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Gardening in North Dakota requires consideration of the region's cold winters and brief growing season. Here's a detailed guide to the top 10 fruits you can successfully grow in the state, including specific variety recommendations and cultivation tips:
1. Apples
Description: Apples are versatile, with varieties suited to North Dakota's harsh conditions, offering fresh eating, cooking, and preservation options.
Varieties to Consider:
- Haralson: A hardy, late-season apple with a tart flavor, excellent for both fresh eating and baking. It has good storage capability.
- Honeycrisp: Celebrated for its crisp texture and balanced sweet-tart flavor, this apple is remarkably hardy, making it a favorite in the Midwest.
- Zestar!: Known for its early ripening, Zestar! combines a sweet zing with a hint of brown sugar, perfect for short growing seasons.
- Sweet Sixteen: This apple brings a unique sweet-tart flavor with a hint of cherry candy, ripening mid-season, it's worth the wait for its distinctive taste.
- Williams Pride: Early ripening with a rich flavor, this variety is resistant to apple scab, making it ideal for organic gardens in North Dakota.
Growing Tips: Ensure well-drained soil and full sun. Prune to shape and improve air circulation, reducing disease.
2. Raspberries
Description: Raspberries provide a long harvest season with both summer and fall cultivars, offering sweet or tart berries.
Varieties to Consider:
- Autumn Bliss: Fall-bearing, producing large, sweet, and flavorful berries that are great for fresh eating or freezing.
- Boyne: Hardy with a sweet-tart flavor, this early summer variety is resistant to many common diseases.
- Killarney: An early summer bearer with bright red, sweet berries, known for its vigor and hardiness.
- Caroline: A fall-bearing raspberry with large, flavorful fruits that extend the harvest season, perfect for both fresh use and preservation.
- Prelude: Early ripening and hardy, Prelude yields sweet berries perfect for both fresh eating and processing.
Growing Tips: Plant in well-drained soil with full sun. Support with trellises and prune for new growth.
3. Strawberries
Description: Strawberries can offer both early summer and extended harvests, suitable for eating fresh or making preserves.
Varieties to Consider:
- Fort Laramie: An everbearing variety with sweet, firm berries, highly cold-tolerant and productive.
- Ogallala: Everbearing with good flavor, known for its hardiness against North Dakota's winters.
- Honeoye: One of the most popular June-bearers, offering large, bright red, sweet strawberries with good yield.
- Earliglow: An early June-bearer, prized for its sweet, aromatic berries that are perfect for fresh eating.
- Seascape: Everbearing with excellent disease resistance, providing consistent berry production throughout the season.
Growing Tips: Use raised beds for drainage. Mulch for moisture retention and winter protection.
4. Haskap
Description: Haskap, or honeyberry, is an excellent substitute for blueberries in North Dakota, thriving in alkaline soils with sweet, nutrient-rich berries.
Varieties to Consider:
- Boreal Blizzard: Produces large, sweet, and firm berries, noted for its high yield and cold hardiness.
- Boreal Beast: Known for its very large berries, this variety has a pleasant sweet-tart taste, making it a standout in haskap selections.
- Aurora: Early to ripen with sweet, juicy berries, Aurora is a great choice for extending your berry season.
- Indigo Gem: Offers firm, sweet berries with a lovely blue color, it's both productive and hardy.
- Boreal Beauty: Features sweet, flavorful berries that are easy to harvest due to its upright growth habit.
Growing Tips: Plant in full sun to partial shade. Ensure cross-pollination with different varieties for best yields.
5. Cherries
Description: Sour cherries are more suitable for North Dakota, providing tart fruits for culinary uses.
Varieties to Consider:
- Evans Bali: Extremely hardy, offering large, tart cherries ideal for pies and jams with a sweet twist.
- Sweet Thing: Despite its name, a sour cherry variety with a compact growth, perfect for small gardens.
- Meteor: Hardy and self-pollinating, Meteor cherries are tart, great for cooking, with resistance to leaf spot.
- Carmine Jewel: Known for its sweet-tart flavor, these cherries are dark red and very hardy, suitable for fresh eating or preserves.
- Juliet: A sweet cherry with good hardiness, suitable for North Dakota's climate, offering sweet fruits for eating fresh or in desserts.
Growing Tips: Choose a sunny location, and protect from late frosts. Prune for air circulation.
6. Pears
Description: Pears can thrive in North Dakota's climate with varieties that withstand cold winters.
Varieties to Consider:
- Ure: Known for its extreme cold hardiness, Ure pears are sweet and tender, great for both fresh eating and canning.
- Golden Spice: Offers a sweet, aromatic flavor with good hardiness, these pears are excellent for fresh consumption.
- Luscious: Small but flavorful, this variety is resistant to fire blight, making it a reliable choice.
- Patten: An old, hardy variety with a unique flavor, good for both fresh eating and cooking.
- Summercrisp: Early ripening with crisp, sweet flesh, Summercrisp is a good choice for North Dakota's short season.
Growing Tips: Well-drained soil and full sun are crucial. Prune for shape and health.
7. Apricots
Description: Apricots are challenging but possible with hardy varieties, providing sweet fruit for various culinary uses.
Varieties to Consider:
- Westcot: Hardy with sweet, flavorful fruit, suitable for North Dakota's harsh winters.
- Harcot: Early ripening with sweet, juicy apricots, somewhat frost-tolerant for its early bloom.
- Morden 604: Developed for cold climates, it produces sweet, freestone fruits ideal for canning or fresh eating.
- Sungold: Known for its sweetness and good cold tolerance, offering juicy, golden fruits.
- Scout: A hardy variety with sweet, flavorful apricots, well-adapted to North Dakota conditions.
Growing Tips: Plant in a sheltered, sunny spot. Prune to reduce disease risk.
8. Serviceberries
Description: Serviceberries, or Juneberries, are both ornamental and productive, yielding sweet, blueberry-like fruits.
Varieties to Consider:
- Regent: A compact, hardy shrub with sweet berries, suitable for smaller gardens.
- Lee 8: Very cold hardy, offering large, sweet berries with a good flavor for fresh eating or baking.
- Thiessen: Large, sweet berries with good flavor, resistant to late frosts.
- Northline: Known for reliable production of sweet, dark berries, hardy for North Dakota.
- Martin: Provides large, sweet berries with a nice texture, enhancing any landscape.
Growing Tips: Prefers full sun but can tolerate some shade. Prune for vigor.
9. Plums
Description: With the right varieties, plums can offer sweet or tart fruits for fresh eating or preserves.
Varieties to Consider:
- Toka: Sweet with a distinctive flavor, hardy, and good for both fresh eating and preserves.
- Superior: Sweet, red-fleshed plums that are cold hardy, perfect for fresh consumption.
- Sapa: Very sweet, purple plums that thrive in North Dakota, great for all culinary uses.
- Pipestone: Known for its sweet flavor, these plums are hardy and suitable for fresh eating.
- La Crescent: Sweet, golden plums with a touch of apricot flavor, relatively hardy for the region.
Growing Tips: Plant in well-drained soil with full sun. Most need cross-pollination.
10. Currants
Description: Currants are hardy, easy-to-grow shrubs, providing berries for pies, jams, or fresh eating.
Varieties to Consider:
- Red Lake: High-yielding with bright red berries, very hardy for North Dakota conditions.
- Ben Hope: A black currant with large, flavorful berries, resistant to white pine blister rust.
- Tahsis: Offers sweet, large black currants, with excellent hardiness and productivity.
- Ben Sarek: Compact and productive, this variety gives large, tasty black currants.
- Jonkheer van Tets: Early ripening red currant with a good flavor, suitable for North Dakota's climate.
Growing Tips: Plant in partial shade to full sun. Prune for air circulation and to promote new growth.
Cultivation Tips for North Dakota
- Soil and Sun: Ensure well-drained, fertile soil and maximize sunlight exposure.
- Protection: Use physical barriers or frost protection for young plants.
- Pest Management: Monitor for common pests and use organic or mechanical controls.
- Pollination: Some fruits need cross-pollination; plan accordingly.
With these varieties and cultivation advice, North Dakota gardeners can enjoy a variety of home-grown fruits despite the challenging climate.
