At my farm in NW Wisconsin, I planted a couple of those hardy arctic kiwi probably 10 years ago. Male and female. When I bought them the leaves were splashed with white and pink and they are also supposed to produce edible grape sized fruit. I planted them in shade and totally neglected them. No trellis, no weed or grass control, no fertilizer. They survived extreme cold with no care but never grew over 3 feet tall and growth was minimal.
Last spring, I decided to prune out the dead vines and put up a simple trellis. I removed competing plants and fertilized them.
When I was there a couple weeks ago, I see they are looking good this year and the leaves are tinged with white. No pink yet. Not sure what leads to the pink and white colors. It isn’t sun in this case because they are in shade with maybe a little heavily filtered sun here and there.
You can see the white on the leaves plus a tiny fruit cluster if you look close. I have always liked plants and trees that have some extra benefit, like a fruit or nut even if the birds eat it. So, if I plant them it’s not like I’m expecting to get a gallon pail of fruit every year.
Just curious if anyone has planted these northern kiwi and if they had success with them with regard to colored foliage or fruit.
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