Lara Walnut (Juglans regia 'Lara') is a high-quality French walnut cultivar valued for its large, attractive nuts and outstanding productivity. It has become one of the most widely grown commercial walnuts in France and is well suited to temperate climates. Australian walnut grower Ian Sluiter regards Lara as one of his favourite eating walnuts, describing it as producing large, well-filled, square-shaped nuts with a robust shell that protects an excellent-flavoured kernel.
Check out the book Just Nuts for practical, down-to-earth growing advice tailored to Australian conditions. Need help? Visit our walnut growing guide, care & planting instructions for practical advice, and learn more about pollination.
- Uses: Fresh eating, cooking, baking and preserving.
- Pollination: Partially self-fertile; crops are generally improved with a compatible pollinating walnut cultivar.
- Harvest: Mid to late season (generally April in southern Australia).
- Chill requirements: Moderate winter chill; suited to temperate regions.
- Size: About 8–10 m × 8–10 m.
- Attributes: Highly productive; regular cropping; valued commercial cultivar.
- Features: Large, square-shaped nuts with a thick shell and a well-filled kernel; excellent eating quality; attractive deciduous tree with yellow autumn foliage.
- Also known as: Juglans regia 'Lara'.
Trees are grown on their own roots propagated from seed, not grafted. Walnuts are one of the few fruit and nut trees that can produce worthwhile trees from seed. Unlike apples, pears and many stone fruits, walnut seedlings are often reasonably similar to their parent, although some variation is still to be expected. Seedling trees typically take longer to bear (around 8-12 years) than grafted cultivars (about 3-5 years), but they develop into vigorous, long-lived trees and have produced many of Australia's finest historic walnuts.
Keep your collection labelled. Add a durable engraved plant label to your order, and order extra labels for existing plants so every tree in your collection stays correctly named.
References incl:
Gilbert, A. (2005) Just nuts. Hyland House Publishing, Flemington, Australia.
Coaldale Walnuts. (n.d.). Walnut varieties.
Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Juglans regia 'Lara'.
Sluiter, I. (2025, June 12). Personal communication with K. Blood, Glenview Park. Verbal notes transcribed by K. Blood.
Walnuts Bulgaria. (n.d.). Lara.
Images: Copyright Heritage Fruit Trees
