Pomegranate

Siting: Pomegranate is a deciduous, woody shrub or small tree that grows in full sun to part shade and tolerates most soil types as long as drainage is good and some moisture is maintained; once established it becomes notably drought tolerant.

Winter protection: Although the plant is frost hardy, temperatures below 10°F will kill it back to the ground, so in marginal climates growers may need a protected site or a container that can be brought indoors for winter.

Pomegranate can be affected by caterpillars, whiteflies, mealybugs and scale, along with leaf spot, fruit blotch and root rot. In humid regions such as the southeastern United States, the plant often fails to fruit reliably because of poor pollination combined with the humid climate.

Harvest: Pomegranates are hand-harvested at peak ripeness; a good fruit should feel heavy for its size and be free of cracks or splits.

Storage: Whole fruit keeps at room temperature for a few days or can be refrigerated in plastic bags for up to three months, while the seed arils can be refrigerated or frozen in a single layer before bagging for later use.

Culinary: The juicy seed arils are eaten fresh or juiced, and the seeds are used to make grenadine, a syrup used to flavor beverages.

Ornamental: Showy red, orange, pink or yellow flowers attract hummingbirds, and the long-lasting fruit is used in holiday wreaths and centerpieces; dwarf forms are grown as compact ornamental plants, and Native Americans also used the blossoms in jewelry making.

Medicinal: Traditional use recorded in some sources describes the plant being used to treat disorders of the circulatory system, while other traditional accounts describe the fruit's pericarp and juice being used for ailments such as colic, colitis, dysentery, diarrhea and intestinal worms.

Pomegranate's native range remains uncertain, with sources placing it anywhere from northeastern Turkey to Afghanistan, or more broadly from southeastern Europe to the Himalayas, and Iran is considered by some to be its primary centre of origin. It has been cultivated since ancient times, mentioned by Homer and Solomon, eaten by the Persian king Darius, and depicted on silver shekels minted in Jerusalem. The Romans knew it as mala Punica, believing it came from Carthage, which is the source of the genus name Punica; from the Mediterranean and Middle East it later spread with Crusaders to England and was already growing in California by the mid-18th century.