What Fruits Can Be Grown in South Carolina?

Wildlife-friendly native fruit trees make an interesting addition to the home landscape.

During the summertime, peach stands dot roadsides throughout S Carolina. Although our homegrown peaches are delicious, they actually originated in China. Simply recently - within the by two centuries - accept they found the well-drained soils of South Carolina welcoming. American Indians in South Carolina depended on indigenous copse for fruit production for thousands of years. Peaches and other mainstream fruit trees now overshadow these species, but natives however have a tremendous impact on wildlife and produce fruits tasty to humans as well. Since yous're unlikely to observe these fruits in a grocery store, you may want to plant a few native fruit trees in your backyard this twelvemonth. In iv or five years, ane or two backyard mulberry or Chickasaw plum trees tin provide bucketsful of fruit.

Wild Blackness Blood-red (Prunus serotina)

In bygone days in the Southward, wild black cherries were commonly used for flavoring - often for drinks of the hard variety. Today you lot can nevertheless stumble upon authentic blackness cherry jams and jellies in farmers' markets, merely finding the tree itself is probably much easier, as black cherries are very common. In eastern South Carolina, wild black cherries oftentimes look scrappy and kleptomaniacal, scarcely resembling the directly, towering form of cherries in the most elevated areas of the Upcountry. In higher elevations, blackness cherries tin grow to one hundred feet in summit, but in most parts of South Carolina they'll rarely reach half that.

Black cerise trees produce lots of marble-sized fruit in June and July. Usually, birds such as bluebirds, robins, catbirds, mockingbirds and bluish jays pick copse clean before the cherries fall. Black cherries are likewise an important food source for game birds such as wild turkeys, bobwhites and ruffed grouse.

Although the fruit is edible, beware of black cherry foliage if you lot have livestock. Amidst farmers, black cherry is commonly referred to as "asphyxiate cherry-red." Cows and horses tin become seriously ill later on eating wilted black cherry leaves, which contain a loftier concentration of a cyanide compound. This poisoning is rare, simply black cherry is a bad choice for pasture planting. For landscaping purposes, a cultivar of Prunus serotina called 'White Sparkle' blossoms prolifically and has a weeping grade. Whether a cultivar or wild, black cherry grows best in full sun.

Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea)

A small tree, ordinarily no taller than xx-five feet, serviceberry blossoms in early on April. At well-nigh the same time, shad run upriver, which is why information technology is sometimes called shadbush. Since the showy white flowers of serviceberry blossom before those of many other plants, they are an of import pollen and nectar source for honeybees and other insects. Like blackness cherry, serviceberry is a popular food for many bird species. Two months afterward pollination, the fruit of the serviceberry ripens in June (serviceberry is sometimes chosen Juneberry, besides), and birds devour the small, sugariness fruits.

The fruits of serviceberry are nearly the size of blueberries and can be eaten out of hand, used in jams and jellies or dried like raisins. American Indians used serviceberries in pemmican, a nutritious mixture of fat, nuts and dried fruits. Today, serviceberries are most unremarkably planted for landscaping. Amelanchier species - of which Amelanchier arborea is one of several native to Due south Carolina, but the but ane capable of tree superlative - all have eye-catching flowers and attractive fall foliage. A cultivar of Amelanchier arborea called 'Autumn Brillance' has hitting crimson leaves in fall. Y'all tin plant serviceberries in full or partial sun in a multifariousness of soil conditions, ranging from heavy dirt to sand.

Chickasaw Plum (Prunus angustifolia)

Although concentrated in Mississippi, the Chickasaw Indians also settled along the Savannah River in South Carolina. The so-chosen Chickasaw plum, Prunus angustifolia, thrives throughout Due south Carolina and was probably an important nutrient source for many Southeastern tribes. At best a small tree, the Chickasaw plum is frequently shrubby, with dense, prickly branches. Plum thickets provide escape encompass for birds, rabbits and other minor mammals. Like many wild trees, Chickasaw plums exhibit masting behavior, in which heavy fruit years are followed by 2 to 3 years of scarce fruit production. Ideally, when a bumper year rolls around, the tree produces more plums than the populations of birds and squirrels tin eat, ensuring some plums are left over for germination. In a good year, a mature tree can easily produce two bushels of plums. Although tart eaten raw, these pink plums can be made into fine jams and jellies.

Like serviceberry, the Chickasaw plum is a versatile species, capable of growing in a variety of soil conditions and full or partial sun. To keep a Chickasaw plum from turning into an unkempt shrub, prune when necessary.

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)

Black red, Chickasaw plum and serviceberry all vest to the same botanical family, the rose family. Pawpaw, however, is unique in two regards. First, pawpaw produces the largest fruit - up to a pound - native to N America. Second, although often associated with the South, and even memorialized in the song "Way Down Yonder in the Pawpaw Patch," pawpaw is actually the northernmost member of the tropical Custard Apple tree family. Species in this family are known for their banana-like fruit, and pawpaw, sometimes referred to as "poor man's banana," is no exception. A pawpaw resembles a stubby green assistant and tastes similar to a mango. In the wild, pawpaws often reproduce through root sprouts, and so individual copse are frequently interconnected through their roots. In South Carolina, pawpaw patches are mutual in the understory of mature bottomland forests.

Pawpaw fruits are relished by mammals, including opossums, raccoons, foxes, squirrels and blackness bears. In addition, throughout the summertime and autumn, the zebra swallowtail, a cute black-and-white striped butterfly, lays eggs on the underside of pawpaw leaves, its preferred larval host plant.

As a bottomland species, pawpaw prefers rich, moist soil and can tolerate partial shade. To concenter pollinators and encourage fruiting, plant several pawpaws near one another, creating your own pawpaw patch.

Scarlet Mulberry (Morus rubra)

Because of the children's song "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush," many people believe mulberries are bush plants, when, in fact, mulberries grow on trees. Reddish mulberry, our native mulberry, is a fast-growing tree that can reach xxx to forty anxiety in height and live more than than a hundred years. When ripe, mulberries are deep regal or black and await similar to blackberries. Like blackberries, mulberries can be used in jams or jellies, or eaten out of hand.

Traditionally, mulberries were multi-purpose subcontract trees. They provided fruit for jams and jellies, and provender for livestock, equally farmers let hogs and poultry roam through forested areas. In addition, mulberry wood makes skillful fence posts, since it is slow to rot in contact with the basis. Today, mulberries remain an important food source for wildlife. More than l species of birds and many pocket-size mammals devour mulberries, oft picking copse clean well earlier the juicy fruit fully ripens.

A versatile constitute, scarlet mulberry grows well in total or partial sun and a multifariousness of soils. Its classic, rounded form makes for a great backyard shade tree.

Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)

Notorious for being sour, persimmons certainly are if they're the least bit green. However, a soft, well-ripened orange persimmon actually tastes quite sweet, and the Latin name Diospyros (meaning food of the gods) reflects this. Persimmon jams, jellies, whiskey and wine were common in the antebellum South. These days, you lot can find persimmon jams and jellies at farmers markets, but yous'll accept to search far and broad to find legal persimmon whiskey.

Persimmons grow throughout South Carolina and tin can become big trees given enough fourth dimension and fertile soil. Persimmons, a dioecious species, demand a male tree inside the vicinity of female trees to ensure successful pollination and fruit set. Persimmon fruits ripen in tardily summer and early fall, and many people believe persimmons picked after the showtime frost taste improve. If you wait that long, exist prepared for slim pickings, as deer, opossums, raccoons and even black bears frequent persimmon trees loaded with fruit.

Planting a Lawn Orchard

Belatedly fall and winter are usually the best times to plant trees, and native fruit trees are no exception. Trees are dormant in common cold atmospheric condition and need less water, so planting during fall or winter provides time for roots to institute earlier the dry spells of summer. If demand be, y'all tin can plant during the early leap - and garden centers sell lots of trees at this fourth dimension - but yous'll accept to water more than frequently throughout the start year. Resist the temptation to fertilize when first planting. By waiting, you'll promote root growth over foliage development.

• For more than tips and information about planting trees in the habitation landscape, visit the Home and Garden Information Centre (HGIC) on the Clemson Extension Service website (https://www.clemson.edu/extension/).
• For more data about fruit trees and other native plants, including a list of nurseries where native plants can be purchased, visit the website of the Southward.C. Native Plant Society (https://scnps.org/).

This is Northward Carolina-based freelance writer Stephen Bishop's first feature for SCW.

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Source: https://www.dnr.sc.gov/magazine/articles/novdec2012/fruittrees.html

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