I just finished my last Indian Free. That is one heck of a late peach, it is very intense in flavor. I’m so glad I put up with the rotting all these years, with Indar I can grow it fine. I should have done a later Indar spray, my last one was in June. Still the rot was much better than it usually is.
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Once in a while, I will get one of each, but usually I’ll get 2-4 and can go back the next day for more if I really like it. You can often make a good guess based on the looks and smell (sugar spots on nectarines, etc). I just counted and there are 16 different stores, across 8 chains where I buy food at least occasionally. At least 2/3 are ones I go past several times a week or more. Most parts of the country may not have as much variety in as tight a space. And I think there are even more- I’ve seen a few others that I’ve thought about adding. That doesn’t even include Chinatown in Flushing, which my wife stops by on the way to badminton sometimes.
There is definitely a lot of money in Greenwich. I play badminton at the Y and at one point they were closing each year from Thanksgiving to March (gymnastics equipment in the way). So one of the members built a court at his next multi-million dollar house. Not putting a net up in the yard, but a multi-story inside facility…
Though I’m not a triple digit millionaire, I’ve thought about getting nectarines from them or Andy’s orchard or muscadines from Isons, but would feel bad about spending that much money. But it’s tempting. Years ago, I did do it one time for apples from Cummins, just to try some of the interesting varieties. I may change my mind at some point, but at the moment I have enough fruit, even if it isn’t always as good as I’d like it. What I really need is to find a top-notch source for nectarines and plums in Jan/Feb, as all I have left at that point is apples and maybe a few Asian pears.
To bring things back around to growing late peaches:
I went to their site and saw a few other interesting late options as well- they have a “Summer Flare” series (peaches and nectarines) which extends from late May to early October. And they consider Carnival to be ready at the end of the first week of September. So the stuff they have for October, may really be the first week of November here, which is about 10 days past first frost for me. I’m not sure how peaches will do with frosts. Autumn Flame and Autumn Gem are both just past Carnival, which looks more promising.
Looking at their online store, I see a bunch of interesting ones.
Nectarines:
September Honey- Mid-Sept, juicy
September Sweet Snow - Sept, sugary
October Sugar- Early Oct
October Snow- Early Oct, firm
Peaches:
Autumn Angel- Oct, white
Autumn Flame- early Sept, mild
Autumn Marble- mid-Sept, small, lots of flavor
Autumn Marvel- late Sept
Fireball- mid-Sept, small with zing
Kandi Korn- Early Oct, interesting colored flesh
Pink Diamond- Mid Sept, large
September Snow Saucer- mid Sept, white donut
Their trees are pretty expensive ($70, shipped in 5 gal pots). I think @scottfsmith may have gotten a few from them in the past, though I’m not sure how they turned out.
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I tried calling Burchell (Tomorrows Harvest) and was transferred to voicemail. I wanted to see what rootstock there potted peaches are on. $70 plus another $40 shipping is very high.
A squirrel stole my last 3 huge donut peaches. God i hate squirrels.
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So this is the reply I got from Burchell.
Good Afternoon,
Our potted trees are normally on Nemaguard and sometimes on St. Julian. Bare root trees are hard to ship unless you order at least 100 due to packaging. Please let us know if you have additional questions.
Best wishes for a fruitful future,
What are peoples thought for Nemaguard in Virginia - non-coastal area? I have one peach tree planted on nemaguard rootstock and it has grown well this year. But I have read that Nemaguard will die if temps get below 5F and that does happen (rarely) in central Virginia.
St. Julian I know nothing about. Thoughts?
Thanks,
Spud
I have an August Flame. All fantastic dealing with Burchell except the price. I also should have researched the peaches more carefully, August Flame is prone to rot so I should have picked something else.
I exchanged e-mails with Burchell. Most of what they have in late season peaches is on Nemaguard which they did not recommend for Virginia.
So I went with August Flame on Lovell (could have gotten Guardian). I ordered before I saw your comment Scott - well I guess we will see if we have the same experience with our $100 tree (with shipping).
Scott do you think they rot because of the peach being so late - does anything help with the rot? I saw someone (may have been you) post about Indar? Indar is expensive at $300 a container.
I’d love to hear someone comment on the true hardyness of Nemagaurd. I just checked and my Heath Cling is on Nemagaurd. It survived -1F last winter (its first winter after planting) without issue, so I really doubt the 5F figure. I also found a MSU (Michegan) writeup comparing rootstocks, which didn’t mention any cold susceptibility, let alone extreme sensitivity. I think it is the Bay Laurel description which mentions 5F.
I’m tempted to get a few, but I don’t think I have the space. If I spend that much money on a tree, I want to give it a prime location. There are a few spots, but I’ve got them earmarked for jujubes. Maybe I’ll wander around the yard tomorrow, looking for spots I can put something (or remove something). If I do get any, a September/October donut peach sounds pretty good- I wonder if it would be past the point where everything rots.
Is there any info out there on most of these varieties? I haven’t seen anything other their own description.
In my humble opinion, it doesn’t make sense to pay that much for a tree when almost nothing is known about the variety except Burchell’s own description. They have dozens and dozens of proprietary varieties, you cannot buy them all to compare anyway. It’s my impression that Burchell’s main customers are commercial growers, and hence it’s doubtful that their varieties would be better for a backyard grower than many proven cultivars available at a reasonable cost (or almost free if you’re willing to graft your own).
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You can’t judge cold hardiness based on a single season at all. It isn’t a simple question of a set temp but on an array of conditions of the plant, especially its level of cold hardiness at time of extreme cold. A single tree at a single site can’t provide a lot of evidence other people can benefit from- but if enough people have had similar experience it starts to add up.
One advantage universities have in getting evidence is that they are working with commercial growers over a wide range of sites with 1,000’s of trees.
That said, cold hardiness issues of rootstocks can be managed with judicious use of an airy mulch and planting just below the graft union.
Hi Stan - I have a hard time paying that kind of money for a tree. The but here is there are no other places to buy a peach tree that produces this late in the season on a root stock viable for my area. So my only other option would be to graft a variety provided by someone on the forum. I am not into grafting yet and I assume that would add one two years onto the time takes to actually produce a fruit assuming I got the graft right which is not likely at this point. My goal is to have peaches available during the whole season. So either I cough up the money or I wait. The $100 includes shipping for a potted plant. Whats the old cliché- a fool and his money are soon departed?
Hi Alan - I assume that the more mulch above the rootstock the less likely you are to get cold damage - any other tricks? It is highly unlikely if ever that we would get 5F temps early in the season - we are talking late December through February type temperatures, So the tree should be at the peak of cold hardiness . Also I do not think I have every seen 5F temps last more than 2 to 3 days and definitely never longer than 5 days.
When I grew up we had wood heat - I would just have put a layer of ash and coals around the tree (far enough away from the trunk) to limit the rootstock damage. But that is not an option now. I have this particular tree planted in 4ft X 4ft box with raised sides. I assume that this makes it more susceptible to weather damage. As always thanks for all of the advice and feedback.
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I suspect Nemaguard is fairly winter tender. I’ve read that quite often. A quick google produced this from Tex A&M:
“Rootstock trials done in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina have shown that Lovell and Guardian survive much better than Nemaguard, and somewhat better than Halford under their cold winter conditions. Consequently, in areas where cold injury is a concern, the more cold hardy rootstocks, Lovell, Guardian and Halford, should be used if possible.”
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/stonefruit/rootstock.html
If they’ve had trouble w/ Nemaguard hardiness in the Southeast states mentioned, it sounds somewhat tender to me.
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I’ve read in Tukey’s classic book “Dwarf Fruit Trees” that in the 18th century New England growers sometimes used quince rootstock for pears by burying the graft union and I don’t see why mulch or planting deep wouldn’t alleviate the issue. The ground never freezes under a frothy mulch in my conditions.
SpudDaddy, I don’t know that much about insulating raised beds but I’m sure you can wrap them with aluminum bubble wrap and mulch heavily and protect any tender rootstock.
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For August Flame I got the info on rot from
It doesn’t have many of these Burchell ones though.
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I agree with SpudDaddy- it’s a lot, but if you can get an interesting variety which isn’t available elsewhere, it could be worth it. Such as a late season donut or an October peach. From what I’ve seen so far, the late ones have more chance to get their sugar up, so there is at least a chance for them to be special.
I’ll make sure to cover the union for my White Heath Cling in early winter, just like I take care of persimmons and muscadines. The tree has put on very good growth and also has a few important grafts, so I’d hate to lose it now.
Actually, I got my highest sugar this year from early season nects. My later peaches tended to be sweeter, but still not sweet enough.
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I don’t see what’s so special about this variety. Burchell lists August Flame’s ripening time as early September. Burchell is in Oakdale, CA, right near Dave Wilson in Hickman, CA, so I assume their ripening times should be the same. Among yellow peaches, Summerset should ripen about the same time or couple days earlier than August Flame; Fairtime, Last Chance, and Carnival are all even later. Additionally, there are Indian Free, September Snow, and Heath Cling for late white peaches, Flamekist and Liz’s Late for late yellow nectarines, and Arctic Blaze for a late white nectarine.
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I agree with that. Even aside from the potential rot issue, if I order something from them for the ripening times, it will be a late Sept or early October (which probably translates to almost a month later for me, or right around first frost). I’ve already got Carnival, Liz’s Late and Heath Cling, which they list as mid-Sept. I know HC ripens in my area from the wonderful ones that Alan is growing, so pushing it a few more weeks could work out. Or maybe it won’t, but I’d like to find out. 
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I think that for late fruit the difference in ripening times between California and areas up North is much smaller than for early varieties. Towards September, North catches up due to longer summer days.
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