When you say “blooms in March/April” , do you mean opens buds in Mar/April or sets buds then?
Shambala does not repeat bloom. It has a long bloom period - starting late summer and going into spring. But lots of other varieties do the same here.
Tons of varieties have unopened buds until Spring. At least in my climate.
I have a friend who has piera. He is trying to get grafts to take before distributing it more widely.
Ideally set buds in spring, but that’s probably a tall order.
Good to know. That’s probably what the JC Raulston loquat is doing too, from what the staff there said about it.
Oh dang that’s awesome news! Any idea on if it truly is a repeat bloomer and sets multiple crops?
Piera actually sets repeat crops - 3 different bloom bud sets and upto 13 different flushes.
The others do not do that. No loquat including Shambala sets buds outside of late summer.
Piera is definitely unique and one to get if you are in a marginal climate for loquats (zone 8 or 9a)!
Also since it is a bud sport of Algerie, it is a high quality loquat, not a weird variety that has nothing else going for it.