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Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Lonicera caerulea
History: Boreal Beauty haskap is part of the Boreal series of haskaps developed by Bob Bors at the University of Saskatchewan. The goal of the Boreal series is to cross haskaps from Russia, Japan, and the Kuril Islands to create superior cultivars with the best qualities of all three strains. Boreal Beauty was released in early 2017, chosen for its large size, firmness, and good flavour. Its name, a reference to Beauty and the Beast, was meant to be a handy way to remember that Boreal Beast is the recommended for pollination partner for this variety, but in practice unfortunately the two don't overlap quite enough for pollination to be optimal.
Why We Grow It: Boreal Beauty sports large berries that are more oval-shaped and firm than other haskaps while maintaining with good flavour. This variety could show promise for mechanical harvesting. It is also quite vigorous and produces heavy crops.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Lonicera caerulea
History: Boreal Blizzard was developed by Bob Bors at the University of Saskatchewan as part of the Boreal series of haskaps. The goal of the Boreal series is to cross haskaps from Russia, Japan, and the Kuril Islands to create superior cultivars with the best qualities of all three strains. While Boreal Blizzard is only a cross between Russian and Japanese varieties, it has produced some of the largest berries the breeding program has seen while boasting good flavour!
Why We Grow It: Boreal Blizzard produces exceptionally large berries that are meaty and sweet. This heavy cropper is ideal for U-pick operations and small farms where the larger berries make them more suitable for hand-picking.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
History: Brookgold was developed at the Crop Diversification Centre South in Brooks, Alberta and was named for the town and its golden colour. It was introduced in 1979.
Why We Grow It: Brookgold, like other fruit varieties developed in the prairies, is very cold hardy! Although there is sometimes a trade-off between cold hardiness and fruit quality, this variety still produces small yellow freestone plums that are very sweet, making them great for fresh eating and good for canning and preserving.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Vaccinium angustifolium
History: Brunswick lowbush blueberry is the second lowbush variety developed at the AAFC Kentville Research and Development Centre in Nova Scotia. It was discovered growing wild on a blueberry farm owned by Shepoddy Blueberry and Lumber Co. in New Brunswick and was selected in 1965 for further testing. Proving to be an excellent variety that grows well and is relatively disease-resistant, it was named for its province of origin and released in 1977.
Why We Grow It: Brunswick produces firm, medium-sized dark blue berries, bursting with sweet flavour. These lowbush blueberries grow into a compact bush, with glossy dark green foliage that turns a lovely red in autumn. Blueberries are great for baking, for example Steph made some wonderful black currant and blueberry tarts that are pictured here!
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Juglans cinerea or hybrid. NOTE: Butternuts are known to hybridize readily with other closely related species so there is no guarantee on whether these seedlings are pure, though the mother trees appear very true to type.
History: Butternut is an endangered tree native to southeastern Canada and the eastern United States where they grow naturally along sunny stream banks with rich, well-draining soil. The nuts have been used as a source of food and made into a butter-like oil by indigenous peoples. The trees have also been used for making syrup, furniture, and woodcarving. 'Butternut' became a derisive term for people living in the southern US since their clothes were dyed using butternuts, and the name later applied to Confederate soldiers. Unfortunately, Butternuts are highly endangered today due to Butternut Canker which has decimated their population within two decades.
Why We Grow It: By planting endangered species, collectively we can help Mother Nature potentially find a naturally resistant variety of Butternut. The nuts are quite similar to other walnuts but with a milder flavour. They can survive in zone 2, but they must be planted somewhere zone 3 or warmer to produce nuts. The sap can be boiled to make walnut syrup, which tastes very similar to maple syrup but with notes of caramel and butterscotch.
Be mindful of the juglones in the in the roots/nut husks, they are toxic to many other species. They require a buffer of about 50'/30m from the edge of the trees canopy for juglone-sensitive plants. This article from The Garden Hoe has a helpful list of plants that tolerate juglones. However there are recent (2019) studies showing healthy soil high in organic matter and mycorrhizal fungi actually reduce the toxicity of juglones suggesting many plants can grow below juglans species in a healthy ecosystem - it will be interesting to see more study done in this area!
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
History: Carmine Jewel is one of several dwarf sour cherry shrubs developed at the University of Saskatchewan in an effort to combine cold hardiness, dwarf stature, and good quality fruit into one variety. This effort was started by Dr. Kerr (for whom Kerr applecrabs were named) in the 1940s and Carmine Jewel was released in 1999. It is considered the hardiest of the cherries they developed. Carmine Jewel cherries are now the most commonly grown commercial cherries in the prairies.
Why We Grow It: Carmine Jewel is a notably productive cultivar with small cherries that have a high flesh-to-pit ratio. Thanks to their firm flesh, they are a preferred variety for freezing and drying. The shrub is on the smaller size, reaching 6-7ft once mature, great for anyone who loves cherries but doesn't have a lot of space!
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Vaccinium corymbosum
History: Chandler higbush blueberry was introduced in 1995. It originated in Corvallis, Oregon where it was developed by the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service agency's (USDA-ARS) Blueberry Breeding Program.
Why We Grow It: Chandler produces the largest blueberries in the commercial industry, and plenty of them! They are sweet and juicy despite their size and can be harvested over a long period of time. Blueberries are great for baking, for example Steph made some wonderful black currant and blueberry tarts that are pictured here!
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Actinidia arguta
History: Changbai Giant kiwis were discovered by the Changbai Mountain Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agriculture near the North Korean border. The variety was likely collected and propagated due to its unusual round shape and excellent flavour. Named for the Changbai Mountains where it was discovered, its name translates literally from Mandarin as 'perpetually white.' It is also named for the exceptionally large fruit it produces.
Why We Grow It: Aside from its interesting origins, Changbai Giant also boasts unusually shaped kiwis compared to other varieties: round like an apple rather than more oblong like other hardy kiwis. The fruit is also very sweet and the plant itself is a little hardier than some other varieties. Like other female varieties, it can produce a large crop of fruits and it is recommended that the vine be grown on a trellis or other kind of support.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
History: Some sources claim this fig hails from 1980's Chicago, however it seems more likely to have originated in Mount Etna, Italy. In any case, due to it's hardy nature it's become one of the most common varieties grown in North America.
Why We Grow It: Chicago Hardy is considered one of the most reliably hardy figs for North America. Add to that their excellent sweet, juicy flavour and it's a no-brainer why these figs have become so popular. Skin is purply-blue-bronze, with soft jammy flesh and a sweet flavour with notes of honey. These figs are medium in size, weighing around 35g.
Photos used with permission from http://planetfig.com/cultivars/fcveng8623.html.
Species: Helianthus tuberosus, Sunchokes are also known as Jerusalem Artichokes or J Chokes
History: Little is known about the origins of Clearwater aside from the fact that it originated in Maine, possibly as a wild plant found in 1988.
Why We Grow It: Clearwater produces smooth, white tubers with a mild flavour that some say borders on sweet. This is a productive variety and the smoothness of the tubers generally makes them easier to clean. Sunchokes can be prepared and eaten in much the same way potatoes can, making them a very versatile food.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Symphytum sp.
History: Comfrey plants are native to various continents around the world including Europe, Asia, and North America. Common names such as boneset and knitbone and its genus name referencing the Greek 'symphis' meaning 'growing together of bones' indicates it may have been used medicinally for mending bones. Comfrey is now popular as a permaculture plant.
Why We Grow It: This classic permaculture plant grows incredibly deep tap roots, mining rich nutrients from deep below the soil surface. It's a living mulch that 'molts' 3-4 times each season. It's used in traditional medicine and creates a healthful compost tea full of calcium and potassium. It grows up to 70 cm tall, before molting down, and spreads slowly over the years.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Ribes nigrum x R. ussuriense
History: Consort was bred by Agriculture Canada at the Ottawa Research Station with the goal of creating a variety resistant to White Pine Rust. Researchers crossed black currants (R. nigrum) and Korean black currants (R. ussuriense) in order to create a resistant variety. They succeeded with the hardy Consort which was introduced in 1952.
Why We Grow It: This productive black currant is quite cold hardy and quite resistant to White Pine Rust. The medium-sized dark berries can be used for a variety of uses including jams, preserves, and baking!
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Prunus pumila var. besseyi (Western sandcherry) x P. salicina (Japanese Plum)
History: Convoy was released by Boughen Nurseries in Manitoba in 1941. Like other chums, it was bred to produce a fruit with the hardiness of the western sandcherry but the fruit quality of a Japanese plum. Convoy was likely selected for being sweeter than most other chums.
Why We Grow It: Always on the lookout for unique trees, we are happy to offer chums! Convoy is a hardy shrub that produces a clingstone red fruit with yellow flesh. It has a mild sweet flavour that is good for fresh eating but it can also be used for baking, preserving, and canning. The shrub is generally resistant to plum diseases.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Salix babylonica 'Tortuosa' syn. S. matsudana
History: Corkscrew willows are a variant of the Chinese Willow which are native to parts of northern China. Willow trees have been cultivated for millennia in Asia and this variety was likely selected for its unique twisting branches.
Why We Grow It: Corkscrew willows are an attractive ornamental tree year-round, sporting delicate leaves most of the year and then fully displaying their twisted branches and trunks once they have dropped their leaves. The flowers they produce in the spring are attractive to a variety of pollinators. Just be mindful of where you plant the trees, the vigorous roots can be a problem near buildings and pipes!
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
History: Cox's Orange Pippin was first grown in England in 1830 and was named after the retired brewer and horticulturalist who first bred it, Richard Cox. Its excellent flavour has earned it a spot as one of the best fresh eating apples in England where it has remained popular ever since. In fact, it still accounts for over 50% of fresh eating apples grown in the UK today. Despite its reputation, it is seldom grown commercially in North America due to its precocious nature and susceptibility to many common apple diseases.
Why We Grow It: This apple's reputation is hard to ignore with its sweet, subtle, aromatic flavour and attractive orange-red skin. Not only is it good for fresh eating, it is also popular in cider blends.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
History: Crimson Passion dwarf sour cherries are one of several dwarf sour cherries developed and released by the University of Saskatchewan with the goal of creating sour cherries that were cold hardy, shorter in stature, and produced good quality fruit. This initiative began in the 1940s and Crimson Passion was released as part of the Romance series in 2004. It is the sweetest of the Romance series cherries.
Why We Grow It: Crimson Passion produces large sweet fruit, excellent for fresh eating or processing. It contains the same sugar content (20-22 Brix) as sweet cherries, but also contains the tangy flavour of sour cherries, combining the best of both worlds into one cold-hardy shrub. This variety reaches up to 10' at maturity, great for anyone with limited space.
Check our our blog post with some tasty sour cherry recipes!
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
History: Cripps Pink was developed by John Cripps at the Western Australia Department of Agriculture in 1973 as a cross between Lady Williams (an Australian variety) and Golden Delicious. The successful result was introduced to the market in 1985. In just ten years, Cripps Pink became an extremely popular variety and over a million trees were planted in Australia alone. This variety remains popular in many countries around the world. This apple is also known as Pink Lady which is its brand name when the fruit meets very strict criteria for quality.
Why We Grow It: Cripps Pink has a refreshing honeyed sweet-tart flavour that makes it great for fresh eating, baking, and cider. The lovely fruit, yellow with a pinkish-red blush, is slow to brown and also stores exceptionally well.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
History: Cupid is a part of the Romance series of dwarf sour cherry bushes developed and released by the University of Saskatchewan in 2004. Their goal was to create cold-hardy, dwarfing bushes with good quality fruit. Cupid was likely selected for its good flavour and unusually large cherries, the largest in the Romance series.
Why We Grow It: These dark red, cold-hardy cherries have a sweet-tart flavour that can be enjoyed fresh for fans of a more astringent flavour or used for cooking, baking, and preserving. Cupid has the largest cherries of all the dwarf sour cherries in the Romance series and also ripens the latest, helping to extend the season.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Vaccinium corymbosum, hybridized with V. ashei and V. darrowi
History: Draper blueberries were developed at Michigan State University by renowned plant breeder James Hancock who has also developed several other notable blueberry varieties and other fruits such as the Redhaven peach. He worked with Arlen Draper, a blueberry breeder from the US Department of Agriculture, for 14 years to breed and test different varieties for commercial use, picking Draper due to its many excellent qualities. Named for Arlen Draper, this variety has quickly become an extremely popular commercial variety due to the size and quality of the fruit.
Why We Grow It: Draper produces large, firm fruit with an excellent sweet flavour. They are great for eating fresh or can be used in baking, jams, etc like other blueberries! The large size of the berries makes them good for u-pick orchards and the bushes stay slightly smaller than other highbush varieties! They also store better and longer than other blueberry varieties and ripen at the same time.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Vaccinium corymbosum
History: Duke was developed in Maryland by Arlen Draper, a blueberry breeder working for the USDA, in collaboration with the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. After ten years of testing it was released in 1987 thanks to its early ripening time, general disease resistance, reliable crops, and suitability for commercial sale. It was named Duke after S. Arthur "Duke" Galetta of the Atlantic Blueberry Company in honour of his support for blueberry breeding efforts over the years.
Why We Grow It: Duke produces good-sized crops of large, firm berries that are a good balance of sweet and tart. This is one of the earlier ripening blueberries and it has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Duke is an extremely reliable producer thanks to it's later bloom time that allows it avoid late spring frosts. Like other blueberries, it is great for a variety of uses including fresh eating, baking, and preserving!
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Prunus pumila var. besseyi (Western sandcherry) x P. salicina (Japanese Plum)
History: Dura was developed at the Morden Research Station in Manitoba and was released in 1942.
Why We Grow It: Dura produces small red fruit with sweet mauve flesh. They are good for eating fresh along with cooking/baking, preserving, and juice! This hardy shrub is generally disease resistant and is naturally dwarfing.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Inula helenium
History: Elecampane is native from Spain all the way to parts of China and has become naturalized in parts of North America. It has traditionally served a variety of purposes including being used to treat snake and spider bites by the Ancient Greeks, to test if honey has spoiled by the Ancient Romans, as a candied snack in Medieval Europe, and to make absinthe. Throughout its long history it has provided various medicinal uses as well. It also has quite the storied past, with the species name referring to the myth that the plant sprung up from the tears of Helen of Troy while the Celts associated it with fairies and elves.
Why We Grow It: Although not commonly used medicinally today, it still provides some novelty to the garden. The small, yellow flowers resemble those of asters to which it is related. The flowers attract pollinators and the roots, like comfrey, are good at mining nutrients from deeper in the soil.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Vaccinium corymbosum
History: Elliott originated in 1947 when Dr. George Darrow of the USDA first bred it. Elliott, and the other blueberries Dr. Darrow bred, were first evaluated by Dr. Arthur Elliott and then by members of the USDA such as Arlen Draper who has bred numerous blueberry varieties. It was released in 1973, over 25 years after the it was originally grown. Elliott was selected for the good quality of its fruit and its exceptionally late ripening time, making it a great variety for extending the blueberry season. It was named Elliott to honour Dr. Elliott's contributions to blueberry breeding efforts.
Why We Grow It: Elliott produces large berries with a mild sweet flavour late in the season. They are great for fresh eating, cooking, baking, and preserving! The bush is very productive and the firm fruit stores well. For those who want to enjoy fresh blueberries for as long as possible, Elliott is an excellent choice due to its very late ripening time!
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
Species: Juglans regia
History: English Walnut (aka Persian/Carpathian Walnuts) is native from the Balkans to the Himalayas and China. It possibly originated in Iran and over time has been spread across the world by Alexander the Great, the Romans, trade along the Silk Road, and British colonizers. In Italy, there were legends of witches gathering under an old English Walnut tree in Benevento to perform sabbats which in turn has inspired works such as the ballet Il Noce de Benevento. Still commonly grown and cultivated today, China is the main producer of commercial walnuts.
Why We Grow It: Although they aren't native like our other walnut trees, English Walnuts are known for being easier to open than Black Walnuts and remain popular for a reason. Our seedlings come a mother tree near Listowel ON, an extra boon when Ontario grown English Walnuts are said to produce sweeter nuts than those from California! The sap can be boiled to make walnut syrup, which tastes very similar to maple syrup but with notes of caramel and butterscotch. The husks can be used to flavour beer, like hops.
Be mindful of the juglones in the in the roots/nut husks, they are toxic to many other species. They require a buffer of about 50'/30m from the edge of the trees canopy for juglone-sensitive plants. This article from The Garden Hoe has a helpful list of plants that tolerate juglones. However there are recent (2019) studies showing healthy soil high in organic matter and mycorrhizal fungi actually reduce the toxicity of juglones suggesting many plants can grow below juglans species in a healthy ecosystem - it will be interesting to see more study done in this area!
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
History: Ernie's Favourite was grown as a seedling on a homestead in Mt. Pleasant, ON. It is believed that the seed came from Eastern Europe but it has thrived in our climate for decades and been a family favourite for the original growers. When we asked the farmer what he wanted to call the variety, he requested we name it 'Ernie's Favourite' after his father.
Why We Grow It: Ernie's Favourite produces a medium-sized quince with good flavour. It has dependable crops and does well in our climate - a good, tried-n-true variety!
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
History: Fireside apples originated in 1943 from a breeding program at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. They are one of nearly 30 varieties that have been introduced by the university's breeding program since it began in 1888.
Why We Grow It: Fireside stands as an icon of toughness in the world of apples, thriving in cold northern areas. But don’t let this image fool you—Fireside has a warm heart! The flesh is amazingly sweet and very juicy.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
History: Flemish Beauty originated in Belgium in the early 1800s. At one point Flemish Beauty was one of the most common commercial varieties in the US.
Why We Grow It: Flemish Beauty's cold hardiness and good flavour makes this a popular variety. The fruit is large and greenish-yellow without much neck. It is known for being sweet and very juicy, great for fresh eating.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
History: Florina, aka Querina, was developed in France in the 1980s at the Station de Recherches d'Arboriculture Fruitiere. Despite being developed in France, its ancestry is made up of American varieties. Since its introduction it has become quite popular in continental Europe.
Why We Grow It: One of Steph and Mouse's favourites! Florina is a wonderful all-around apple for the backyard offering both rich flavour and easy care. The sweet, crisp fruits it produces are perfect right off the tree but also keep a few months. They are also great for organic production: resistant to scab, fireblight, mildew, and rosy apple aphid.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
History: Freedom was developed in a breeding program at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York in 1958. The goal was to create an apple that was immune to apple scab, and this particular variety was chosen from 120 other apples that were planted out from seed selected through an intensive breeding program. It was released in 1983 and given the name Freedom to represent its freedom from apple scab.
Why We Grow It: Low maintenance, disease-resistant, vigorous, good flavour, and a good keeper... all in one apple! Freedom is the perfect variety for growing organically, for pick-your-owns, backyards, and community orchards. Large red skinned apple, similar to McIntosh in flavour with sweet, subacidic, sprightly flavour and juicy white flesh. Crunchy, fine grained flesh.
Available only for pick-up at nursery.
History: Fuji apples were developed at the Tohoku Research Station in Japan in the 1930s and released commercially in 1962. It was named after Fujisaki, the town where it was created. Despite being created in Japan, this apple is actually a mix of two American varieties. Its excellent flavour and attractive appearance has made it one of the most popular apples varieties in the world. It is commonly grown in the US, Japan, and China.
Why We Grow It: Its crisp, very juicy, sweet flesh makes Fuji a very popular variety. It also stores well, lasting about three months. To the best of our knowledge, this is the original strain.