Coffee
Coffea arabica
Happiest under light shade.
Hardiness: zones 10 to 11
Light: part shade
Size: about 10 ft tall, 8 ft wide
Harvest: October to February
From: Ethiopia
Here: Too tender to overwinter outdoors on the Lake Erie shore (zone 6b to 7a): grow it in a pot and bring it in, or treat it as an annual.
Good for: food.
Native to: African savannas & tropics. Hardy in zones 10 to 11.
The story
Coffee grew wild in the highland forests of Ethiopia, where it was chewed and brewed by the Oromo long before a goatherd's legend. Yemen's Sufis made it a drink in the 1400s, and from Mocha it spread to Java, the Caribbean and Brazil; one plant, carried to Martinique in 1723, is the ancestor of most of the Americas' coffee.
Planting
Bright shade, rich acid soil, warmth without extremes, and humidity; it grows well in a pot indoors. Plant a seedling; it fruits in three or four years.
Growing
Water evenly, feed lightly through the growing season, and keep it under the shade of taller plants. Prune to keep it at head height.
Harvest and use
Cherries ripen red about nine months after the jasmine-scented bloom; pick, pulp, ferment a day, wash, and dry the beans a week before roasting in a pan.
What to watch for
Coffee rust in humid air, scale and mealybug indoors, and frost.
See if Coffee fits your yard
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More tropical and subtropical food plants
General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home