I grew a cold hardy pomegranate in New Jersey

In 2020 I planted a small pomegranate, in my New Jersey backyard, with an interesting history. The 1 gallon size set me back $40. A small risk to take if it did not live up to it's claim of growing in zone 7a (or colder?). The following is my experience growing this tree for 4 seasons, but first I will try to summarize what I learned about this pomegranate.

My little shrub with a bloom in 2020

The Soviet Union collected many species of fruiting plants across its former territory and conducted cold hardiness experiments inorder to see if certain plants could live in colder parts of the territory. 

Thus the Afganski pomegranate was born. While the name suggests it may come from Afghanistan, this variety is reported as being collected from Turkmenistan. Furthermore it may be a seedling, meaning it grew from a seed off a fruit from the original tree.

Fast forward to 2023, surviving 3 New Jersey winters with nearly no damage except the very thin tips of the younger branches that didn't harden off enough, the small bush became a large bush at around 8 feet tall and holding a whopping 25 pomegranates! While the sizes vary, any of these would sell at around $4 at a grocery store! The plant has already paid for itself.

This photo was taken the first day of fall, September 21st after a bit of rain. 

Fruits in early fall

There's still at least a month of frost free weather, or longer, for these to continue to develop. As a deciduous tree, the pomegranate leaves will begin to turn yellow as the days shorten. At the same time the fruits will blush red until they are ripe or close enough to ripe to be picked and sampled. 

I will return with an update once I sample my very first fruit!