The only apricot tree varieties in pots I can get in the nurseries around where I live, seems to be these:
Puget Gold
Harcot
Harglow
Scout
Tilton
i just put in a scout in z4a. had a Adirondack gold that got killed by -40 here.
Sorry you lost your tree. It is not easy to decide what variety will work best for cold temperatures. Some may survive but never give fruits or give us fruits we don’t like much. It seems the most available varieties around here are Harcot, Puget Gold and Scout.
I bought an Harglow in the end and just finished planting it.
Here is my reasoning in case someone is interested in the future:
Harcot I read is somewhat less hardy than other members of the Harrow series.
Puget Gold I read is susceptible to brown rot.
Scout I read is fair for eating.
Tilton were sold out and I read is primarily used for canning and drying.
Although many of what I read I take it with a grain of salt since it depends on so many factors.
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Tecumseh …You can still buy this one online.
You can check on nutcracker too: Nutcracker Nursery & Tree Farm - Berries, minor fruits and fruit trees - Plum
I’ve grown the Har series in S NY for about 30 years and they are fragile here with about half dying within 10 years. It isn’t how cold they can take it when they are fully hardened off here, it is low temps when they are coming out of dormancy that seems to kill them. I grow them and a few other varieties in my nursery but their high mortality rates make them a money loser for me.
Sungold and Moongold are the two varieties usually grown in areas as cold as yours, I believe, but I might be mistaken. I have a client who has both here and they are pretty old trees that bear consistently in his location. He’s within walking distance of the Hudson River about 50 miles north of NYC- at that point it’s almost like a bay and never freezes solid. In recent years it has very little ice at all, so modifies temps a great deal.
The quality of the fruit is only fair, but they are still excellent in the kitchen.
Thanks for sharing. I’ll add Sungold and Moongold to my list.
From what I have read, what kills the tree sometimes is the rapid change in temperatures in winter like in the afternoon when the sun is heating the bark on/off because clouds are passing by. They recommend planting the tree where it won’t see much sun in winter and early spring, hidden by a house, an evergreen bush or something. In the spring and summer, with the sun higher up, the tree would still get the sun. That is what I am trying. I planted my tree in between my house and my neighbor. It will also get some wind protection that way.
Another idea I read is to delay bloom time by keeping the bark cool with either white paint or white plastic (rabbit protection) and also by keeping the ground cool by piling some snow or wood chip on top of the snow around the base. They say it may give you up to an extra week or two before it flowers. I already have to put white plastic protector against rabbits…
I’ll continue to read and select my future replacement apricot if this one does not make it.
So what’s the word on Harlayne?
This is just one of those horticultural anecdotes that gets passed around and pertains to many species, I suppose, but I doubt any legitimate research has been done on apricot mortality via cambium kill. The industry is primarily in CA in this country, although Rutgers in New Jersey has done breeding research on the fruit along with the Har program to breed more cold hardy cots. I think the University of Michigan might also have done so and released Goldcot. I have managed them at more sites than probably anyone, but trees are selected based on overall survival (and fruit quality)and I’m not aware of specific research on the reasons they die. Once you know they are killed it’s already well into spring.
However, 30 years of growing them at my nursery and many other sites has convinced me that it is very late winter and early spring dips that kill them most often as a result of their being the first species out of dormancy, so they shuttle water back into cells first among popular fruit species and aren’t as hardened off in very late winter and early spring.
Why do species survive very cold winters even in New Mexico where dips and rises in temps can happen throughout winter? I think it’s because they don’t go into winter with as much water in their soil or cells. But that’s just another guess and not something that is passed around.
One thing I’ve never tried and should have is painting their trunks white to reduce the swing in temps on the cambium itself.
Yes, there sure is a lot of theories out there. One day some theories may be proved or disproved. But until then, we are left with our own judgment. It is great to hear the opinions of people with real practical experience like yourself.
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I was raised in CA and the first fruit tree I took care of was an apricot. I love them so much that I keep trying to make them work here. What has worked pretty well for me is managing them as informal espaliers against the south wall of my house. -7F in Feb this year killed all but a scattering of ovules because winter had been so mild, but many years I have good crops when other sites not against walls but in better locations have barren trees. Only one tree, and Early Blush has died against my wall since I started doing it 15 years ago. Early apricots in this case mean earlier vulnerability to cambium kill I suspect.
Alfred is the most consistent bearer so far, but Sugar Pearls is showing promise.
What about bloom time considerations? Chinese/Mormon seems to do Ok here, so does Tlor-siran , not that I EVER get fruit… I did lose one, but I thought it might be delayed incompatibility- it was on Prunus americana
In my case, apricot is one of the first fruit tree I planted around my house about 15-20 years ago. It was either a Scout or a Morden 604 from what I can remember but I could be wrong.
It lasted only 3 years, but it was my fault. I later found out that I had planted it on the corner of my backyard that only has 2 feet of ground with rock underneath. I live not so far from a quarry and had to break 3-4 feet of rock just to build a proper height basement.
The year before it died it was growing very slowly so I decided to cut a big branch of a tree nearby to give it more sun, but I miscalculated the branch fall, and it fell on the apricot breaking two of its branches. I really felt stupid that day…
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“Michigan State University”
We are serious about this here in Michigan.