What do you wish you could grow, that you can't now?

[Dinghy]

Most people seem to be able to grow the same type things to some extent. Like tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc. But what one thing would you like to be able to grow that can't be grown in your zone?
I would give anything to be able to grow peaches! I love them, but to buy them around here practically requires a bank loan! I canned some a few years ago and it cost me $20 for about 7 quarts. I don't even want to eat them, because once they're gone I may not be able to can any more!
What would the rest of you give your eye teeth to grow??

 

[theoutlands]

LdyHerbs says hers is english lavender - humidity in LA kills it.

Mine's ephedra - we're going to *try* it but expect humidity to be a problem...

 

[yellowsprings]

If I could grow anything I wanted, it would be a money tree!

But, since I have yet to find one, I would like to grow citrus trees! Kind of hard to do in Ohio!

 

[Tweakette]

Ooh, what a question. I can think of 100 things that won't live here in Vermont that I'd love to try. Sweet cherries, for one. They usually don't work north of Zone 5 (I'm in 4). Lemons, for obvious reasons. Coconuts, too. And avocados!

Flowers- bougainvillea, hibiscus, the list could go on forever.

Even if these would grow here I just don't have the room, either.

I am trying to grow peaches up here - there is one cultivar called Reliance that is hardy (barely) to Zone 4b. I'm on my 4th tree, only got peaches off of 1 so far, and keep losing them because of the cold. But because I'm an idiot I keep trying .

Just put in a Mount Royal dwarf plum this weekend - hardy to 3, self fruitful, and small. I hope it does ok.

Tweak

 

[Susan4]

I wish I could grow simple easy zuchinnis! Dang squash bugs get me every time

Susan4

 

[Was Cath]

Tomatoes, chilies, basil, eggplant--all only can be grown in a greenhouse here. We just never get hot enough otherwise!

Of course, citrus would be nice too!

But the tradeoff is wonderful BERRIES! Yum! Straw, blue, black, rasp, tay, salmon, and any other kind of berry that one can imagine grows prolifically here. We gorged on wild thimbleberries during a hike yesterday. Yum, Yum!!

 

[Tadpole]

There are only a few flowers old standy flowers that can take our sweltering summers. How I would love to grow fuschia, lobelia, geraniums, nasturtium, and the host of goodies in the seed catalogs that simply can't make it down here.

And we have rocky clay that only the hardiest native and wild plants will grow in without a lot of help.

Ah, for fertile, sandy loam!!!!!

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Just off the top of my head:

Cherries - sweet or sour. Not south of the Georgia mountains so far as I've been able to discover.

Good apples. The three varieties that are supposed to be doable here are too mediocre for the amount of work you have to put into them to keep the blasted things alive.

Mangoes. Just too tropical for this far north in the Florida peninsula.

Guavas. Same as mangoes.

Good bunch grapes. Pierce's disease slowly kills off bunch grapes like Concord down here. We have some fairly recent hybrids and disease resistant varieties but they're not exactly setting the world on fire around here. Trying to get ahold of Conquistador though to check it out.

Nuts. Pecans are quite doable, but no English walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds. No macadamias or pistachios either.

Carob. Just a little too cold in the winters so far as I've been able to discover. May not like our humidity either.

Raspberries. I'm not all that big on them, but my wife loves them and I'd love to be able to grow them for her.


Can you tell I've thought about this over the years?

.....Alan.

 

[TerriHaute]

But what one thing would you like to be able to grow that can't be grown in your zone?

I'd love to grow citrus fruit. It would be so cool to be able to walk out the back door and pick a lemon for lemonade or a grapefruit for breakfast! Another thing I'd like to grow is sweet potatoes. The growing season isn't long enough for sweet potatoes in central Indiana, though we are able to grow most other fruits and vegetables.

Terri in Indiana

 

[Deemy]

At 5ft 1 I'd just like to grow taller! ok, back to the point....I'd like to be able to grow edible food year round...saving up for a greenhouse

 

[Libertarian]

Olives - the winters here are too unpredictable and we get one that is too cold every 4-5 years.
Mangoes and Guava - same as above
Bananas - they seem to grow around here. I see them everywhere but mine always die.
Avocadoes - I think that we are a few hundred miles too far north for these. I had several trees when we lived near Cape Canaveral.
Loofa - I think that these wil grow here but I don't have any seeds left from my stay in Egypt.

 

[Army Girl]

My Mama grew citrus in Newton Falls, Ohio. She plants seeds from everything that has them...LOL. She would just put them in a houseplant pot about an inch down and water them, they would be out on the porch. She had several citrus trees, Orange, Lemon and Grapefruit. The bigger the pot, the bigger the trees would get. She transfered oddles of potted trees and plants into the house when a frost warning was broadcast. She also had Avacados and other tropical varieties.

 

[Dinghy]

Hi Army Girl,
Did your Mom's plants ever actually get fruit on them? I had an ornamental orange tree when I was a kid. It got little oranges, maybe an inch, and boy were they sour! I'd like to try a lemon tree some time. I wonder if they need bees to polintate them?

 

[Freeholdfarm]

When we went down into the Sacramento Valley last week to get our goats, I was ogling the orchards -- walnuts, peaches, plums, almonds, olives! And rice fields with white egrets in them! We can grow plums here, and possibly peaches, though they won't produce every year. I would love to be able to grow tropical fruits like citrus, papaya, bananas, mangoes, coconuts. Add pecans, pistachios, persimmons, figs, dates -- but I'm thankful for what we *can* grow -- apples, cherries, plums, some hardy pears and peaches, lots of berries, and there is at least one producing black walnut tree in town. When we lived in Alaska we were limited to a few berries and rhubarb.

Kathleen

 

[big kumara]

Mimosa, Flowering Dogwood, Japanese Red Maples, Black Locust, hemlock, Pin Oak, Cherrybark Oak, Chinqapin Oak...

 

[blueberry]

I have always wanted to grow potatoes. Some years I try, and when I do get any to grow, I will get only a handful of marble size spuds for all my work.

Just too dang hot for them here.

 

[Dizzy Lizzy]

Definitely avocados! They are so expensive and I would just love to be able to go into my back yard and just pick one to eat. Yum!

 

[Joey]

I would like to be able to grow large tomatos. We have the fruitfly and can only grow cherry or roma tomatos. We need a screen house to grow the other varieties. Since we are in Hawaii, we can pick wild guava and mango. My avocato tree is loaded this year. It is a winter tree so a couple months until they are ready to eat. I just picked the last couble grapefruit from my tree and already there are some new ones growing. I had some fruit trees in pots in my garden, my goats managed to butt the gate open and cleaned all the trees, top the bean plants. They sure enjoyed themselves. I sure do miss fresh peaches but you can't have everything.
Mrs Joey