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