Southern Utah Fruits, Nuts, and Berries

STONE FRUITS: Peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots are all considered

stone fruits because of the giant seed at their center. They all do well in the

desert, albeit with some heat stress. Management plans include proper

pruning, fertilization, sulfur soil treatments to combat our high pH and

protection from sun damage.

POME FRUITS: Apples, Pears, and Quince fall into this category and prefer

higher altitudes but some varieties do well here. In fact some hard apple

varieties that make the best cider do very well here.

Fruits recommended in Southern Utah

• Almond: Do well in our area. I suggest ‘Garden Prince’.

• Apples for cider: Desert-grown sweet apples just don’t make the

grade as far as I am concerned. However if you want to make some

cider, these russeted apples will do well here I suggest ‘Gold Rush’,

Winesap, and Pippin types.

• Apricots: Most apricots do well in Southern Utah and are flavorful. I

recommend ‘Harcot’, ‘Early Gold’, ‘Floragold’, and ‘Royal’.

• Aprium: An apricot/plum hybrid that does excellent in Southern

Utah. Try ‘Flavor Delight’

• Figs: Most do well here at lower elevations, but they need more

water than most fruit trees. Try ‘Brown Turkey’, ‘Olympian’, and

‘Chicago Hardy’

• Goji Berry: juicy, bright red fruits that resemble small peppers. They

grow sweeter as they mature on the plant. Southern Deserts have

many relatives to Goji. Use ‘Lifeberry’

• Grapes: Both table and wine grapes do well here, though they might

require netting. I recommend ‘Thompson Seedless’, ‘Golden Muscat’

and the ‘Alden’. Stay away from the concord varieties for juicing.

• Jujube (aka Chinese date): It’s drought-resistant and known for its

medicinal qualities. ‘Chico’, ‘Honeyjar’

• Nectarines: The best variety for Southern Utah is the ‘Arctic Star’

• Mulberry: This is a no brainer but WILL it cause a mess. No matter

how diligent you are of picking your berries, it attracts birds which

make plenty of mess on their own. ‘Dwarf Everbearing’, ‘Issai’,

‘Shagri La’, and ‘Peruvian’.

• Peaches: A winning choice for Southern Utah gardens. Use ‘Desert

Gold’, ‘Indian Blood’, ‘PeachCot’, and ‘Early Grand’

• Asian pears: Their trees do well in our heat but produce smaller fruit

here than higher elevations. ‘Shinsiki’ is the best option.

• Pecans: Most pecans will produce a light crop of nuts with just a

single tree and above average moisture. For a larger harvest, plant

two of these trees and water the heck out of them. As trees get 60

feet tall this may not be the best option for your garden. ‘Western

Shley’, ‘Mahan’ and ‘Wichita’.

• Persimmon: Excellent quality but requires extra care and water.

‘Fuyu’, ‘Giant Fuyu’, and ‘Coffee Cake’ will grow well here if they are

planted correctly in amended soil with organic mulch.

• Pine Nuts: Native to our area is Pinyon pine but the Italian Stone pine

also produces pine nuts and they both do well here.

• Pistachio: They need both a male and female trees for pollination.

The ‘Peters’ is the most commonly planted male tree; the ‘Kerman’

the best female variety.

• Plums: Requires protection from borers. ‘Santa Rosa’ is also a great

pollinator for Pluots.

• Pluot (sweet apricot-plum hybrid). Try ‘Flavor Grenade’ and ‘Flavor

Supreme’

• Pomegranate: It can be grown here as a trunk or a tree. Some say

“it’s a mess of a tree” Use ‘Utah Sweet’ or ‘Wonderful’

• Quince: Does well in our climate. Apple like fruit with high pectin

qualities for cooking flavors and for jams and jellies. However, it is a

tough sell usually because it is not edible off the tree. Best options

are ‘Orange’ and ‘Smyrna’

• Walnut: Arizona and Texas Walnuts are best suited to our climate

they are related to the Black Walnut family. English walnuts require

more water and rich soils.

Give it a try in Southern Utah (most will need some added care)

• Sweet Apples: Specifically “Dorsett Golden’, ‘Pink Lady’, ‘Mutsu’,

‘Fuji’, ‘Granny Smith’ and ‘Sundowner’. Personally, I prefer buying

apples in a grocery store. They taste better than what we can

produce here, but these are the best varieties for low deserts.

• Blackberries: Of the brambles blackberries will do best here. Stay

away from the thornless varieties and try 'Rosborough', 'Womack',

and 'Brison' for our area.

• Elderberry, Blue/cerulea Native to the southwest deserts. European

varieties like Black Lace may need afternoon shade.

• Hardy Kiwi: protect the vines from late afternoon sun and provide at

least 5 hours of direct sun. You will need a male and female variety

so use ‘Vincent’ ‘Tomuri’ or ‘Issai’.

• Hazelnut: Filbert is a type of a hazelnut which could grow here as a

large shrub with afternoon shade. Higher elevations such as Cedar

City, Springdale, Pine Valley, and Dammaron Valley would have fewer

problems with this species.

• Pear: varieties in southern Utah produce tasty smaller fruit but the

heat tends to deform the appearance. ‘Kieffer’, Red Bartlett, Bosc,

and Flemish beauty are worthy trial plants.

• Raspberry: ‘Dorman Red’ is the best option for our area. Afternoon

shade or shade cloth for late afternoon heat. Use lots of organic

amendments in the soil and never try to grow these in a pot or raised

bed.

• Strawberry: Use east facing sun and at least 5 hours of direct

sunlight each day. Everbearing varieties like ‘Ogallala’ and ‘Ozark

Beauty’ will do best in this area. Higher elevations can get into the

day neutral varieties.

Plants to avoid in Southern Utah

• Avocado: Too cold and too hot, They prefer a Zone 9 moderate

climate.

• Banana: Too cold, they need lots of room and care.

• Blueberry: Too hot, The soil pH chemistry is not compatible.

• Cherry: “Not reliable” here; it’s too dry and warm to provide a

descent fruit set.

• Citrus: Too cold, they need a warm winter spot and Q-tip pollination.

• Honeyberries: Too hot, Can’t develop fruiting buds during extreme

heat.

• Paw Paw: Too cold, soil pH chemistry is not compatible

GENERAL PITFALLS for our climate

• Fruit trees are thirsty creatures. But can also easily be overwatered in

heavy soil types.

• Do not plant woody plants too deeply allow the root flare to start

above grade so you may add a sufficient amount of organic mulch on

top of the soil to hold moisture and keep the roots cool.

• Sunscald is rampant on heavily watered tree trunks. Use White latex

paint to limit this scaring.

• Beware of external attacks. Your Garden of Eden will also be a

paradise for insects, birds and rats. Covering fruit in organza bags will

help protect them.

• Be ready to pick up fallen fruit and to deal with more fruit than you

can handle.

• Diseases caused by stressed plants increase and spread. Protect

trees with copper fungicides and remove heavily infested trees.