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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Plum or Apricot

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  • From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Plum or Apricot
  • Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2010 08:04:08 -0400


On Apr 8, 2010, at 3:01 PM, Caren Kirk wrote:

I am always trying to find space for another fruit so I have carved out a small area that's pretty sheltered that I think would be good for a small tree. I am always attracted to apricots but have been warned that I'm unlikely to get fruit up here with the changeable spring weather we have ( 26 degC last saturday, 2 degC today).
 
Apricots that are locally available and suitable for my zone are Scout and Morden 604.  I don't know what either are like taste-wise.

FWIW, I grew a Puget Gold apricot (on St Julien A, I think) in eastern MA until it dropped dead last August. I liked it enough that I just planted a replacement last weekend.  Despite our highly variable spring weather (80F last Sunday, in the 30s last night, so similar to your weather), it blossomed and set fruit pretty reliably.   A couple of times there was a light frost during bloom or shortly after bloom, and it seemed to set fruit anyway.  It bloomed really early, and I was always puzzled as to what insects were available to pollinate it.  It may have been pollinated by tiny flies, which seemed attracted to it.
 
Otherwise I was thinking of another European plum to help boost yields on my Mirabelle. There is a variety listed as Dom. Damas, does anyone have any experience with it?
 
Whatever the tree I would like something attractive as it will be very visible from the house.

I found the apricot a very attractive little tree.  I've never liked peach trees to look at, but this seemed much more refined, somehow, and attractively shaped.  It was gorgeous when it was in bloom - it looked like it was covered in popcorn - but bloom lasted less than a week, sometimes only a day or two.

I gave the same apricot to a friend in Cambridge - it was his success that prompted me to try my own.  Cambridge has slightly more moderate weather than I have, because it's closer to the ocean, but their weather is still highly variable in the spring.  His is doing well, with almost no effort on his part, and produces oodles of fruit.  The branches that are covered with fruit produce somewhat flavorless cots, though. He has found that thinning the fruit produces slightly larger and much sweeter, tastier fruit.  Mine didn't fruit as exuberantly as his, and the fruit quality was superb.

Ginda Fisher
Eastern MA, zone 6







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