I don’t know about pears. Here pears need full sun to get up adequate sugar, but that is in northeastern sun. Plums do put out the sugar under quite a bit of canopy interference, but eventually the black knot can overwhelm them here- especially if the shade in on the eastern side.
Kiwis can certainly take some shade as can Amelanchier. They are both understory plants in their natural habitats and Actinidia kolomikta (arctic kiwi) is said to do better in shade. A K is subject to late frost damage, though as it leafs out ahead of arguta.
I agree about wineberry- they can produce fruit in nearly total shade, although the fruit is not exactly great IMO. I thought they might get more brix in the sun but couldn’t even get them to fruit out in the open.
I always find hazelnuts in the wood, in half shade. I found black raspberries once, growing under pines in almost full shade, yet producing modest amount of sweet (bigger and juicier?) berries. Rubus odoratus doesn’t produce lots of fruits in general, but I find the fruits interestingly tasting. They also grow in full shade. I have a neighbour who grows Concord on an east facing fence, under a big maple, yet they produce a lot of super sweet grapes.
What happened when you grew them in the open? I’ve had them grow naturally in most parts of my yard (shade to full sun). Never need to plant them- birds do that for me. Of course, it means that the birds also want to eat them for me…
They definitely do well with a lot of shade. I had one Wineberry which grew next to (really into it) the open porch on the North side of my house. The vine probably got 1 hour of sun in the morning. It still put out a lot. I think this may be a pic of it, though I should have a better one of the plant somewhere.
The fruit looks very similar to Salmonberries that grow in the NW,actually from California to Alaska.They have a good,sweet flavor for the most part,but I’ve found some that were bland.It may depend on the water content and sunlight.The color can vary from a deep scarlet to light orange. Brady
I like the Wineberries (nice sweet tart flavor), but they have a few drawbacks. They are pretty thorny and your fingers get greasy when picking them. They can also be small and crumbly, which isn’t a big deal if you are eating them directly. It isn’t just birds that like them. Last summer, I got a picture of a squirrel climbing around on the thorny canes having a snack. They were also in a relatively shaded area (not at my house).
Wineberries are all over the Maryland mountains and grow like an invasive weed. They do taste good, but have sinister thorns, and are hard to get rid of.
Blackberries do tolerate shade here (NTX)–of course, it’s hideously hot in summer, they probably appreciate it. But my friend has a row planted on the east side of her house, getting morning sun only, and her 2-3 plants produced a couple of bowlfuls last year. I’m sure their productivity is well below what it would be with full sun, but they are possible to grow and fruit.
I think I’ve heard (though can’t confirm) that the smaller the tomato, the better when it comes to partial shade. So grapes, cherries, and currants should do better than bigger tomatoes.
I have lots of chinensis, deliciosa and arguta kiwis in minimal sun and they do really well. They get from 3-5 hours a day depending on the location. I am still eating through the chinensis kiwis I harvested in November.
I have a few spots that are shaded and the Gooseberry is interesting to me. Has anyone tried them in warmer areas like 7b? If so how did they do? As a kid I remember Gooseberries growing wild and they had a pretty good taste. Does anyone know of a source that sells native Alabama Gooseberries?
My wife planted two Gooseberry bushes this winter, we are in 9b. Just an experiment. The bushes are in a mostly shaded area. So far, they look ok, but the main test for them will be to survive summer heat waves when temps break 100 F.
I have been growing gooseberries in afternoon shade, but I had to take out a big oak this winter and now some are going to be in full sun. We will see how they do in the heat.
I hope so I have 15 trees in the shade. I bought them as 1 foot seedlings. I needed a hedge. I think this will be 4th leaf now, no flowers yet. At my cottage I can;t even look at them till April 9th when the ferry starts to the island.
I have this very cool clumping bamboo there too, not edible but a very unique plant.
In other parts of the world (or at least in another part) there are selected varieties of this fruit said to be delicious but I don’t think they are available here.
