Raintree Nursery - gardener or woodlot owner's catalog

Whole Earth Review, Winter, 1986 by Dick Fugett

Raintree Nursery

Raintree Nursery

Catalog free from: Raintree Nursery 391 Butts Road Morton, WA 98356

All kinds of edible landscaping items that are often hard to find, from honey locust and hardy kiwi to black bamboo and Saskatoon Serviceberry. This catalog is a must for any gardener or woodlot owner in the Northwest. If you're outside that area, it's still good reading for new ideas, plants, and even recipes. -- Dick Fugett

Hardy Kiwi: each $16.50

(Actinidia arguta) Delicious lime-green flesh, smooth skin, and hardiness to -40 degrees F are some of the outstanding features of his newly introduced fruit. Native to northern China, the hardy kiwi is a fast growing vine that was originally brought to this country as an ornamental. Similar to the fuzzy kiwi in flavor and vigor, the plant and fruit are quite different in appearance. The fruit, leaves, and stems are free of hairs. The leaves are smaller and shiny green, and the fruit is smaller, round to ablong and about one inch across. It can be eaten skin and all like grapes, or used in the same ways as the fuzzy kiwi. They ripen in the Willamette Valley in September.

Cultural techniques are the same as for the fuzzy kiwi. Yields are reportedly quite high with mature vines producing over 100 lbs. of fruit. They are bothered by no pests or diseases in the Willamette Valley. As with the fuzzy kiwi, a male and female must be planted for pollination. The fuzzy kiwi male can pollinate the hardy kiwi, but with variable degrees of success.