John,
Thanks for the suggestions, its always good the know the varieties people have found success with! I figured it would be too good to be true for a pomegranate to withstand - 20 degrees. I am looking into a geo thermal greenhouse and was thinking it may be a good home for a hardy pomegranate :). Have you had any success with the more tropical soft seed pomegranate varieties in pots? 
Becky

I live in the SF Bay Area and have a POM Wonderful pomegranate tree growing in my front yard.  I usually pick my pomegranates around Halloween.

Becky,
I really don't have much experience with poms with the exception of Wonderful and Angel Red. Wonderful never ripened so it found a new home elsewhere. If I were to consider soft seeded varieties a few I would try are "Sweet", Eversweet, and A C Sweet. I think they are all suitable for cooler climates. Grenada may be another choice for early ripening.
Raintree and Rolling River both have a good selection of poms.
The following link may give you some insight.

Thanks John!

Hey guys, soft seeded pomegranates are not typically as cold hardy, but I'm finding there are some that are. I'm currently growing about 70 varieties of pomegranate varieties. I just posted them last Thursday January 14 on my Facebook page with descriptions about the soft seeded pomegranate varieties that will take some cold. In order to save space I'm going to refer you to my Facebook page. If you are interested in soft seeded pomegranate varieties, check it out? Here's the link - https://www.facebook.com/alabamapomegranateassociation/

Shane,

You've got a good resource there. Thanks for sharing!

By any chance are you selling any varieties?

-Ross

FWIW, I have a young "Grenada" cultivar growing in the ground and doing very well here a Georgia 7a. It is about 6' tall and pruned to be bushy. I do have it near my house and facing SE, for a little protection/sunshine.   Joe

I have 10 or 12 varieties of Poms.  All are Russian hardy ones.

i ate a fruit from the store
and spit the seeds out in my pots (fruit trees etc...)
 a few months later i had lots of little seedlings.
Now, i have 3 larger (3gal+) trees, and 4 smaller (1gal) ones
one of the larger ones produced 5 fruit last fall. -about 2 years, maybe 3 ?
(i am guessing "Wonderful" variety)
it tasted the same as the store fruit.
i didnt find the seeds worth eating. i hadnt really tried with the store bought fruit
so, i cant really compare that.
so i saw a Wonderful from cutting (or air layer?) and bought that too now.

i wouldnt mind trading some cuttings for another variety
Parafinaka, Grenada, Angel red, or ?
prefer one that has edible seed...

Greenman: I didn't know there were some Poms with edible/not edible seeds! 

For those who cannot wait for their tree to fruit,  I purchased about a week ago a case of pomegranate from Costco.
It was of the wonderful variety. The quality of the fruit was outstanding and the seeds were soft.

Hi Alan,

13 fruits per case for around $13 and change. They were the best I ever had.

Alan, The Pomegranate season at Costco is over. They might carry them from around October to early January. 

I also read that :  "Pomegranates store best at 40 to 45°F with a relative humidity of 85 percent. They can be stored for up to 3 months."

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit-nut/files/2015/04/pomegranates_2015.pdf

I was in San Antonio today and was told that Pomegranate orchards are popping everywhere in TX. It's only a matter of time before we start to see more fruit in stores.

I picked up three varieties but was told that they don't fruit well in pots. Perhaps someone could comment on the best ones suitable for pots.

 
 

Here are some of the ones I grow. None have fruited for me yet.

Salavatski
Sharp Velvet
Kashmir Blend
Paraflika
Kaj Acik Anor
Vina
Ganesh
Kazare
Unknown (tags is buried inside)
Saveh (This one is black)
Balegal
Sirinevyi
Desertnyi

Hey Bass, is your tree inside your greenhouse? Or in the ground ?

Thanks,

I've read that 'DK from Shevlan' is a selection from the wild with poor quality fruit, but that it is very cold hardy and may be useful for breeding (but not anything else).  Does anyone have any experience with it or know how low a temperature it can take before it starts to die back?

Also, can you maintain pomegranates in containers and store in a cold dark place all winter as we do with figs?

A couple questions. 

1) I know I read someplace that Red Silk and Crab  are the same Plant,  but Ashton's book lists them separate as does Green Seas Farms. Are they the same?   Green Seas Farms carries a good selection reasonably priced for those of you looking

2) Russian 18  R-18    Does anyone know if this cultivar goes by another name?  I think saw it called Texas Red,  would like to try it,  but  thinking it might be one of Dr. Levins I am growing under another name.

Thanks

I've always read that Poms grown from seeds don't  usually grow to be the original
variety, because of cross pollination, just like watermelons.  I just bought 6 different varieties from Greensea in Florida. They have a very wide selection and they're only $15 for a one gallon plant. 

Alan,

Crab is one from USDA UC DAVIS  DPUN 085. The original origin I don't know just that is in the group they refer to as the old block. Ashton's book references it a few times.

Shane,

Thanks I did start Entek Habi Saveh DPUN 079 last year.  I knew it came from the faciltiy at Byron from the following "1997 received 22 accessions from Michael Hotchkiss in Byron Georgia. 17 originally came from Turkmenistan and 5 from the Safiabad Research Center in Iran. DPUN0059-0080"   but I thought all the R- ones were Turkmenistan and the I- ones were from Iran. I knew Entek Habi Saveh  was know as I-8.  The I- Pomegranates in this group did not come from Dr. Levin did they?  I assumed only the R- ones did, but I might have assumed wrong.  Do you know why the R-18 was changed to I-8, was it show origin as Iran and not Russia I imagine?

http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu › extension › pdfs

Page 14 down shows this as #18

Shane,

I don't think I found the reference to R18 , I selected the extension tab  but could not see where to navigate from there.  I did find find this image of Entek Habi Saveh  on UF site but it doesn't fit the description of Russian 18 that I have read.

http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/pomegranates/pdfs/pom_guide/Entek%20Habi%20Saveh.pdf

Does anyone know where you can find a Paper Shell variety. Iit has a thin rind with very soft, sweet arils. read they used to grow in California and were called Spanish Sweet. I googled Spanish Sweet and a nursery has it in Texas, but the description does not match Paper Shell. I also read Spanish Sweet is grown in India which is one of the only varieties they grow that is not from India. Any suggestions on how to find a Paper Shell pomegranate variety?