If you live in North Virginia, you only have a few options if you want fruit. My choices would be lyubimyi and sakerdzi. I doubt the rest will survive well enough to fruit consistently if you live in 7a.

Hi Manfromyard,
You sound very knowledgeable. Can you think of which varieties would grow best in the rainy Spring Pacific NorthWest?
Thanks,
John S
pDX OR

In the fall I planted a "Russian" variety and an angel red in Northern VA. The temps at my house were down to 3 degrees and below 12 degrees for sustainable periods. I covered the plants with a plastic pot to provide a bit of protection from the cold. The angel red did not make it, but the "russian" variety has started putting out new shoots from the roots. Both varieties were rated zone 7. My concusion is that in order to produce fruit, choose a moderately cold hardy variety like Russian 26, Salavatski, or maybe Sakerdze and be preparder to wrap and cover the tree for the winter.

Charlie, Angel Red isn't zone 7. I have never seen it called zone 7 but guess someone put that on it somewhere to try to sell a few more of them.

Manfromyard listed all the ones I would try in zone 7 on that list. Any others would be a crap shoot. I have Medovyi Vasha and it died to the ground last winter.

Scott

Thanks folks!

skyjs,

You have less harsh winters if you're in the Northwest, but you won't have the hot summers to sweeten fruit. Everything I've read seems to point to the earlier varieties because they start off sweet instead of sweet/tart.

I'm not a huge expert but I've read a lot while trying to grow them here. I had Medovyi Vasha and Sumbar freeze out on me, but Surh Anor seems to be taking off.

Those are actually the ones that you should try. Utah Sweet, Sumbar, Sverkrhanniy, Sumbar and Syunt are all earlier sweeter ones. Raintree might have a few of those. Angel Red is also early and easier to get, but it might be a bit tart with the cooler weather up there.

"The Incredible Pomegranate" by Richard Ashton is a great book for those interested in it, and both UGA and University of Florida have great information on varieties and taste results.

manfromyard, I'm wondering where you're located. I just put a sumbar in the ground this spring that I've had in a pot for a year or two. I bought it because it was advertized as cold hardy, but further information has led me to believe there would have been several other better choices. (I also have EL's Russian and a Lyubimyi.)

I'm in 7b or zone 8a nowadays, south of Atlanta...