NEW HARDY FRUITS from PRAIRIE GARDENS – BON ACCORD, ALBERTA
Thinking of growing your own fruit in Alberta? Order today for pick-up at our Tree Nursery in May, or we can mail small items by Canada Post. (Bareroot, 1 & 2 Gallon pot sizes only). Sorry – we can’t ship to the USA.
Email us at info@prairiegardens.org or call us at 780-921-2272!
Top 8 Fruits to grow in Alberta
Grow Your Own Fruit for Farms, Acreages or City Backyards in the Canadian Hardiness Zones of 1, 2 or 3.
Zone 1 is north to Alaska. Zone 3 is Edmonton, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge & Southern Alberta. Zone 2 is Calgary and most of rural central and the north — Northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, plus northern BC and northern Ontario. Here is a quick overview of what we can grow here. Check out our detailed catalogue for pot sizes and prices on what is available to purchase.
Haskap (Honeyberries)
Haskap is an amazingly hardy, fast growing, high yielding, great tasting berry bush that is relatively new to North America. It is an edible honeysuckle that originates from Siberia, and goes by the name ‘Honeyberries’, ‘Blue Honeysuckle’, and ‘Haskap’. Recently, it has been hybridized at the University of Saskatchewan by Dr. Bob Bors for growing on the prairies. The plants are hardy to -40 degrees C, and the flowers are hardy to -7 degrees C. Pick fruit in late June on plants that are only three years old! It tastes like wild tangy blueberries! Check out our Alberta Hardy Berries (Saskatoons, Blueberries and Haskaps) Online Catalogue
Hardy Apples
We offer an juried selection of 70 varieties of Zone 3 or colder Alberta hardy apple trees. Alberta’s best hardy apple trees collection across the prairies! Norkent is voted best apple by the Alberta Hardy Fruit and Nut Growers Group. In our Edmonton area, orchard, September Ruby is excellent, and is zone 1 hardy in Alaska! Prairie Magic is amazing in zone 3 gardens. We also highly recommend Kerr for a small apple crab or for apple cider. We make caramel mini-apples with these in the fall, and they are so delicious! We offer dwarf Alberta hardy apples, hardy cider apples, columnar apples for small yards hardy for Alberta, and heritage apples of antiquity! Some of my faves as outstanding eating apples are: Caroll, Wolf River, Winter Cheeks, Nothern Spy, Sweet SIxteen, Treasure Red Columnar, Autumn Delight, Prairie Sensation, Misty Rose, Goodland, Honeycrisp, Red Wonder (Red fleshed). Best crabapples: Rescue, Trailman and Kerr.
HARDY BERRIES, CHERRIES, APRICOTS, PLUMS & NUTS
Hardy Saskatoon Berry Bushes at Prairie Gardens
I grew up on Saskatoon berries. Sweet, slightly almond flavored. They are very hardy for Alberta gardens, and produce pails of fruit from late July through early August.
Best varieties (in my opinion) – Thiessen, Martin, Smokey and Honey. Saskatoons are hardy to zone 1 and are native to Alberta. Check out our online Berry Catalogue for Saskatoons.
We also carry hardy Blueberries, Honeyberries (Haskaps) at the nursery.
Raspberries and Blackberries for Edmonton Gardens
Boyne, Souris, & Red Mammoth Raspberries3 all survive our -30C winters in Alberta.
These are very hardy raspberries. Boyne raspberries produces dark red, medium sized raspberries perfect for jams, preserves or eat straight off the plant. Will bear fruit in the second year of growth. Souris is a recent improvement of Boyne, with sweeter fruit. Red Mammoth and Joan are thornless varieties. Honeyqueen and Fall Gold are yellow varieties. Check out our full offering of berries Blackberries are less hardy, but Chester and Balsor Black are worthy of trial if you are prepared to take on the challenge and take extra care, mulching and laying the canes down in the winter.
Cold Hardy Strawberry Plants for Zone 2 Gardens
In our northern climate with cold winter temperatures, hardiness is a priority for strawberry gardeners. For our pick-your own farm, flavor is at the top of the list. Covering plants with straw at the end of October is a really good idea to protect the flower buds. Summer-bearing varieties of strawberry produce fruit in July in Edmonton gardens. Honeyoe, Kent are our tried and true varieties for July harvests. Extend your harvest by planting day-neutral or everbearers, which will bloom and fruit a few times over the summer and into October. Seascape, Albion, Cabarillo and San Andreas are Dayneutral varieties.
Hardy Sour Cherries for Alberta
We offer the latest introductions from the U of S Sour Cherry breeding program, including the Romance Series of Hardy Cherries. Great for fresh eating, good for canning or juicing. Which one to plant? Planting all six gives a harvest from the end of July to mid-September. Each cultivar has about a three-week harvest period. Expect some fruit three years after planting, with greater yield after 5 years, and peak capacity after seven years. Cherries are self-fertile and do not require a pollinator. The brix (or sugar levels) of these cherries is actually higher than traditional sweet cherries, but with their sour cherry parentage, they also have a higher acidity of the sour cherry – great for pies, syrups, and eating fresh out of hand.
Hardy Apricots for Zone 2-3 Orchards and Gardens
Growing apricot in Alberta is an act of love. Several selections are hardy enough but their blooms tend to come too early, so mulching the root system to keep it cold for as long as possible is a good idea. Manchurian seedlings will pollinate one another, and have lovely pink blooms first thing in the spring. You’ll get a small crop every five or ten years on a fully matured tree. Apricots are self-sterile – you will have to plant two, so you have a pollinator. Apricots are delicious. Totally worth the challenge if you have time and space! Check out our full listing of Apricots for Alberta here.
Hardy Plums for Alberta Gardens
There are quite a few sweet plums that will grow here, in Alberta. Pembina has done well for us in our orchards. The trees produce freestone plums that grow up to 2 inches thick. The trees begin blooming in early spring, with fruit ripening throughout the summer until it is finally ready in early fall. These plum trees need other trees to pollinate, with plum varieties such as the Brookred Plum or Cherry Plums being ideal. The key thing with Plums is to find the right pollinator that blooms at the same time.
From A to Z – We offer a full line of rare and hardy to find Seaberries, Currants, Hardy Kiwis & Grapes Vines and Perennial Vegetables for Alberta.
