Yesterday I showed you the little bean patch I dug; today we’ll look planting fruit trees in Georgia.

Parts of Georgia share some climate similarities with North Florida. My relatives live on the west side of the state in some rough pine land that’s prone to drought. I’d say they’re a pretty solid USDA Growing Zone 8, meaning it’s too far north for citrus (with the exception of trifoliate orange… and maybe kumquat) and it’s too far south for most really good cherries, apples and pears.

Fortunately, I stock a few plants in my nursery that can handle the cold and the heat. I didn’t have any higher chill-hour peach trees (mine are UF selections) and I only had one small pecan tree in stock (you need two types for pollination), so I brought two of my favorite trees: a Japanese persimmon and two Illinois Everbearing mulberries.

In the middle of the picture is the persimmon; on the left and right edges are two small mulberries. You can also see the bean bed we dug, marked off by some reclaimed blocks I found at the edge of the yard.

Here’s a close-up of the persimmon in its new home:

Fortunately for the trees, there’s also a Starbucks nearby and my youngest sister (whose car I rode up in) is a coffee addict. She picked up a bag of grounds along with her iced coffee (they provide the grounds for free as compost for gardeners: kudos to Starbucks!) and I dumped those around the trees after planting.

Here’s one of the mulberry trees:

Planting fruit trees in Georgia takes a pickaxe!