North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>]

On Jan 1, 2011, at 12:33 PM, Bill Garthright wrote:

> 
>> What got me started on fruit was that I originally wanted to grow some 
>> apricots in my yard. ... I'm in St. Paul, Mn which should be zone 4a.
> 
> 
> I'm in zone 5, so my experience might not be useful. But my apricots grow 
> great here. The problem is that they almost never produce fruit, because 
> the blossoms freeze. They don't seem to have any problem with our winters, 
> but here on the Great Plains, the spring weather is too variable. We almost 
> always get warm weather followed by a cold snap. And whereas my plums and 
> pluots can usually take that just fine during bloom, my apricots can't.

I have a Puget Gold in zone 6, eastern MA.  Well, I have a baby, because the 
first one mysteriously died (consensus was either borers or a fungus that 
causes ooze.)  A friend in Cambridge, MA, has a large one that's been 
fruiting for years.  (Cambridge is a little milder than where I live, 15 
miles inland.)  

We also have variable springs.  The apricot blooms very early, and there's 
often a frost during it's bloom time.  it seems to fruit anyway.  I don't 
think we've ever had a really hard killing frost while it is in bloom, but 
most years there are a couple of nights below freezing during or after its 
bloom.

The squirrels love it, and if the new one fruits I doubt I'll get any.  My 
friend in Cambridge gets gazillions of apricots, and the squirrels destroy 
about 1/3 of his crop, but he still gets more than he knows what to do with.  

Ginda