North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Mark Lee" <markl@nytec.com>]

Seattle weather oftens fools apricots and plums into blooming early in the season.  There are few insects around to pollinate when this happens, so little fruit is produced.  A breeding program in Bulgaria is trying to develop apricots that solve this problem.  I don’t subscribe to the literature service mentioned below, but from the abstract, which I summarize, this work looks interesting.

-Mark Lee, Seattle

 

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ISHS Acta Horticulturae 538: Eucarpia symposium on Fruit Breeding and Genetics

BREEDING FOR VERY EARLY AND VERY LATE RIPENING APRICOTS

Authors: E. Tzoneva, R. Tzonev

Abstract:

Among the main objectives of the apricot breeding programme in Bulgaria since 1988 are obtaining new cultivars which possess ...late blooming, and high chilling requirements... a total number of 887 hybrids...  The late ripening selection XIV.86.93. has a large, attractive, bicoloured fruit, stable dormancy and late blooming.