Though I don’t have a pomegranate tree in my own yard, I oversee the biblical garden at our church where we have three very productive pomegranate trees. With abundant winter rains the trees yielded several hundred pounds of fruit which were set out on Sunday for the congregation.

The trees are quite lovely year-round and when pruned properly make a large canopy and provide welcome shade. They can also be grown as a privacy hedge though they are deciduous.

The blossoms are quite colorful and the trees make an attractive addition to the landscape. They are suitable to low water gardens in Southern California, preferring a cool winter and low humidity. Sources recommend planting in USDA zones 7-10. The tree adapts well to container culture and will sometimes fruit in a greenhouse according to the California Rare Fruit Growers website. More info also at The Spruce.

Now back to my garden where the only harvests are bell peppers, bush beans and strawberry guavas. I’m planting my winter garden now and you can see that at posts from last week.

The ‘Royal Burgundy’ bush beans are the most productive now. My experience this season confirms, as one catalog noted, that they produce in cooler weather. The ‘Provider’ bush beans are waning and will probably make way for cauliflower this week.

My little neighborhood garden friends happily accepted some of the surplus beans.

I rescued three large bell peppers before the critters claimed them. Bubble gum is my new rodent treatment. We place one near the entrance to a stack of rocks we call the mouse hotel, away from where birds or our dog can get it. They seem to carry it off and then die. A sonic spike purchased to repel moles has not worked for moles but placed in with the peppers, the nightly marauding by rodents has ceased. Gardening is about experimentation.

We harvested another ten pounds of strawberry guavas this week. A neighbor friend loves them as much as I do and she returned from travel and eagerly accepted several pounds and a quart of puree. Thankfully, only about a tenth of the crop remains as the freezer is full. On closer inspection, there seems to be a secondary crop that is about two months off.

Strawberry guava leaves made a nice foliage base for Sunday’s reboot of a summer bouquet. Also featured alstroemeria, scabiosa, zinnias, feverfew and geraniums.

See what other garden bloggers harvested last week at Harvest Monday hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres.