Fruiting Shrubs for the Mountain West

Add structure to your edible garden with these plants that produce a delicious harvest in summer and fall

I first became interested in garden because I wanted to learn to grow food for myself and my family . I started by growing vegetables in a community garden plot . Fast - forrad many long time and I am still passionate about raise food for thought , but I have expanded the pallet of what I grow to include fruit trees and , most recently , fruit bush .

Until I posture down to write this article , I did n’t realize how many varieties of fruit shrubs I have in my garden — mostly because they are incorporated throughout the beds and not grown in one specific domain . I hump to exhaust the glean fruit fresh , utilise them in formula , and can them for year - cycle enjoyment . Here are some fruiting bush you will find thriving in my Colorado garden . I hope you give some a try .

‘Crandall’ clove currant

Ribes odoratum‘Crandall ’ , zone 4–8

This currant allow for interest throughout the growing season . The small , bright yellow , horn - determine flower that trace the branches are a certain star sign of spring , and the garlic clove perfume is sure to catch your attention . The shrub maturate 4 to 6 base tall and just as wide and takes full sun to partial shade . Blue - black fruit mature in midsummer and are used in commercial yield production . Their sweet - spicy flavor makes them delicious in sauces or jellies ; they are also yummy right off the flora . In fall , light green , trilobed leaves turn burgundy to cerise orange .

‘Fall Gold’ raspberry

Rubus idaeusvar.strigosus‘Fall Gold ’ , Zones 3–8

‘ Fall atomic number 79 ’ is a declension - bearing or everbearing type of raspberry , meaning it fruits on the upper portions of cane in late summer and devolve on the first year of growth . If cane are allow for up the following yr , they may light fruit again . I have n’t had much luck with that happening , so we cut them back to the ground each spring and top - dress with compost . This bush arise 4 feet marvelous and 3 feet wide and take full sun . The yellow fruits begin mature a snatch by and by than ‘ inheritance ’ razzing but are equally delicious and add a spattering of color to both the landscape and the tabletop .

‘Heritage’ raspberry

Rubus idaeusvar.strigosus‘Heritage ’ , Zones 4–8

Another dusk - bearing or everbearing variety , ‘ inheritance ’ , is a classic ruby-red boo . The shrub grow 4 feet marvellous and 3 pes all-embracing and also take full Sunday . I start harvest the yield in late summer and continue into fall . It will keep producing until a really hard freezing . Last year , ‘ inheritance ’ kept on producing in my garden even after an other September blow . You will often find me use up these as quickly as I pick them .

Golden elderberry

Sambucus canadensis‘Aurea ’ , Zones 4–7

This diversity of elderberry is a nice , large shrub with yellow-bellied - gullible leaves that contrast nicely with my neighbour ’s junipers ( Juniperuscv . , Zones 2–9 ) that grow behind it . It would look just as nice with any other green backdrop . It grows 6 to 8 invertebrate foot tall and wide and takes full sun . favorable elderberry is covered with tumid , savorless clusters of white flower in June , keep abreast by small-scale grim yield . There are many uses for elderberry , but I will be honest — the birds always get to them before I even have a chance to mean about what to do with them !

‘Carmine Jewel’ dwarf cherry

Prunus fruticosa×cerasus , Zones 3–8

Sour cherry do best on Colorado ’s front range and in many parts of the Mountain West , as opposed to fresh cherry red like ‘ Bing ’ ( P. avium‘Bing ’ , zone 5–8 ) . When I was looking for a cherry , I did n’t have space for another yield tree , so I decide to essay this bush cherry instead . ‘ reddish Jewel ’ grows 6 understructure tall and broad and takes full sunshine . It ’s very cold hardy , since it was originally bred in Canada . The lustrous green bush mold a nice backdrop to a mixed border . It ’s covered in clean peak in midspring , followed by green fruits in June that reverse red and are ready to pick in former July and August . By its quaternary year it can bring about up to 15 dog pound of fruit . This year happens to be the fourth one that I ’ve had mine , and it was absolutely covered in yield ! I design to get bird netting to insure that the birds and squirrels do n’t get all of them like they did last year . The smaller size of the shrub will make it much easier to protect the little red gems .

For more information on the honest fruiting shrub and trees for the Mountain West , check out these article :

— Michelle Provaznik is executive director of the Gardens on Spring Creek in Fort Collins , Colorado .

Fine Gardening Recommended Products

Hasegawa Tripod Ladder

Fine Gardening invite a commission for item purchased through connection on this site , including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertizement program .

XLUX Soil Moisture Meter

Gardener ’s Log Book from NYBG

Get our late tips , how - to article , and instructional video sent to your inbox .

sign you up …

Shade-Loving Shrubs for the Mountain West

Narrow Conifers for the Mountain West

Amazing Autumn Bloomers for the Mountain West

April Garden To-Do List for the Mountain West

conjoin Fine Gardening for a costless engaging lively webinar feature Dr. Janna Beckerman , a famed plant pathologist as well as prof emerita at Purdue University and the ornamental technical managing director …

When I espy a exceptional sand dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few months ago , I recognize I was in bother . With a delightful color pattern …

When we only prioritise plant we want over plants our landscape painting indigence , each time of year is fill with a never - ending lean of chores : pruning , pinching , watering , treating , remediate , and fertilizing , with …

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be careful when you record the backyard of garden clothes designer Jeff Epping — not because you ’re likely to trip on something , but because you might be dive - flunk by a pair …