I don’t have a huge lot like some of you, I’m on a half acre lot, much of which is taken up by the house, or shaded by a big beautiful 70-year oak tree. But I want to maximize my variety of trees, so I only have one of most things and I leaned heavily into the multi-grafted trees. Most of them grafted by professionals at nurseries, and a few by myself.
At this point I have a lot of the things I like, though I’ll probably continue grafting single branches to experiment with more varieties. I’m running out of space, but I recently cleared some old bushes that the previous owner must have planted decades ago. It’s a good spot with full sun so I’m thinking to add another tree. Wondering if anyone has suggestions for something unique and different, or otherwise something that you think I’m missing out on?
In other words: What’s your favorite fruit tree that you’d replace immediately if it died?
I was considering a tropical guava (P. guajava), since I only have the lemon guava (P. cattleianum). But I’m a bit concerned about winter hardiness, hot dry summer tolerance, and water requirements.
I’m in zone 9b in not-quite-central-valley California. Summer highs sometimes spike to just above 110F briefly with low humidity. Winters lows sometimes dip into the high 20s F for a few hours on the coldest nights.
Here’s what I have so far (not counting some blue/black/raspberry bushes):
Name
Category
Comment
Honeycrisp Apple
Apple
Dwarf Tree
Goldrush Apple
Apple
Grafted onto Honeycrisp
Garden Delicious Apple
Apple
Dwarf Tree
Ashmead’s Kernel Apple
Apple
Grafted onto Garden Delicious
Pink Lady Apple
Apple
Dwarf Tree
Sundowner Apple
Apple
Mutsu Apple
Apple
Grafted onto Pink Lady + Sundowner
Grimes Golden Apple
Apple
Royal Rosa Apricot
Apricot
5in1 Apricot Multigraft
Katy Apricot
Apricot
5in1 Apricot Multigraft
Tomcot Apricot
Apricot
5in1 Apricot Multigraft
Blenheim Apricot
Apricot
5in1 Apricot Multigraft
Flavor Delight Aprium
Apricot
5in1 Apricot Multigraft
Harcot Apricot
Apricot
Cot-N-Candy Aprium
Apricot
Utah Giant Cherry
Cherry
Rainier Cherry
Cherry
4in1 Cherry Multigraft
Bing Cherry
Cherry
4in1 Cherry Multigraft
Van Cherry
Cherry
4in1 Cherry Multigraft
Lapins Cherry
Cherry
4in1 Cherry Multigraft
Mission Fig
Fig
Peter’s Honey Fig
Fig
Shanxi Li Jujube
Jujube
Big Jim Loquat
Loquat
Meyer Lemon
Lemon/Lime
Bearss Lime
Lemon/Lime
Australian Finger Lime
Lemon/Lime
Owari Satsuma Mandarin
Mandarin/Orange
Kishu Mandarin
Mandarin/Orange
Moro Blood Orange
Mandarin/Orange
Sanguinelli Blood Orange
Mandarin/Orange
Navel Orange
Mandarin/Orange
Gold Nugget Mandarin
Mandarin/Orange
Shasta Gold Mandarin
Mandarin/Orange
Clemenules Mandarin
Mandarin/Orange
Persian Mulberry
Mulberry
May Pride Peach
Peach/Nectarine
5in1 Peach Multigraft
Double Delight Nectarine
Peach/Nectarine
5in1 Peach Multigraft
Saturn Peach
Peach/Nectarine
5in1 Peach Multigraft
Red Baron Peach
Peach/Nectarine
5in1 Peach Multigraft
Fantasia Nectarine
Peach/Nectarine
5in1 Peach Multigraft
Spice Zee Nectaplum
Peach/Nectarine
Indian Free Peach
Peach/Nectarine
Liz’s Late Nectarine
Peach/Nectarine
Shinseiki Asian Pear
Pear
4in1 Asian Pear Multigraft
Hosui Asian Pear
Pear
4in1 Asian Pear Multigraft
Chojuro Asian Pear
Pear
4in1 Asian Pear Multigraft
20th Century Asian Pear
Pear
4in1 Asian Pear Multigraft
Bartlett Pear
Pear
6in1 Euro Pear Espalier
Red Bartlett Pear
Pear
6in1 Euro Pear Espalier
D’Anjou Pear
Pear
6in1 Euro Pear Espalier
Bosc Pear
Pear
6in1 Euro Pear Espalier
Comice Pear
Pear
6in1 Euro Pear Espalier
Flemish Beauty Pear
Pear
6in1 Euro Pear Espalier
Seckel Pear
Pear
Coffeecake Persimmon
Persimmon
Fuyu ‘Jiro’ Persimmon
Persimmon
Chocolate Persimmon
Persimmon
Splash Pluot
Plum
3in1 Pluot Multigraft
Geo Pride Pluot
Plum
3in1 Pluot Multigraft
Emerald Drop Pluot
Plum
3in1 Pluot Multigraft
Beauty Plum
Plum
3in1 Plum Multigraft
Laroda Plum
Plum
3in1 Plum Multigraft
Elephant Heart Plum
Plum
3in1 Plum Multigraft
Flavor Grenade Pluot
Plum
Vernon White Sapote
White Sapote
2in1 White Sapote Multigraft
Nettie White Sapote
White Sapote
2in1 White Sapote Multigraft
Wonderful Pomegranate
Pomegranate
Pink Satin Pomegranate
Pomegranate
Parfianka Pomegranate
Pomegranate
Golden Hills Pistachio
Pistachio
3x trees + 1x Male ‘Randy’
Mexicola Grande Avocado
Avocado
Lemon Guava
Guava
I also plotted the approximate ripening times. Not all of my trees are bearing age so some are my best guess. It’s been tough to get anything substantial going after the main citrus season is over and before the stone fruit come in (April/May).
Journey hybrid persimmon. cross of ( Rossey X Great wall ) X ( H-118 Early Jewel X OP) = no Male flowers has a taste of Vanilla, is excellent and begins to ripen before all the persimmons that we have planted, It has one flaw that I am not excited about, the production is so heavy that the limbs dangle with the weight of the fruit bending downward. First of the season to fruit then followed by J-59 and Prok.
…
Journey should extend your persimmon season… it ripens quite early. That description is from nuttrees.net. aka Englands orchard.
I have a bunch of persimmon varieties here… americans and hybrids… one IKKJ asian… but my earliest ripening variety is Prok.
@gibberellin, I was talking with @haldog earlier this year when this sort of question came up, but asked about my friend John who has way more experience than I do. I asked John, and he responded very quickly that for him it would be pineapple guava. I had eaten some of his fruit, but was surprised that it was this tree that he responded with first. He was effective, though, as I ordered 9 pineapple guava trees a couple of weeks ago, and John wanted 8 additional pineapple guava trees that I included in my order.
I used to eat them all the time as a kid from a big hedgerow of pineapple guava seedlings. I do remember the shapes and quality from different bushes being slightly different but I ate and enjoyed them all.
I actually have two pineapple guavas that I didn’t include in this list. Because while I ordered named cultivars from One Green World (Mammoth and Apollo), they both browned to a crisp when they were in full sun and the temps went near 110F for a few days in a row. Now they’ve regrown from the rootstock so I guess I’ll leave them be and see how it goes this summer.
So I’m curious, do you grow named cultivars or just seedlings?
@gibberellin, I have been told that pineapple guava grow pretty true from seed, and as a result I purchased named varieties of seedlings plugs that were grown from seed: Albert’s Pride, Coolidge, Edenvale Improved Coolidge, Mammoth and Nazemetz. The portion of my 2.3 acres that I am dedicating to fruit just keeps on growing!
I might try grafting this one onto what was previously my beloved Harcot apricot. It got hit bad by what looked to be bacterial canker, low on the trunk just above the graft union, and so never made it much past bud break this year. But since it has a nice established root system, I cut it down to the stump and got the rootstock to re-sprout. For now I’m growing a ‘Citation’ tree- at least is has pretty read foliage!
Feijoa (pineapple guava)
Kumquat (Fukushu is best imo)
Passion fruit (edulis)
True guava
I grew all those in 9b San Jose. The true guava (and banana) were against west facing brick wall which gives a half zone bump imo. Could also throw frost fabric up the few nights below freezing.
There are much better figs than the two you have.
Grapes would be excellent in your climate. Muscat types very good can’t get at store.
Good call on the muscadine grapes, I’ll look into those for sure.
I tried passion fruit but it got winter killed unfortunately. I’m too lazy to do much with frost cloth as a regular thing, at most I’ll throw a sheet over a few branches to save some apricot flowers if there’s a late season frost.
true guava
Did you find it was able to deal with the hot summers pretty well? My avocado is always suffering a bit and drops some leaves in summer, though it survives.
Yeah I realize my figs are the common commercial nursery varieties that aren’t anything special. Still tasty though in my opinion! I rooted some cuttings this year of Paratjal Rimada, Col de Dame Gris (Baud), and Panache (got them from the yearly fig cutting sale at figaholics). Planning to graft some of those onto my existing trees when they’re a bit bigger since I don’t really have room for more full sized fig trees. Which are your favorites?
I actually meant muscat grapes but I suppose muscadine would be worth trying. They are native here in Georgia (where I moved) and the taste is superior to grapes but they have seeds and tougher skin so will never be as popular as grape.
Panache and Vdb are excellent common figs. Panache is very vigorous you could use as a rootstock tree and graft many varieties. Preto is one I would add. I liked strawberry verte a lot in San Jose too.
The guava was Mexican cream and it did fine but didn’t see 110 like your location. Typically top out 101 or so in my part of San Jose
Muscadine needs a lot of space, much more than European grapes, especially since many varieties are not self fertile. They probably need more humidity than you get.
Crazy the variety you can get away with in that climate.
Besides the variety, possibly my favorite part about this climate is that it’s one of very few places where pistachios thrive. My trees are only ~3yrs in the ground but I got a handful of pistachios from each last year. I’d never tasted a fresh pistachio before, they’re really tasty and have almost a bit of pine-like flavor. Have you ever wondered where that artificial pistachio flavor comes from? It never made sense to me, but fresh pistachios have a hint of that flavor too.
Thanks all for the feedback regarding Muscadine - I’ll scratch that. My ignorance in the world of grapes is showing here. I only have a crimson seedless table grape that I got on a whim a few years ago, not producing yet. So which Muscat grapes have you grown? I’m just reading the wikipedia article on Muscat grapes and it says:
Of the more than 200 grape varieties sharing “Muscat” (or one of its synonyms) in their name, the majority are not closely related to each other. The exception are the members of the Muscat blanc à Petits Grains and Muscat of Alexandria families.
I think feijoa / pineapple guava is an excellent suggestion. I just can’t get enough of them. They’re the kind of fruit that I can just keep eating.
I’m in Napa, 9b, and have been experimenting with cherimoya. So far, it’s going pretty well. But I do have them on a slope with some tree cover, both of which keep off a bit of frost. I had more winter damage on my true guavas than on my surviving cherimoyas. Some young cherimoyas didn’t make it but Fino de Jete, El Bumpo, and Rosa had no damage so I’m putting them in the ground.
Pawpaws seem to be going well here.
There are so many good figs. Something like a Joualle Rouge or White Madeira #1 might be a good addition to your trees.
I really want to grow Achachairu. I don’t have a greenhouse so some of my seed starting projects don’t go great. But I decided to buy a couple Achacha plants and am hopeful they’ll tolerate my winters if I baby them for a year or two.
Id also agree with the figs proposal based on your location and you just seem light on figs give you’re in real fig territory. White Madeira, Black Madeira/synonyms, I-258/Genovese Nero AF, other top tier ones you could easily research.
Maybe just plant a copy of your current types but purely for a multigraft tree
@AaronN Thanks for the suggestions! I’m now wondering whether tropical guava may not be the play here because it’s right on the edge and I have some reason to think that I’m in a bit of a microclimate that can get extra cold on some nights. I’ve had winter kills of some succulents that grow just fine in a neighbor’s yard 10 minute walk from my lot.
You’ve probably already heard of this, but just in case, since you’re growing both of these: pawpaws and cherimoya - both being in the Annonaceae family - contain some annonacin, a known neurotoxin. But if you don’t overdo it’s probably not a major concern. Ethanol is a known neurotoxin too and that doesn’t stop me from having one or a few drinks on occasion
I would suggest the 4 in 1 mirabelle plum tree from raintreenursery. I noticed you dont have any european plum. I know they are rated zone 8 but they still thrive in Sacramento 9b. I have two 4 in 1 mirabelle plum, the first one I planted last year was a 5 in 1 mirabelle plum tree it is now loaded with fruits about 40-50. Then this year I planted the 2nd one which i got lucky that has 5 mirabelles and green gage on it so total of 6 in 1, according to the label. i was actually surprised they send me such trees because on their website it only say 4 in 1.
You have a very nice selection of fruit trees. I don’t see a high quality white flesh nectarine, I recommend any of the following: Arctic Star, Arctic Jay, Zephyr or Arctic Glo. Alternatively, I would add a honey nectarine like Honey Kist, Honey Halo or Snack Time.
Muscadines do fine in the Central Valley actually. They can get chlorosis if the pH is too high but otherwise aren’t too fussy.
Since it sounds like you’re in a warm part of California, any of the muscats should do well for you. Of the pure viniferas, Muscat Hamburg and Muscat of Alexandria have been around for a very long time and are very good. Italia is hard to find but another very good muscat. The seedless ones tend to have smaller berries but are worth growing if the lack of seeds is important. All will probably need spraying for powdery mildew in order to get a crop.
I really like Golden Muscat, which is a vinifera x labrusca crop and has some mildew resistance. It probably won’t need spraying at all if your summer temperatures routinely go into the 90s and above.
