I've never heard of that. I think Madison, Contender or Reliance would be top picks.

A lot depends on what part of the state. If she is near the lake, she has it good... say Milwaukee, Racine... if she's north of me (La Crosse) or even east (central part of the state) that to me seems like a no go with any peach (say Eau Claire/Black River Falls)...Madison would be fine, in the city would be best...outside temps are colder.

frank:

Thanks for those comments! She's near Fond Du Lac but not on the lake. Her one peach died this winter but did bear a few yrs.

I was looking at Candor, Garnet Beauty, Redhaven, Ernie's Choice, Contender, and Gloria. A 45 day harvest season.

Gloria is new out of Rutgers and is listed as a 9 for winter hardiness by ACN. Only other 9s are Reliance, Veteran, Contender, Harrow Beauty, and Madison.

Do you think 10 miles south of Fond Du Lac is just a waste of money on peaches? Are apricots more or less hardy than those peaches above?

Fruitnut,

I don't have much experience w/ Gloria, but it was one of the poor bloomers this year (after the -10F winter). Maybe it will do better in the future, but it hasn't done well so far.

Gloria is one of the new stony hard peaches, although when Desmond Layne tested it at Clemson, it really didn't exhibit "stony hardness", even though it has the gene.

Gloria roughly ripens with Madison and Veteran.

For a late peach you might consider Encore (it weathered the cold fairly well last winter) although I don't know if WI has a long enough growing season to ripen Encore.

My understanding is apricots can take considerably cooler temps than peaches. Bob Purvis used to live in MN or WI (I can't remember which) and his cots could take -25F or colder with no damage.

olpea:

Thanks for your observations. I appreciate the clarification on Gloria hardiness in your orchard. It was listed in both best and worst categories in your recent report. I don't know what to make of the hard stoney characteristic. It doesn't sound good although I do generally like firm peaches.

Also thanks for the apricot info. Maybe I should get my sister Tomcot, Montrose, and another apricot or two.

I have not tasted, but have planted 2 now. The first Gloria was sickly looking and did not do much of anything. It up and died same year as planting after not growing much at all. My order was late and I figured I got the last one that was laying around and was not the best tree. So I ordered another. To my chagrin, second tree was also small and sickly looking. Its only been in the ground a month or so now so its hard to say what time will bring.

Another cold hardy option, isnt there a paul friday cold hardy version? Like a PF 28 cold hardy?

Dan:

I've gotten those kind of trees this time of year as well. Looked like they walked around on them before shipping.

Contender is on sale at Stark right now. Stark also says Intrepid is very hardy but ACN doesn't offer it so I have no info.

PF 28-007 offered by ACN is rated a 7 for winter hardiness. Not sure if that's what you are talking about.

http://www.davewilson.com/product-information-commercial/product/pf-24c-cold-hardy-yellow-peach

I was wrong. PF 24 c. I know zero about this peach, just saw it and thought about getting one.

Thanks Dan! I sent my sister a Contender peach from Stark for $23 including shipping.

I'll study the other fruits more but am thinking about Black Ice, Pembina, and Toka plums; Benton and Lapins cherry, and Montrose and Tomcot apricots. I need to see what Bob Purvis says about the apricots. There are hardier apricots but I don't know how the fruit measures up.

Fruitnut:

I grow Reliance peaches near Milwaukee WI. They do well
except for this year because of the -18 we had for a good week this past winter. mine are damaged and no fruit this year. I did have a good peach run for the last 14 years with Reliance so no
complaints.

My brother is a Horticulture teacher in Ripon (near Fond Du
Lac). Reliance grows in Ripon but gets far less fruit than mine do as I am closer to lake Michigan. When I get 300 peaches on a large tree, he gets 25. It has to be because
of the colder winter temps near Ripon.

You say your family is 10 miles south of Fond Du Lac?
I saw a commercial orchard near there advertising peaches
near the town of Campbellsport. WI grown peaches are not
a big commercial thing with our winters so it caught my eye.

I would go for it and give it a try. NOTHING beats home grown peaches for flavor. I am not familiar with Gloria peach, but Reliance, Veteran, Contender have been our
best choices here.

I wish her luck with the contenders. I planted two last year and they froze out. We had a severe winter, just not sure if they weren't established enough, or they just couldn't take it. I am in NE WI, so maybe better luck farther south.

A note on the Cherries and Plums. Pembina does well in our area (75 mi north of Green Bay). Lapins, Montmorency, and Bing are problably the best for anything south of GB. Door County is well known for cherries, they are well situated on the Door peninsula on Lake Michigan. For any advice on those varieties I would contact a grower there.

Thanks guys. I know Contender isn't a sure bet. It might not last the winter if next is like the last. But it seems to be about as good as any considering eating quality as a factor.

My small amount of research says there are good eating plums and apricots that are hardier than any peach. So we've got some good leads heading into next planting season.

" I appreciate the clarification on Gloria hardiness in your orchard. It was listed in both best and worst categories in your recent report."

Fruitnut,

I made a mistake. When you posted your question about Gloria hardiness on this thread, I went to the Winter Peach Damage report I posted on the forum. I saw Gloria in the worst category and simply relayed that information to this thread. I did not realize I had made a typo in that earlier thread and had Gloria listed in both best and worst categories.

I just went back and looked at my original notes for clarification. It turns out Gloria did indeed flower well after our -10F winter. I've got so many varieties out there I can't keep up with them from memory, and have to rely on my notes.

I edited that old post to reflect the accurate information. Gloria is now listed only in the best category.

oplea:

Thanks, I hope you get some fruit this yr. I'd like to know what you think. I'll try to get a tree myself this winter. I'd like to know what it's like and could use a hardy, late bloomer.

Sorry double post

This post was edited by fruitnut on Mon, May 19, 14 at 22:59

An interesting tree would be the Carmine Jewel tart cherry. It is still a tart cherry but has an average brix of 20, most tarts are at 16. Others in the romance series are even higher. But finding a decent tree is hard. Most are like 6 inches tall. I have 2 2nd leaf trees that are 12 inches (sigh).
It will probably be 4th leaf before I see any fruit. They are hardy to zone 2. Piece a cake in WI.
Once mature 6 foot bushes, pretty cool.
A plum that was developed in WI is Black Ice. Jung has it.
You need Toka or something to pollinate. Toka tastes like bazooka bubblegum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Ice and Toka

Sorry my turn for double post.

This post was edited by Dan.NY on Tue, May 20, 14 at 7:14

"Thanks, I hope you get some fruit this yr. I'd like to know what you think."

Fruitnut,

We had a terrible hail storm out at the farm when the trees were in full bloom. One neighbor said he had 6" of hail piled up against his door from the wind. Everyone out there has to get a new roof.

The hail knocked all the flowers off the trees and chewed up a lot of tender bark as well. I'm not even spraying the remaining peaches out there this season.

PF 24c was mentioned. I'm hearing more and more positive comments about this peach. Supposed to match the cold hardiness of other cold hardy peaches, but better quality. I planted a couple this spring. It ripens with Veteran and Madison.

Drew:

Thanks for the suggestion, those bush cherries are a good idea. She likes to bake pies and they are probably good fresh. I'm growing a bonsai CJ. I think I've had it more than two yrs and it's 12 inches tall. I'd settle for two cherries next year just for a taste.

olpea:

Sorry to hear about your hailstorm. It's turning into a really bad year for you. We haven't had hail only because it hasn't rained, 0.2 inches this yr. Some of my trees are all scarred up from last yrs hail. I hope yours aren't beat up too badly. I've seen trees with half the bark removed.

Fruit-

MSU (southwest area of the state) had this posted a week ago:
--------------
"Peaches moved through bloom quickly last weekend. Bloom is ending with fruit in the shuck in many orchards. There was a good peach bloom in parts of Berrien County and some growers are blossom thinning where bloom is heavy. Areas where the winter lows did not fall much below -13 degrees Fahrenheit have a good crop, -15 F have a light crop of flowers often in the tops of the trees, and areas where the temperatures fell below -17 F have few if any blooms."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
If she's determined to have peaches, then go for it. They'll work in Wisconsin, but view them as an annual and know that any winter, any one nite and they'll be toast. At least for me in my yard, I'm done with peaches. I've dug out 3 peaches so far this spring and plan on removing the last 2 this fall.

My view after this winter is apricots are a touch hardier then sweet cherries (at least Lapins), and maybe a touch less hardy then Japanese plums (at least Satsuma)...but all 3 are very close and all 3 did flower, although super light (Satsuma probably had the most flowers per branch). Lapins sweet cherry opened exactly 4 blooms over the weekend AFTER the tree had leafed out.

I'd suggest Tomcot apricot. You could also try a hybrid plum if you want something very hardy, plus they are pretty trees and smell wonderful for about a week every spring. You could also try a Japanese plum or even a sweet cherry, brown rot is a beast around here with our wet/cool springs.

Thanks Frank!! I'm hoping to see what Bob Purvis says about apricots before sending one of those. But the plums do seem like the best bet in order to have a long lasting tree.

FYI,

This comment on Gloria was posted yesterday on the Apple Crop listserv by a peach/apple grower in Georgia. The subject was an inquiry of crop potential after the harsh winter.

"Gloria continues to be a winner. It blooms predictably late every year, can set a heavier crop without loss of flavor, has no brown rot (with a good spray program), and shows no sign of bacterial spot. However, I store peaches at 33 deg. F., 98% humidity, and it does start to lose flavor quicker than most cultivars under those conditions.",/i>

Thanks olpea. I'd like to taste the fruit. Can't tell much without that.

Fruitnut,

I don't have Gloria but I do have PF24-C. I have not been wowed with it. I have mine planted next to O'Henry and they had the same level of damage winter 2012, and no damage this winter except for no blooms again. I do live in a neighborhood where there is protection so I can't really say that the O'Henry is equal hardiness anywhere but in my own back yard. PF-24C was about equal to Cresthaven in taste, if I recall, but even that would be better than grocery store peaches!

I have heard that Polly is supposed to be good and was bred in Iowa, but haven't tasted it yet.

As far as peaches vs. apricots for hardiness, my experience is that apricots are equally as hardy as apples and probably more long-lived.

I have Toka and Black Ice. Toka is very early blooming but is quite prolific. It looks like I will get a crop from Toka and Surefire Cherry and that's about it for my stone fruit. My Black Ice is just a year old and I honestly didn't pay attention whether it bloomed or not.

So once again I will have very little fruit this year, and to top it off we just got a massive hail storm. I haven't been able to see the damage but my maple has most of it's leaves on the ground right now.

Geez milehigh that's awful. Most leaves on the ground is ugly. Sometimes I wonder why those of us on the plains and foothills keep beating our heads against the wall. I'm probably going to build another shelter next winter and that will be a yr late.

Are you making any headway on your shelter?