North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[dwoodard@becon.org]

--- In nafex@egroups.com, Claude Jolicoeur <cjoli@g...> wrote:
> Douglas,
> Thanks for the useful information.
> I have tried 3 different apricot varieties: Morden 604, Brookcot 
and a
> Manchurian seedling. All died very quickly. In my notes, I have for
> Westcot: "Would probably be the best candidate if I want to make 
another
> try"... I am quite sure it is not the cold that kill them as they 
can
> endure colder weather in the pariries. Maybe something with the 
soil?
> Cherries also have a hard time at my place, but some plums (mostly 
hardy
> Europeans) do OK.

I would suspect soil or drainage or exposure to winter sun or perhaps 
wind. Apricots insist on good drainage and they very much prefer 
sandy soil or sandy loam. If you have clay or clay loam you might 
want to consider a plum root perhaps with a compatible interstem. I 
would suggest something like a Mount Royal root with an interstem (8 
inches?) of Pershore Yellow Egg, or perhaps Brompton if you can 
always rely on snow cover to well above the top of the interstem. 
This is not based on experience, just that the British government 
publications report Brompton and Pershore Yellow Egg to be compatible 
with apricot, and Pershore Yellow Egg seems to be hardy to maybe 4b 
and Brompton to maybe 6a or 5b, fully exposed. Vineland Station 
reported years ago that apricot could be grown reliably on Myrobalan 
if an interstem of the Vineland strain of German Prune was used (I 
gather that without the interstem this was very much dependent on the 
individual compatibility of individual apricot cultivars with the 
particlar seedling of Myrobalan used). 

The survival of apricot can be quite dependent on how much exposure 
or shelter to low-angle winter sun the tree has, especially from the 
southwest. Shelter from such, along with near full sun in the summer, 
will be most favourable. Painting the tree white (cheap grade of 
interior latex for least chance of toxic additives) for winter will 
be somewhat helpful.

I seem to recall that Brookcot is a Manchurian.

Wind shelter is of course very important for trees in a marginal 
climate, then there are also nutrition and water which affect late 
growth.

If you have trouble with hardy sour cherries such as Evans or 
Michurin this would cause me to expect trouble with apricot, as P. 
cerasus is more tolerant of clay than apricot; although sour cherry 
buds are reputed vulnerable to dry cold winds. European plum is quite 
comfortable on clay.

> By the way, is Ken Taylor still in business? I did buy plant 
material from
> him about 10 years ago and thought he was a bit over optimistic in 
his
> plant descriptions...
> Claude Jolicoeur, Quebec
> 
I believe he is still in business. I visited him in August 1997 and 
was most hospitably received. It is true that Ken is rather over-
optimistic (I think less so now than earlier) but one learns to make 
allowances, and I think if he were not over-optimistic he would never 
have gone into the nursery business serving home growers, but would 
have done something more prudent and profitable. He has done most 
valuable work and I am very grateful to him.

Douglas Woodard


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