Fruit color: Dark blue-black
Harvest time: Early fall
Size: 10-20' long vines
Uses: Fruit makes excellent wine, juice, jelly and jam. Grapes are also an excellent natural food source for birds. Vines need support from a trellis or fence.
Hardiness: Zones 3-8

Frontenac is an excellent red-wine grape developed by the University of Minnesota. The small, dark-blue berries are loosely space on medium to large clusters. The fruit holds well and berry splitting and bunch rot are rare, even in wet years. Frontenac is a very winter-hardy grape that doesn’t need its vines protected over the winter. It can survive temperatures of -30 degrees or lower with little to no winter injury. The fruit matures in a short growing season, so it's a perfect variety for northern gardens. Frontenac has vigorous growth and good resistance to downy and powdery mildew. Self pollinating. Winter hardy to Zone 3.

What you'll receive: Grade #1, 2-year-old plants and shipped bareroot (no soil or pot) and dormant (no foliage). Learn more about our plants.

Shipping: $0-$75=$12.00, $75.01-$125=$15, $125.01-$200=$20, >$200=10% of total. Shipped UPS Ground in spring from early April through mid May.

[Catalog #VI10]

Grapes need a well-drained soil, full sun and lots of heat. Avoid planting in low spots that are prone to late spring frosts, since grapes leaf out late in spring. Be sure to give it a support to climb on right away or soon after it's planted.

And don’t pick the grapes before they’re fully ripe or you’ll miss out on the best flavor. Watch for the fruit to turn a darker color and then taste test. Birds love grapes, so be sure to plant some to share.

More information about growing grapes is available on the following Web sites:

• Growing Grapes in Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin Extension Service
• Growing Grapes for Home Use, University of Minnesota Extension Service
• Grape Training Systems, University of Missouri Extension Service

What's a "bareroot" plant?

"Bareroot" is a term that describes how a plant is shipped to you. A bareroot plant is not in a pot, and is usually dormant (not actively growing). See the photo to the right that shows what a bareroot rose looks like. The bareroot plants that we ship to you were harvested in the fall and placed in cold storage over the winter to keep them dormant. In the spring, we ship the bareroot plants to our customers, from early April through mid May.

Bareroot plants are easy to grow. We include planting instructions with your order. When you receive your plant, take it out of the packing material and place it in a bucket of water so that the roots are completely covered. Let the roots soak for 4 to 24 hours, then plant it in your garden. Full planting instructions with photos are available on our planting shrubs page.