Hardiness zones
Sunset 8-24
USDA 7-11

Landscape Use: Uses of this plant are cultivar dependent ranging from a small deciduous multiple trunk accent tree, garden fruit tree, background screen to dwarf formal hedge. Excellent for mesic and oasis designed landscapes and gardens with Spanish to oriental themes.

Form & Character: Formal, temperate, mesic, showy flowers!

Growth Habit: Deciduous shrub to small tree, slow to moderate ranging from 3 to 20'

Foliage/Texture: Leaves are very glabrous, light green in spring changing to deep green in summer, oblong to lanceolate to 4". Also, has stipular leaves, medium texture

Flowers & Fruits: Brilliant waxy flowers with partially fused petals, crinkled, calyx purplish, fruits subglobose, red, 2.5" to 5" in diameter, reddish purple pulp.

Seasonal Color: Pomegranite produces a brilliant, festive display of white, apricot, coral, vermillion-red flowers in April to May. Also, it displays a fiery yellow to orange fall color in more temperate climates and even some years in Phoenix (this image is from December 2010).

Temperature: Heat loving

Light: Full sun to partial shade

Soil: Tolerant of alkaline soils

Watering: Regular watering, though will survive handsomely under drought conditions.

Pruning: Can be pruned in many ways, cultivar and use dependent, prune after flowering

Propagation: Cutting

Disease and pests: Aphids on succulent growth, spider mites

Additional comments: This is an excellent deciduous landscape shrub for the Phoenix area. There are excellent dwarf cultivars for hedging and foundation plantings including 'Chico' and 'Nana'. 'Wonderful' is a large upright grower and is the best cultivar for edible fruit production. 'Tayosho', 'Nochi Shibari', and ' Legrelli' are double flowering and sterile. 'Alba' is a unique white flowering cultivar with white fleshy fruit.