North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>]

I was asking about ways to delay blooming earlier, and one reason was 
the dwarf Goldcot apricot I planted last spring. To my surprise, it's 
been blooming like crazy the last couple of days. Really beautiful! I'd 
never even SEEN an apricot tree before planting this. There were bees 
working the flowers yesterday, too, though almost nothing else is 
blooming around here (some forsythia, is all).

However, it's only March! I knew they bloomed early, but... this early? 
It's been warmer than normal for almost three weeks. The last four days, 
the high has been 80 degrees, with lows in the low 50's. Our average 
high for this time of year is 55; the average low is 31. And the average 
frost-free date is a month and a half away.

Well, the tree has done really well, but I never expected to get 
apricots this year, so I didn't even try to delay blooming. And I don't 
expect to get apricots every year - most years? - anyway, in this 
climate. But can anyone tell me how cold it would have to get to kill 
the flowers or developing fruit? Just curious. It's supposed to cool off 
a bit, but still stay above average. They're not forecasting a freeze in 
the next week, anyway.

Thanks,

Bill
Lincoln, NE (Zone 5a)

--
Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective 
stories. - Arthur C. Clarke