Olive Trees
An impressive exotic fruit tree when mature. Olive trees will take -12°C in winter and fruit very successfully. However the fruit itself will be damaged if the temperature drops below -5°C. In Europe olive trees are grown in areas where they do not suffer from frost and even snow, growing nearer the mountains than citrus fruits.

Ziziphus jujube (Chinese Dates)
Chinese dates will take -30°C and need only a short growing season to produce a very good crop, rich in Vitamin C. initially the small fruits taste of apples, but if some of the fruits are left on the tree until they start to dry out, the flavour and texture completely changes to that of dates. This tree also tolerates salt air and can be grown outdoors anywhere in the UK.

Persimmon (Sharon Fruit)
Sharon Fruit will tolerate -18°C when fully dormant and they dislike very hot summers, so will grow very successfully in this climate. However the weight of the fruit can be excessive with individual fruits weighing an average of 350-400g.

Bananas
Bananas are very popular at the moment, particularly the hardy root variety. Unfortunately the hardy variety Basju will not fruit in this country as it needs to be enormous before it produces its red fruits, and has to be cut down to protect it from frost as it is not totally hardy, only the root section. It is normally grown for ornamental proposes. However, that is not the case for the dwarf varieties of banana trees, the most well known of these is the Cavendish this will produce edible bananas at 5ft (or less) in height. The plant will fruit well if the suckers that rise up from the roots are removed as soon as big enough to handle and transplant, so that all the goodness goes into the fruit production.