Exact situation with my peaches in RI.

I know that is doesn't really help, but we had the same drought last year and one 28 degree day in April, However my peaches are loaded again this year. I am just south of you in Northeast Indiana.

Winter cold? Not sure...i've seen this happen and i assumed it was winter cold that did it (considering it gets very cold here...-20F sometimes)... I know the trees i have in containers/garage in winter, never have had this issue.

Thanx for your responses. Wish I had ordered a Paul Friday peach PF24C last season when I first heard of it. Now it is too late.

I usually have my antennae ready all winter to note below zero temps. I don't remember any such low temps. We often have -10 in this area, and we are in a cold spot. Perhaps a great swing in temps can cause desiccated flower buds: still wanting to watch and learn.

There are many peach growers here in western Michigan, but they are in higher locations.

It sounds like the April cold did them in. They may have been pre-flowering but at a more advanced stage such as pink (swelled buds and a little pink showing), when they cannot take temps below 15F or so. Pull up one of those blossom hardiness charts and you may be able to figure out what stage your peaches were and how cold it was. I doubt it was the winter low, -10F should not be a problem for peaches.

Scott

Here is a link that might be useful: frost damage chart

Hannah,

Are you in MI? You should list your USDA plant hardiness zone instead of a zip code.

I have PF 24 C planted since 2010. It fruted in the 2nd year. I like the taste of this peach and the fruit size is big. It's quite winter hardy. We had a lot of snow 2 out of 3 winters since it's in the ground. I think the critical part is what Scott said, the damage depends on what stage of flower/fruit buds development when freezing cold hits.

This year, March was colder than usual (20-30 F). April is colder, too (30's). The temp did not fluctuate much which was helpful.

We had 2 cvery old nights, May 13 and 14 (hard frost on the 14). My peaches were at petal fall at the time. No damage.