15 to 20 feet wide. ‘Granny Smith’ apples ripen to a distinctive glossy green color. Tiny white spots speckle over the bright green skin. Pick them in the late fall after they’ve swelled to a good size. If left on the tree, the apples may turn yellowish-green and lose their tang. Dwarf trees may need additional staking when young and are more susceptible to storm damage than semi-dwarfs and standards. Choose the right type for your garden size, and you’ll treasure your tree for decades to come. While ‘Granny Smith’ apple trees are self-pollinating, apples benefit from another pollinator tree nearby for maximum fruit production. Propagation How do you best propagate an apple variety? To achieve the same genetics as your parent tree, you’ll need to take cuttings from a ‘Granny Smith.’ Apples grow from seed in the wild and are hybrids of their two parent trees. Growing apples from seed is a fun activity, but not a reliable means for fruit production. I am not discouraging you from growing apples from seed! Just know that your daughter tree will not look like ‘Granny Smith’, and its apples may look and taste completely different.

Would you like to grow your own fig tree but don’t know where to start? ‘Brown Turkey’ figs are easy to grow and incredibly prolific. Within a few years after planting a young edible fig tree, you’ll be harvesting a tantalizingly tasty crop of sweet, delicious fruits. In this article, gardening expert Liessa Bowen introduces the ‘Brown Turkey’ fig and how to grow your own. The ‘Brown Turkey’ fig (Ficus carica ‘Brown Turkey’) is a member of the mulberry family (Moraceae). There are hundreds of different edible fig cultivars and ‘Brown Turkey’ is one of the most readily available for gardeners. As long as you can provide the right growing conditions, these are remarkably easy fruit trees to grow! Figs are fast-growing deciduous trees originating in the Mediterranean region. Edible fig trees prefer warmer climates and are well-adapted to survive mild winter weather. If you live in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 6-9, you should have no problem growing fig trees! They will, however, require some extra winter protection in cooler zones. Perhaps the best reason to grow a fig tree is because you like to eat figs, although there are many other benefits to growing edible figs. Fig trees are beautiful and make a very appealing addition to your landscape. They have a compact, rounded form, and the thick, smooth, bare branches remain attractive in the winter months. These trees also provide food and shelter for wildlife, making them a good choice for a bird-friendly garden. Let’s dig right in so you’ll know what a ‘Brown Turkey’ fig tree needs to thrive and how you can start growing your own harvest of tasty fruits. Plant Natural History Edible figs (Ficus carica), also known as common figs, are members of the mulberry family (Moraceae). This family has over one thousand different, naturally occurring species from around the world. The genus Ficus encompasses a very diverse group of fig trees, including a wide assortment of vines, trees, and shrubs, most of which grow in tropical and temperate climates. Edible figs are known for their sweet, tender, juicy fruits. Edible figs are native to the Mediterranean region of Europe and parts of Asia. In their natural habitat, edible figs live in mild and warm climates. They enjoy fully exposed, sunny locations with well-drained soil. They grow in open grasslands and rugged, rocky exposures. These plants have a fascinating history. Ancient civilizations cultivated and enjoyed them as a staple food source. The fruits are tasty, easy to grow, and prolific, making them quite desirable for cultivation. Breeders have introduced hundreds of different edible fig cultivars for commercial, private, and ornamental uses. The ‘Brown Turkey’ fig is one of the most popular cultivars. Wild figs evolved a special relationship with the fig wasp, a uniquely adapted pollinator. Fortunately for fig-growing enthusiasts, most commercially available fig varieties are self-fertile and will produce plenty of fruits without a need for cross-pollination or any specific pollinator. Characteristics The ‘Brown Turkey’ fig is a woody, deciduous shrub or small tree. It has smooth, light gray bark, a thick main trunk, and many smaller branches. These fast-growing trees can reach a total of 10-30 feet tall. ‘Brown Turkey’ figs have large, broad, palmate leaves that typically measure around six inches across. Each leaf has three to five large lobes with tiny, rough hairs. These leaf hairs can cause minor skin irritation for some people. The leaves and stems contain a milky white sap, which can cause contact dermatitis in some people. Wear long sleeves and garden gloves when working with these trees, especially when harvesting fruits and pruning. Wash your hands after harvesting your figs to rinse any remaining residues from your skin. Edible fig flowers are very unusual. They are inverted and form inside a hollow fruit-like form. So don’t be surprised if you never see your fig tree in bloom. The flowers simply look like tiny firm green fruits. The fruits start small, dark green, and very hard. As they mature, they grow larger but stay green and firm. Just before maturity, they suddenly grow a little larger and blush into their mature skin coloration. Ripe ‘Brown Turkey’ figs turn dark maroon-brown on the outside. The skin of a mature fig is extremely soft and doesn’t need peeling before eating. The inner flesh is amber-maroon in color with a soft, juicy texture. The sweet flavor is sugary or berry-like. ‘Brown Turkey’ fig trees produce two crops of fruits each year. The early crop is known as the breba crop and is typically less prolific than the later main crop. The early breba crop ripens in late spring or early summer, and the main crop ripens in late summer. Propagation Many trees are a bit tricky to propagate but you can easily propagate a fig tree with a stem cutting. There are other methods to propagate figs, such as grafting and root suckers, but cuttings are the quickest and easiest, especially if you already have a mature fig tree.

While many people think of kiwis as tropical plants, hardy kiwis make a great addition to many temperate gardens. Join plant expert Briana Yablonski as she shares how to plant, care for, and harvest for this unique vining plant. The first time I tried a hardy kiwi fruit, my world turned upside down. I was browsing a booth at a Washington DC farmers market when I spotted a quart box filled with small red and green fruits. They certainly weren’t apples, and although they slightly resembled grapes, they had thicker and less shiny skin. That’s when I saw the sign proclaiming, “hardy kiwi fruits, no need to peel.” I quickly bought a box and popped one of the kiwis into my mouth. The juicy fruit exploded with a flavor that was sweeter and more intense than the typical kiwi. Why hadn’t I seen or tried this fruit before? Since then, I’ve learned that the fruit’s poor shelf life limits its commercial sales. However, these plants are great fruiting vines to add to your garden if you live in growing zones 3 through 8. By planting and caring for a hardy kiwi vine, you can enjoy delicious kiwi berries for years to come. What is Hardy Kiwi? You’re probably familiar with the fuzzy kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa) found in grocery stores nationwide. While the hardy kiwi (Actinidia arguta) tastes a lot like this common fruit, it is smaller in size and lacks the namesake brown, fuzzy fibers. Instead, its smooth green or red fruits are about the size of a large grape, which makes them the perfect bite-sized snack. Due to the hardy kiwi’s short shelf life, it’s difficult to find these fruits in the United States. You may be able to snag a pint or quart of the kiwiberries at farmers’ markets, but the best way to enjoy these sweet and juicy fruits is to grow a plant at home. The perennial plants are woody twisting vines that grow between 10-20 feet each year. The plants begin bearing fruits in their third to fifth year and can continue producing kiwis over the next 20+ years. Characteristics The hardy kiwi, otherwise known as the kiwiberry, grape berry, or arctic berry, is a long-lived perennial vine that thrives in temperate environments. Since the plants are deciduous, they lose their leaves in the fall and regrow new foliage in the spring. Most vines grow anywhere from 10-20 feet each year and thrive on arbors and types of trellises. However, they can quickly develop into unruly plants if you forgo pruning and trellising. The plants produce flowers on new shoots in the spring. Most varieties are dioecious, which means male and female flowers occur on different plants. Only the female flowers can produce fruit, but each flower needs to be pollinated with pollen from a male flower. The clusters of kiwis ripen sometime in late summer or early fall, and a single, healthy plant can produce up to 100 pounds of fruit. Native Area The hardy kiwi originated in East Asia, in areas including Japan, Korea, northern China, and northeast Russia. While the plants can tolerate cold temperatures, they need to grow in a location with at least 200 frost-free days to produce fruit. Planting The best way to plant hardy kiwi is to transplant small seedlings after the last spring frost. Since most varieties produce male and female flowers on separate plants, make sure to plant at least one male plant for every eight female plants. Reputable plant nurseries will label male and female plants, making it easy to purchase the plants you need. The vines are susceptible to wind damage, so plant them in a slightly sheltered location. Make sure the location receives at least eight hours of daily light and has good drainage. Space individual plants ten feet apart and provide them with a supporting trellis. Once the plants begin to grow, select one to two shoots to train as stems. Loosely tie these shoots to a stake to prevent them from twisting and encourage them to grow straight up.