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hardy apricot source/suggestions
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Posted by windfall_rob 4b (My Page) on Tue, Jan 12, 10 at 8:29
I am seriously toying with putting in a few apricots this spring. After spending some time researching it seems that my best bet for our northern vermont mountains are the hardier Harrow series, or perhaps better yet the canadian prarie cultivars (Brookcot,Debbie's gold, Westcot, And M604. Cummins nursery does have the Harrow series on Manchurian rootstock this year but I can not find any US sources for the others. Any suggestions?
We like fresh apricots but the bulk of the crop (when/if we get one) will go to jam and dried fruit. If folks have input or suggestions outside the varieties mentioned earlier please chime in! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: hardy apricot source/suggestions
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| I've often seen Chinese listed as extra cold hardy. It's also supposed to be frost hardy and bloom late. Don't know if any of this is true because I've no experience myself and reports have been from the people selling the trees. The Fruitnut |
RE: hardy apricot source/suggestions
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Bob Purvis will graft anything you want this spring.
He runs a nursery in Idaho. I have bought some scionwood from him last year and more again this year.
http://www.nafex.org/apricot.htm His contacts are old on that page, but email me and I will send you his list of cultivars and contact info. Does the website care if we give out contact info here? |
purvis
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for Purvis email address see
http://www.oakcreekorchard.com/id82.html |
RE: hardy apricot source/suggestions
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Thanks all,
I came across Bob Purvis's name several times as I researched. His article on "Apricots around the country" at the oakcreek orchard website was especially helpfull. I missed his contact info there and tried to use the e-mail on the NAFEX site but it got bounced back. If he is regularly supplying suitable varieties that would be great. I actually think the site I have in mind would be better off waiting till spring after to let me do a bit more clearing and prep, but Cummnins had some good options on Manchurian seedling roots this year (which is what I gather i want) and next year they are putting everything on Kyrmisk 1....so I was feeling a bit pressured. I will see what Bob can tell me.
Anybody have any experieince with adirondak Gold? It a manchurian seedling SLN has offered in years past but is not offering this season. |
RE: hardy apricot source/suggestions
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| If any one on this forum is growing Montrose Apricot, I am looking for a dozen seeds to grow out as a trial. It seems to be a very well-adapted variety to our region. |
RE: hardy apricot source/suggestions
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| If you think you can grow the Harrow series, they are widely available. You can probably purchase pretty good trees from Adams County Nursery. I suspect they will be much larger than from some other sources mentioned here. Have you read that they are productive in Z4? |
RE: hardy apricot source/suggestions
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| Harlayne, harawgem, and hargrand are supposed to be quite hardy (in that order) the numbers I have come across are around -30F for buds in mid winter (Obviosly flower buds a bit less than leaf) As to how productive they might be in my particular region???....That is one of the things I am trying to find out. Late frosts will probobly be my biggest enemy. I like their disease resistance...we ca have pretty wet summers on occasion. But we also get temps at and below -30 every ten years or so which makes them somewhat borderline for me. I will look at adams. The other thing I run into is most folks don't put them on Manchurian seedling which I have been told is what i want this far north. |
RE: hardy apricot source/suggestions
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| The rootstock could be kept insulated during winter with a pile of leaves of any number of alternatives. |
RE: hardy apricot source/suggestions
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| You might also look at Sungold and Moongold. They are quite cold hardy and produce nice apricots with good flavor. Manchurians grown around here tend to be smaller trees than other apricots and seem to be much hardier, so they would probably be a good choice for hardiness and size control. The catalogs say Moongold and Sungold need each other to cross pollinate, but I think that may be more marketing than fact. Mine have a long bloom period, so the later blooms are likely to make fruit even if the earlier ones freeze, and last year their bloom only had a few days of overlap but I had another old unknown inedible apricot that is always loaded with bloom and the trees set well on the bloom that escaped the early frosts. |
RE: hardy apricot source/suggestions
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| Hey Matt, I emailed Mr. Purvis about a week ago after you were kind enough to point me in the proper direction for his email. I know it's only a week, but I haven't had a return email or seen a list of his varieties in the mail. Did he correspond with you via email from the one shown at the Oak Creek Orchard site, from another email altogether or did he just send a list snail mail? |
RE: hardy apricot source/suggestions
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| I was just logging in to ask Matt the same question. I have nit heard back from Bob Purvis and have been wondering if the contact info at the Oak Creek site was still active? |
RE: Sungold/Moongold, Montrose
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| I doubt that Sungold and Moongold need specific pollination from each other. The other, inedible apricot mentioned above seems to have served as a suitable pollen source. I think the marketing hype came from a time when Sungold and Moongold were often sold together for cross-pollination because they were among the few really hardy commercial apricots. Concerning Chinese and Montrose: These should be hardy in most of Zone 5. Don't know about Zone 4. Both are sweet pit varieties, with Montrose ripening after Chinese. LE Cooke wholesaler offers both. If I were in Zone 5, I might take a gamble on Canadian White Blenheim (also sweet pit) and OrangeRed, parent of Robada, which has a very high chill requirement. It's a favorite in Europe. CWB and OrangeRed both require cross-pollination with a different variety. |
RE: hardy apricot source/suggestions
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| I am in regular contact with Bob Purvis. He is sending me some Westcot and Debbie's Gold scionwood this spring. Write me at pga301@aol.com and I will forward your email to him. He responds to me rather fast so the notes I see here abour him not responding make me think he isn't seeing your email but he does see mine. Reggie |
RE: hardy apricot source/suggestions
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| Again , if anyone knows a good seed source, i am interested in growing out some Montrose or Harglow Apricots from Seeds. I do have a few 'White' apricot seeds I plan to plant today, that came from Trader Joe's but would really like to get some Montrose. Puget Gold is "OK" but not a very strong 'apricot' flavor. |
RE: hardy apricot source/suggestions
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| I know this is an old thread, but I found it by googling, and had something to add for boizeau. Apricots do not grow true from seed. If you plant a seed from, say, a 'Montrose' apricot, the seedling will be an apricot, but definitely won't be a 'Montrose.' It will be a new, unique individual, which may or may not be worth growing. This is how new varieties are made. If you have room and time to experiment, feel free to grow seedlings like this. You might luck out and develop a great new variety, but you probably won't get something as good as the named varieties already out there. However, do NOT plant imported seeds! (Which Trader Joe's seeds almost certainly are.) They might carry the plum pox virus, which is a potentially devastating disease of all stone fruits. |
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