Actinidia polygama - Orange Kiwi, Silver Vine (starter plant)

Actinidia polygama's fruits are droplet shaped with orange skin and flesh. Very rare. The fruits are the size of a gooseberry, but completely hairless so can be consumed without peeling. By having sweetly fragranced flowers and a good autumn coloration (yellow) it adds an ornamental value to the plant. It is often a polygamous species, meaning that male and female fertile flowers appear on the same plant (hence the name "polygama"), ensuring pollination. Also, the opposite sex organs can appear on the same flower but these are mostly sterile. This is called cryptic dioecy. So it is not exactly monoecious but not strictly dioecious either. Having two plants still certainly helps if fruit is required. The Orange Kiwi takes 2-3 years to mature but from then on you can harvest your own kiwi. It is winter hardy, tolerating temperatures as low as -15 C. The plant develops shoots early in the spring that are sensitive to frost. However, they grow back once the frosts are gone. This species of kiwi is also an extremely vigorously growing vine, requiring a substantial supporting trellis. Despite the challenges, once one has sampled the fruit, kiwi growing seems well worth the trouble.