Vitis "severnyi" inter-specific grape

V. amurensis at the Patterson Arboretum

In my continued quest to hunt for the most cold hardy fruiting plants I have been looking at grapes lately. A while back I posted about visiting the Patterson Arboretum in Saskatoon on the University of Saskatchewan grounds. At the arboretum they grow a species of grape, Vitis amurensis that is native to Eastern Siberia and whose genetics make up a large part of new experimental varieties being produced at the U of S. While looking into this I read this project summary from Tyler Kaban who at the time was a Master's student working on grapes. In the release it is mentioned that it was a variety called "severnyi" that was used to introduce the hardiness genetics from amurensis.

V. "Frontenac" containing no amurensis
genetics, no leaf indent

Lo and behold a couple weeks later I was at Dutch Growers looking for a Frontenac grape and came across Severnyi. I didn't buy it at the time because I couldn't quite remember all the details of the variety. The project summary previously mentioned provided some basic information on the variety,

• Severnyi's parents are a Vitis amurensis and  Seyanets Malingre (which itself is the open pollinated product of Malingre Precose, a French white vinifera grape).
• Severnyi is also commonly called Severnji, this appears to be an artifact of translation
• Requires cross pollination



V. "Severnyi" showing the deep leaf
indents due to its amurensis genetics

• Severnyi has been used as an intermediete in Russian and other's grape breeding, producing two more renowned varieties, Saperavi Severnyi, and Cabernet Severnyi

Cabernet Severnyi is one of the most popular varieties at a vineyard in Quebec called Carone who produce a wine called "Venice".

In term of hardiness the tag that it came with from Dutch Growers indicated Zone 3, one zone hardier than the most optimistic rating for Frontenac. I wish I had a list to provide of other carriers of this variety as well as any of its derivatives. Anyone with this information please let me know!

Actinidia continued

I posted earlier about Actinidia aguta, the hardy Kiwi. I also referred to them as "Arctic Kiwi". This apparently was incorrect. The title of "Arctic Kiwi" and most hardy in the genus belongs to Actinidia kolomitka. It is native to eastern Siberia, Northern China and Japan. The males (as they are generally dioecious  like arguta) have leaves that are randomly variegated pink. This species is hardy to -40C (so roughly Zone 3).

Dutch Growers lists a variety of kolomitka, "Arctic Beauty" as hardy to zone 3b. On a recent trip to Dutch Growers I did not notice this plant there and it may be something that they stock on certain years. Arctic Kiwi's do produce fruit, however they are the size of a pea and so growing them will likely be for more ornamental purposes than anything. Other websites I have seen do list Arctic Beauty as capable of producing "large grape sized" fruit which would fit what I have seen from my cutting's parent vine. Vesey's states that only certain vines produce both male and female flowers and in general yeilds will be improved with both male and female plants. In the end it is very possible that the cuttings I have are kolomitka.

Many varieties of arguta exist and so because I'm not sure of the origins of the cuttings that I have started I'm not sure which variety it is. One of the most popular variety of hardy kiwi is Issai. This variety does not require male and female plants and so reduces the amount of space you need to dedicate. Various catalogues have varying views on which zone this variety is hardy until. Dunvegan gardens in Edmonton lists Issai as hardy to Zone 4a. For more information I highly recommend this blog by a fellow named Dave who lives near Red Deer Alberta and grows Issai.

The cuttings I have started do require both the male and female and so it is unlikely that they are Issai. Lake Shore greenhouse also in Saskatoon sells a Hardy Kiwi that is an unlisted variety. Their website states the plant is hardy to 4a. Varieties Anna (Ananasnaya), Meader, and Geneva also exist but are rated Zone 4 or warmer.