Pomegranates are the ornamental and fruiting shrubs of the genus Punica, among the oldest cultivated plants in the world and among the toughest for a hot, dry garden. Through summer they open flared, waxy flowers of intense orange-red; in fall the fruiting kinds ripen the leathery-skinned, jewel-seeded fruit, while double-flowered ornamental forms simply keep on blooming. Glossy foliage and a neat, rounded habit make them handsome even out of flower.

In the landscape pomegranates are as ornamental as they are productive. Grown as a large shrub or trained as a small multi-stemmed tree, they make a flowering specimen, an informal hedge, or an edible feature in a sunny border, and they thrive in the reflected heat of a wall or a paved courtyard. Where summer sun is fierce and water is short, few plants flower so long and so brightly.

We grow pomegranates for their long, vivid bloom, their heat and drought tolerance, and, on the fruiting kinds, a real harvest with deep history behind it. Tough, sun-loving, and undemanding once established, they turn the hottest, driest part of the garden into one of its most colorful, and the summer flowers draw pollinators through the heat when many other plants pause.

Give them full sun, sharp drainage, and the hottest spot you have, and go easy on water once established. Set them among our Edibles and Drought-Tolerant Plants, and reach into our Citrus collection for more warm-climate fruit that keeps good company here.