Punica granatum f. plena - pomegranate

Punica granatum f. plena is a particularly ornamental flowering pomegranate bush, with a long summer flowering period of vibrant red flowers, beautifully complemented by its bright green foliage. Its double, crumpled flowers never produce fruits. However, this is unimportant considering the generosity of the bush and its true adaptability. If protected during its early years, the plant will become a robust bush, indifferent to summer drought and hardier than one might think. It is an excellent plant for a flowering hedge or shrub border. The flowering pomegranate bush is also charming when planted as a standalone specimen.

The origins of the pomegranate bush are believed to be in a vast region that covers southeastern Europe and extends eastwards to the Himalayas. This deciduous tree, belonging to the Lythraceae family, is related to the Indian Lilac but also to the Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), which is widespread near our waterways. It has been cultivated since ancient times for its fruits and magnificent flowers.

The 'plena' form, like all double-flowered pomegranate cultivars, does not produce fruits but offers beautiful double flowers. It naturally forms a cluster of slightly thorny branches when young, showing relatively rapid growth until it reaches maturity at around 5 years. The adult plant develops at a much slower pace, eventually forming a small tree about 3m (10ft) tall and 2.5m (8ft) wide, with a slightly spreading and rounded habit, more upright than fruiting varieties. From a clump, it becomes a tree with a twisted trunk, reminiscent of olive trees. Flowering occurs from June to September. The flowers consist of numerous crumpled petals emerging from a thick, waxy-textured calyx that resembles a pomegranate but will fall without forming fruit. They are intensely vermilion red under the summer sun, in perfect chromatic harmony with the intense, vibrant, and shiny green foliage. The deciduous foliage consists of small, oval and elongated, thick, shiny, bright green leaves. They emerge coppery in spring and turn yellow before falling in autumn.

The plena pomegranate is a magnificent plant as a standalone specimen in all regions where temperatures are not likely to drop below -15°C. It will, of course, thrive without any problems wherever olive trees and fig trees manage to survive against a south-facing wall. However, it still requires warmth and summer sun to flower abundantly. It can be used as a hedge, either regularly pruned or not, alongside evergreen ceanothus (in mild climates), strawberry trees, or large shrub roses (Rosa complicata, Rosa glauca, Ghislaine de Feligonde, etc.).

The city of Granada, a crossroads of Arab and Andalusian civilizations located in southern Spain, owes its name to the presence of the pomegranate, brought by the Moors and abundantly planted in the mythical gardens of the Alhambra palace. This tree also thrived in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and the Romans, who discovered it in Carthage, named it the Apple of Carthage.