LOL!

I've posted a link below to publication from U of Az on deciduous fruit and nut trees that gives suggested cultivars and explains chill hours. Hopefully it will be helpful.

BTW, there are more articles from the same source that you might find helpful: http://cals.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/pubs.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: UofA

I have a dry, rocky spot in my very large garden here in Tuscany, Italy. It's in the foothills of the Appenines, at about 650 meters above sea level,a rather exposed site. I've read that this area would corrispond more or less to a USDA zone 8. Would it be possible to grow a carob tree in such a climate? thanks, bart

You should know that a carob tree is one of the messiest trees ever! There is seasonal litter EVERY season.....leaves or pods or - the worst- the feathery pollen soaked 'buds'. I have a carob tree, I love the deep, dark shade but it sure is messy! Not to mention that birds love to sit high on the branches and poop.

Messiness wouldn't be a problem in my situation; the spot I'm talking about is far from the main garden,and actually the messy stuff would be a benefit to the thin soil...all that good organic matter for free! I'm just concerned that it could get too cold for it some years. I'd be willing to protect it while it was young, but what I'm aiming for in this spot is a nice, big tree-and the "deep, dark shade"!!! bart

The carob tree in our yard is more than 40 years old, it was not affected in the least by the cold winters we have had recently. I don't know how it fares when young.

I've seen some beautifully shaped trees here, ours was not trimmed properly when young and its structural shape is a bit haphazard. It loses branches in wind storms. I'm zone 9.

This post was edited by marymcp on Sat, Mar 1, 14 at 5:47

But do the pods taste like chocolate Mary, that is what I want to know?

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/carob.html#Climate

Here is a link that might be useful: carob yum

That fella is INTO carob. I've tried nibbling a pod or two and was not as impressed as that man but maybe I'll try again when the pods come back. He certainly gets excited about his carob.

To answer your question, no, not particularly chocolaty. I found the pods a bit bland. My dogs, OTOH, love love love the carob pods!

Just HOW cold, Marymcp? I'd be glad to protect the tree while young, but the goal would be to have it get BIG...bart

Average lows in winter are in the 40's and 50's. Record lows have been high teens to low 20's. Here's a chart:

Here is a link that might be useful: Weather Chart

Thanks, Marymcp.Looking at the chart,I think it might be worth a try. On occaision it has gone down into the teens here, but it seems to me it's pretty rare, so might qualify as "record lows" here, too.Maybe I could find a chart similar to the one you showed me for my area... regards, bart

I think my Google phrase was something like 'average weather for phoenix az' - play around with the phrase until you get the result you are seeking. Good luck with the tree. It can be a beautiful tree and if planted where the litter is not bothersome, so much the better. Our tree was planted to cover the patio. :-\

Another view - this is before we trimmed it up for air flow and so we could walk under it. We have since dismantled that low wall that surrounded the patio. Never understood its purpose and are much happier that the whole patio area is now open and free-flowing. The former owners had a lot of 'barriers' in place that required one to walk around and around....You can kind of see the one of the arches in the main patio, there's four of them, and 3 of the arches had a wrought iron, waist-high barrier across them. Odd.

We have also since planted a couple of mesquite trees in this huge yard so we have a bit more shade. these pics are from 2008, we bought the house in 2004.

Thanks for your help and the fotos, marymcp! I think it may be well worth a try.On Internet I found a site that states that the record low for my general area was -26 Celsius one winter, which is more or less around -9 F, the record low for Phoenix according to the chart you posted...and the -26C was registered in Firenzuola, which is higher up and therefore probably colder than my area. What's more, the place I have in mind for the carob tree is on the south-western slope of my garden, very well protected from the coldest north winds. I think I could order one for about 11 euros, so even if it didn't work, it wouldn't be an enormous financial loss, just a bit of a disappointment...regards, bart

Bart,

The carob tree is so common in the Med basin that if it was tolerant of your conditions there would most probably be samples of it around your area. Are there any? I would not expect it to withstand prolonged freezes of more than minus a few degrees C and I certainly would not expect it to survive temps of -20C. Also it doesn't like water logged soils and it prefers neutral to alkaline pH disliking acid soils. It thrives in typical Med semiarid conditions and in poor calcareous soils. In Greece it is found in the warmer-drier South of the country and on the islands and not in the North or in higher altitudes which I guess would mostly resemble your climate.
Nik

Bart,

The carob tree is so common in the Med basin that if it was tolerant of your conditions there would most probably be samples of it around your area. Are there any? I would not expect it to withstand prolonged freezes of more than minus a few degrees C and I certainly would not expect it to survive temps of -20C. Also it doesn't like water logged soils and it prefers neutral to alkaline pH disliking acid soils. It thrives in typical Med semiarid conditions and in poor calcareous soils. In Greece it is found in the warmer-drier South of the country and on the islands and not in the North or in higher altitudes which I guess would mostly resemble your climate.
Nik

Double posting sorry

This post was edited by nikthegreek on Wed, Mar 5, 14 at 10:59

Double posting sorry

This post was edited by nikthegreek on Wed, Mar 5, 14 at 10:58

But do the pods taste like chocolate

Only if you have not had any decent chocolate for a decade or so. Carob is to chocolate what Miller Lite is to a good brown ale.