Peaches and Apricots

Q: What varieties of freestone peach and apricot do you recommend for Southern California? --A.D., Cerritos A: Areas where the winters are mild--particularly in coastal areas--don’t provide enough winter chilling for many deciduous fruit trees. There are a few varieties available, however, which will produce nice crops of deciduous fruit year after year. The L.E. Cooke Co. of Visalia provides its retail nursery customers with a number of freestone peach varieties suited to our southern California coastal areas. The ripening date follows their name: ‘Desert Gold’ (early May), ‘Flordasun’ (late April), ‘Early Ambar’ (early May), ‘Earligrande’ (early May), ‘La Feliciana’ (late June), ‘Rubidoux’ (late August). Varieties of apricot recommended for Southern California coastal areas include: ‘Autumn Royal’ (September), ‘Blenheim’ (late June) and ‘Royal’ (late June). ‘Early Golden’ (late June) and ‘Newcastle’ (early June) can be planted in Southern California interior valleys.

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