I found the research particularly interesting about how pruning in summer improved flower bud hardiness IF you get a surge of growth as a result.

This is the opposite of conventional wisdom, but is explained by the fact that hardening off is delayed by this late growth surge which extends dormancy and cold hardiness in mid to late winter because trees are in deeper sleep. Presumably the flowers would be more vulnerable to a very early period of extreme cold.

Here is a link that might be useful: growing peaches

Thanks for posting this link. Looking forward to reading it when I'm not so tired.

I read the peach part plus a lot more, and bookmarked it. looking forward to seeing what Olpea has to say about it.

It is interesting they are recommending to prune to get a late flush of growth in warmer areas where immature wood is not subject to winter kill.

Also interesting how cultural practices change. They recommended thinning peaches to every 3 to 5". Such light thinning would result in very small fruit. Not surprising standards for fruit size were smaller in that day.