North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Don Yellman <don.yellman@webformation.com>]

Mark:

Your description matches a peach called "Flat Wonderful", and I have one in 
its 5th leaf.  Source of my tree was Gurney's, though it may be sold by other nurseries 
as well.  I am quite sure this is a relatively new variety, developed at Rutgers 
University.

Peento peaches are usually notably smaller than the round types, but Wonderful can 
produce pretty good size peaches on a healthy tree when properly thinned.   (I saw some 
Peentos at Safeway the other day at $2.99 a pound that were about 1/5 the size that my 
tree produces.)  The most unusual feature of the fruit is its texture, which resembles 
that of the older canning peaches grown in California, and is often described as 
"rubbery".  I don't like that rubbery word for this peach, which I prefer to 
describe as firm.  Flavor is excellent, and the firm texture makes this peach 
particularly useful for applications such as fruit salads.  I often peel the larger 
peach varieties, but never peel Wonderful because it doesn't seem necessary due to it 
smooth skin.  The firm texture might also make it useful for commercial growers, since 
it should be highly resistant to bruising from handling.  The stone, which is a small 
thing in the middle of the doughnut, comes free easily.  This pea
ch ripens in Northern Virginia in early to mid August.

Wonderful is the most beautiful of more than a dozen peach varieties I have 
grown.  Blossoms are large and a very deep, purplish pink, and the early 
leaves are dark purple, shading to green later in the season.   My tree is 
very vigorous and healthy, and shows no inclination to disease, though the 
tree is still young and perhaps it's a little early to make that call.  This 
is a good year for my tree, and it is full of rapidly-growing peaches even 
after rigorous thinning.  I am bagging them now in shoe store try-on footies, 
as I do with all my peaches.

I don't know where in its genetics this peach picked up the purple leaves and dark 
blossoms.  There is a peach rootstock called "Rutgers Purple Leaf", and I 
speculated that the colors might come from the rootstock, but that doesn't make much 
sense either.  Whatever the case, I am very pleased with my Flat Wonderful tree, and 
would recommend it highly for anyone who would like a peach with these characteristics, 
as well as extraordinary spring beauty.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA