I don’t know who inspired me to try O’Henry here in the northeast where it probably is never grown commercially- maybe Scott and certainly someone on this forum. No nurseries that supply northeast commercial growers carry it that I know of. It is susceptible to bacterial leaf spot so commercial growers relied on the likes of Autumn Glo and Encore for their latest crop of peaches when I started my orchard here.
I used to grow the rot prone Autumn Glo but switched to the smaller fruited (but still good sized) Encore and was happy with its fruit for 15 years. However, I planted O’henry here 4 years ago but last years weather made me wait until this season to taste its fruit. It is a nicer peach than any I’ve tried in its season- been picking it for 4 days or so. Less fuzz, prettier, deeper orange flesh and higher brix than Encore.
I’ll probably be giving away most of my huge crop of Encores this year. I won’t cut down the tree, however, until O’henry has proven itself for a few more years. I will cut back the Encore, though. No sense growing so many more peaches than I need.
I’ve grown O’henry for quite a few years and like the flavor a lot for a late peach. I don’t know if you recall, but I once sent you a couple O’henry callused in sleepy eye bud grafts. They never did push growth for you (probably because the delay in shipping weakened the rootstock. I’ve found the rootstock needs a lot of energy to push growth of sleepy eyes. Even digging up and moving the rootstock before spring will take some of the energy and there is a greater chance the grafts won’t push growth.)
I’ve found O’henry has a couple of grower issues for me. It’s fairly bac. spot susc. in a commercial setting, as you mention (though not too bad though in my back yard.) The other issue is that it’s a little finicky when it comes to being productive. If the spring weather is a little off, it’s production suffers considerably for me.
I like the shape of O’henry. For some reason I like the look of really round peaches, and I’ve found they taste really good. I know there is no scientific basis for this observation, and I’ve had oblong peaches taste great, but it seems like the round varieties are always good.