Fruit Trees
A fruit tree is the slowest crop you will ever plant and the best return: one good apple or pear, planted once, bears for thirty to fifty years. This collection gathers all 31 fruit-bearing trees in the library — orchard classics alongside natives like pawpaw and black cherry that no supermarket will ever stock, spanning USDA zones 3–11 between them.
Three things decide whether a fruit tree works at your address, and every guide here covers all three: your hardiness zone, the tree's chill-hour requirement (a Honeycrisp needs ~800 hours of winter cold; a Florida peach needs 150), and pollination — 20 of these crop alone, while the rest need a second, genetically different tree blooming at the same time. 0 are reasonably deer-resistant; the rest want a cage for their first years.
Rated purely on eating quality, Apple, Pawpaw and Apricot top this list. 27 are in stock at a nursery right now — the terracotta price tags go straight to those product pages, not to a search.
Find your plants
31 of 31 plants
Zones describe winter hardiness. Native ranges vary across North America; open a plant's guide for the details.
From $4.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.AppleMalus domestica
Full Sun
Moderate water
Moderate growth
Excellent edible
From $29.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.ApricotPrunus armeniacaFull SunModerate water
Fast growthExcellent edible
From $12.99 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.AvocadoPersea americanaFull SunModerate waterFast growthExcellent edible
Black CherryPrunus serotinaFull Sun
Low waterFast growth
Native to North America
From $67.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.Calamondin OrangeCitrus × microcarpaBrightModerate waterModerate growthExcellent edible
Che (Chinese Mulberry)Maclura tricuspidataFull SunLow water
Slow-Moderate growthExcellent edible
CherryFull SunModerate waterExcellent edible
From $92.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.Cocktail TreeMalus spp. / Prunus spp. / Pyrus spp. / Citrus spp.Full SunModerate waterVariable per graft growthExcellent edible
From $34.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.Flowering CrabappleMalus hybridsFull SunModerate waterModerate growthExcellent edible
From $39.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.GrapefruitCitrus × paradisiFull Sun — needs the most heat of any citrusModerate waterModerate growthExcellent edible
From $44.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.JujubeZiziphus jujubaFull Sun
Drought-tolerant · low waterModerate growthExcellent edible
From $39.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.KumquatCitrus japonicaFull Sun / sunniest windowModerate waterSlow-Moderate growthExcellent edible
From $39.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.LemonModerate waterExcellent edible
From $29.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.LimeCitrus × aurantiifolia / latifoliaFull SunModerate waterModerate growthExcellent edible
From $24.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.LoquatEriobotrya japonicaFull SunModerate waterModerate growthExcellent edible
From $32 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.Mandarin / TangerineCitrus reticulataFull SunModerate waterModerate growthExcellent edible
MangoMangifera indicaFull Sun — maximum heatModerate waterFast in heat growthExcellent edible
From $39.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.MedlarMespilus germanica
Full Sun to Light ShadeModerate waterSlow growthExcellent edible
From $12.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.MulberryMorus alba × rubra / M. rubraFull Sun to Part ShadeLow waterVery Fast growthExcellent edible
From $24.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.NectarinePrunus persicaFull SunModerate waterFast growthExcellent edible
From $19.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.OliveOlea europaeaFull SunDrought-tolerant · low waterSlow growthExcellent edible
From $40 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.OrangeCitrus × sinensisFull Sun — 8+ hrsModerate waterModerate growthExcellent edible
From $90.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.PapayaCarica papayaFull SunModerate waterVERY Fast growthExcellent edible
From $12.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.PawpawAsimina trilobaShade when young
High waterModerate growthNative to North America
From $16.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.PeachPrunus persicaFull SunModerate waterFast growthExcellent edible
From $29.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.PearPyrus communisFull SunModerate waterModerate growthExcellent edible
From $34.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.PersimmonFull Sun to Part ShadeExcellent edible
From $9.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.PlumFull SunExcellent edible
From $59.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.PluotPrunus salicina × armeniacaFull SunModerate waterFast growthExcellent edible
From $15.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.QuinceCydonia oblongaFull SunModerate waterSlow-Moderate growthExcellent edible
From $103.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.YuzuCitrus junosFull Sun to Part ShadeModerate waterSlow-Moderate growthExcellent edible