Many white apricots are late bloomers, including Afghanistan, Lasgerdi Mashhad and Zard (interestingly, Moniqui, another similar white apricot, blooms quite earlier). Many of my Anya seedlings bloom late. Ilona, Florilege, Roxburgh Red, and Hoyt Montrose also bloom late, but they didn’t fruit for me yet (Roxburgh Red actually produced a couple of fruits but too early to tell how good it is).
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would this be a signal to say Moniqui might have lower chill (relatively) requirement compared to Afganistan, Zard and LM? I know all white apricots are high chill varieties, but wondering if Moniqui is lower than others
The relationship between required chill and time of blooming is not that straightforward. The Arboreum lists Moniqui at 800 hours and LM at 750 hours, although I have no idea how accurate these estimates are.
@JamesN Has your Alameda Hemskirke fruited? How would you rate it? How would you compare it with Bonny Royal, Blenheim, Moorpark, Anya?
I have a couple branches grafted and I do have a few full fruit this year for the first time. I previously tasted these varieties at Andy’s Orchard and I would say that Bonny Royal was like Blenheim, but harder. Moorpark was the best there for aromatic complexity, but Anya was the best for sweetness. Alameda Hemskirke was like Moorpark, but I did think Moorpark was better slightly. All of these were so good they are worth growing, and in San Jose they should fruit reasonably well.
Since @Stan grows all these in his own yard, let’s see what he says.
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Thanks @JamesN - With apricot season starting, if you can please make notes on the brix and flavor of each of these this year and keep us posted! Will be very useful info.
@stan had a great thread going for 2019. He probably has the best apricot collection in the country! 
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My Alameda Hemskirke is on two grafts, which are pretty low on a tree and are not too large in size. This summer, I might get about 10 apricots from them.
I don’t have Bonny Royal. I tried some from Andy Mariani’s orchard a few years ago, and they were nice fruit.
Most of my Anya seedlings have not had good fruit set this year. I expected more, but this was a low chill winter, probably about 600 chill hours. Many apricots have not set well, including Orangered (I counted 6 fruits total for a good sized tree), Spark’s Mammoth (maybe 3 or 4 fruits on the tree), and white apricots (Moniqui, Lasgrdi Mashhad, Afghanistan). However, some set pretty well. Nicole and Tomcot are remarkably consistent producers for me, Moorpark is decent, Supkhani grows vigorously, blooms profusely and sets well, Harcot is fine, and a few of the Anya seedlings defy the trend. My Euro plums set really well this year, so hopefully this will compensate for smaller apricot harvest.
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Hi Stan,
An idea your post suggested to me is to hybridize Anya seedlings with Nicole for earlier fruiting and more productivity, hopefully keeping some Kyrgystan flavor. After cutting the petals off at the popcorn stage, along with the anthers, then the rest is easy. Just brush desired pollen on the stigma, tag the branch, and see if you get fruit/seeds.
Over time you could replace your less productive seedlings with seedlings from crossings. It sounds intimidating but it is probably only an additional half day’s work on top of what you are already doing. Just an idea I have considered since I heard Andy Mariani talk on hybridization at CRFG Festival of Fruit a year or two ago.
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How/where can I buy a supkhani fig?
Thanks Stan,
Great to read your review of dried figs. My favorite dried fruit crave.
I’m in 10b any other variety dried apricot suggestions if I can’t find a supkhani?
Marilyn
Ramona Ca
You mean dried apricots, not figs, right? Supkhani trees are not available for sale, you need to graft it.
Please check this discussion: Dried apricots — different varieties
Other apricot varieties suggested for drying are Blenheim and Tomcot, both are available from many sources, in retail nurseries and online. Blenheim was reported to do well in Southern California.
Any of them?
I just happened upon this old topic. Very useful thread. Thanks to all.
I wanted to respond to the question on Moniqui. I grew this for years in Bonsall (San Diego County) near the bottom of Moosa Canyon. I probably got 600-ish chill hours. It never fruited well, but I had a few fruits now and then. In recent years I have lived in Yolo County, where I generally get 750+ chill hours and sometimes get 800-1000 or more. I get fruit most years, but it is rarely a heavy bearer. It is worth it though, as the taste is superb. If you get over ~700 at least on occasion, give it a try!
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I heard the same from Andy Mariani from Morgan Hill as well, which should receive around 800-1000 chill hours on average
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I bought my Tropic Gold apricot from
This year, It fruited just fine near Venice. It looks like Blenheim & tastes just like it. So I tracked down its origin & sure enough, it is a Blenheim sport from Camarillo. Fortunately, lower chill.
It was a surprise for me as it had dozens of fruits. I thought I could never grow a good tasting apricot, but I’m glad I’m wrong.
August Glo & White Knockout, both from Burchell Nursery grew well, but no fruits. August Glo had a dozen flowers bloom yet only some fruitlets…none of which reached maturity
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This is great to hear it worked and you probably get less or maybe the same chill as I do here in San Diego. I just planted one today and might make another tree too. Thanks for reporting!
Thanks for tracking this down! I had it on my list to try grafting Blenheim to my Tropic Gold that’s in the ground. Crossed that off my list now 
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Also Laguna Hills Nursery and the folks who run it are great! I’ve always had good experiences.
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Very interesting. Noted!
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There might still be value in exploring whether it is any different (for intellectual reasons, not for the sake of production). Basically Tropic Gold was supposed to be a tree that was found and seemed to fruit better but who knows if it isn’t just genetically identical and one tree for whatever reason produced better in Camarillo for a couple years. There is no patent, which makes me wonder if an attempt was made and the govt said “you have not persuaded us that this is distinct.” Blenheim does fruit well in coastal areas, according to reports I have heard. Unless PCR sequencing proves otherwise, for me Tropic Gold and Blenheim are interchangeable words for the same tree.
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