Delicious Fruit Plants to Grow this Summer
Having fresh fruit during the summer months is a must. I love having fresh fruit easily accessible for eating and baking. It’s great to wake up, toss some berries into the blender and start the morning off right with a tasty smoothie. So how about building a fruit garden this year? Have fresh tasty fruit right at home – no need to go to the store! Save money on gas and your grocery bill this summer. Fruit grown at home is tastier and less expensive. As additional bonus, all of Florissa’s fruit are GMO free!
Table of Contents
Strawberries
Don’t we all love fresh strawberries in the summer? Strawberries are a delicious ground cover garden fruit. They are excellent to grow in garden beds or in hanging baskets and containers. I love to grow strawberries in hanging baskets to maximize my planting space. Fresh and juicy berries at my doorstep!
Are you a beginner gardener? Strawberries are a very easy to grow fruit. Strawberries enjoy full sun and well-draining soils – so make sure they are in a nice bright location to bask in. Which strawberries should you try? For strawberries producing from June all the way through to September, I love to plant everbearing varieties such as Eversweet or Seascape. For lush strawberry plants producing a main crop June and more through the summer, try Éclair or All Star, both growing super sweet, tasty berries.
A new must-have strawberry for this year is strawberry Flamingo. This June bearing strawberry is unique. It’s a gorgeous blush pink berry, but the spectacular feature of this berry is the taste. It’s a strawberry that doesn’t taste like one… it has the tangy sweet taste of a pineapple!
If you are more of a traditionalist when it comes to strawberries, Ozark Beauty is a new ever bearing berry I will be planting in my fruit garden. I love the sweetness of this new variety, and who doesn’t love a heavy producing plant? I’m looking forward to an abundance of strawberries in my own backyard.
Raspberries
Another berry I must mention for fruit gardens is fresh tart raspberries. I like to add groundcover raspberry plants to my fruit garden. Valentina and Anna varieties are low growing and produce sweet berries in late summer. For a tall upright bush fruit, I like to plant raspberry Heritage or Latham, both with heavy yields and large berries.
How about planting different coloured raspberries? Raspberry black is a delicious large, sweet berry that produces a lot of fruit. For another unique raspberry, plant Fall Gold, a large, firm yellow-gold raspberry. I find the taste to be an excellent classic raspberry flavour.
Blueberries
I can’t write about fruit without mentioning delicious blueberries. This is a very versatile garden fruit that can produce a bounty of berries a few years after planting! A great addition to your garden that you will be feasting off for years to come. My favourite is blueberry Chandler with its amazingly large size and long growing season. I also recommend Bluecrop, one of the most popular blueberries boasting high yields of delicious sweet berries, and Duke, an early harvest blueberry with a milder flavour.
Small Fruit Grown on Trees
How about small fruit that grow on trees? Cherries are a great choice. Try one of the dwarf cherry varieties, Cupid, Valentine, Romeo or Juliet that can also be grown in containers on a balcony or patio. I like that these compact plants make picking easy. Cherries will be available for harvest in late summer. The taste of these very sweet berries is one you will anticipate and enjoy every year.
Another small tree fruit to try is figs. You can grow them in the ground in warmer areas. In colder areas try them in containers that can be grown on your sunny deck from spring to fall and moved to a protected area over winter. The sweet flesh of this fruit tastes amazing. I love eating fresh figs from summer through autumn, and they are also great for those interested in making jam – like me!
Easy to Grow Fruit
Sometimes despite my best efforts, I just can’t get much success out of a variety. Be it due to weather or other natural factors, it can be frustrating. Diversify your summer fruit garden by adding easy to grow varieties such as haskaps (honeyberry). They are a tough and resilient plant that works as a hedge or grows well in containers on a sunny patio. Haskaps have a unique flavor, with hints of cherry, raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry. A great combination of sweet and tart flavours. I like eating haskaps for its amazing nutritional value. They’re brimming with antioxidants and vitamin C.
Ever tried growing kiwi? Kiwi Issai is an easy to grow, self-pollinating, Canadian hardy variety. Yes, kiwis can successfully grow across Canada! The vines will need the support of a trellis or arbor to support the heavy yields. Their sweet taste makes for a delicious snack or great addition to desserts. How about trying some kiwi sorbet or using kiwi to top a delicious pavlova? For a savory treat, I love to use it for a tropical salsa! I’m looking forward to making a lot of kiwi desserts this summer.
Goji Berry
This year, why not add a well-known super fruit to your garden? Plant goji berries in your summer garden. Goji berries are a brilliant red-orange fruit known for its benefits to the immune system. I love them for their great source of vitamin A and C. I incorporate them into my smoothies, and I have found many delicious recipes for baking with goji berries.
Growing your own fruit can amount to quite a savings, and you can enjoy amazing fruit and berries just steps from your kitchen. I also love knowing that the fruit I am growing is GMO free. Grow fruit and berries in small spaces on your patio, or in your garden beds. In addition to your favourites, try adding a new fruit variety to your garden this year! This year I’m going to try to grow something I haven’t attempted before! I’m going to try growing haskaps this year – I’m excited to plant them as they are an easy to grow fruit. Perfect for just starting out. So, I’ve already picked out some of my favourites, so which fruit plants will you add to your garden this summer?
