My top five favorite fruits (that I have grown)

I am going to make an ongoing thread regarding my hierarchy of fruits. These are all varieties that I have personally grown in my yard. I am going to first list everything I have grown or currently grow. Afterward, I will list my top five. I am not including berries into my list as this would require too many varieties and complicate matters. I am comparing fruit at their very best, even if this is for a very short window.

Fruits I have grown:

Plums/pluots/pluerries:

  1. Shiro (tasted multiple years) β€” Removed
  2. Methley (tasted multiple years) β€” Removed
  3. Flavor King (tasted multiple years)
  4. Flavor Supreme (tasted single year)
  5. Emerald Beaut (tasted multiple years)
  6. Candy Heart (tasted multiple years)
  7. Weeping Santa Rosa (tasted single year
  8. Sweet Treat (tasted multiple years)
  9. Santa Rosa (tasted multiple years) β€” Removed
  10. Elephant Heart (tasted single year) β€” Removed
  11. Toka (tasted multiple years) β€” Removed

Peaches/Nectarines:

  1. Harko (tasted multiple years) β€” Removed
  2. Mericrest (tasted multiple years) β€” Removed
  3. Indian Free (tasted multiple years) β€” Removed
  4. Red Baron (tasted multiple years)
  5. Silver Gem (tasted single year)
  6. Double Jewel (tasted single year)
  7. Necta Zee (tasted single year)
  8. Garden Gold (tasted single year)
  9. Garden Delight (tasted single year)
  10. Honey Babe (have not tasted)
  11. Gold Dust (tasted multiple years)
  12. July Elberta (tasted multiple years)
  13. Messina (have not tasted)
  14. Arctic Jay (tasted multiple years)
  15. Arctic Glo (have not tasted)
  16. Sweet Bagel (tasted multiple years) β€” Removed
  17. Spring Snow (have not tasted)
  18. Rio Oso Gem (tasted multiple years)
  19. Baby Crawford (tasted single year)
  20. Blazingstar (tasted single year)
  21. Honey Blaze (have not tasted)

Asian Pear:

  1. Oharabeni (tasted multiple years)
  2. Hosui (tasted multiple years) β€” Removed
  3. Chojuro (tasted multiple years) β€” Removed

Figs:

  1. Ronde De Bordeaux (tasted multiple years)
  2. Panache (tasted single year)
  3. Col De Dame Blanc (tasted single year)
  4. Figo Preto (have not tasted)
  5. Strawberry Verte (have not tasted)
  6. Brooklyn White (have not tasted)
  7. Galicia Negra (have not tasted)
  8. I-258 (tasted single year)
  9. Col De Dame Roja (have not tasted)

Top Five:

  1. Baby Crawford Peach – Superb peachy flavor and sweetness. Both my wife and I agree this is the best piece of fruit we have grown. Tree is on citation. The year we tasted this fruit it was the second year the tree had been in ground. It had a small to moderate crop.

  2. Red Baron Peach/Indian Free Peach – This is a tie. I actually think these 2 pieces of fruit taste similar. Both have outstanding flavor and sweetness when ripe. Both also pack a nice bit of acid. I prefer the early season of the Red Baron, so if I had to choose 1 tree it would be Red Baron. The flowers are also a bonus.

  3. Panache/Col De Dame Blanc – I love the green/yellow figs with the red jammy inside. They are delicious. No need to really add more here. To me these pieces of fruit taste very similar.

  4. Silver Gem Nectarine – When I was thinking about this list of I was thinking about my favorite bites of fruit over the summer. The surprise I got when I bit into this piece of fruit was noteworthy. Balanced fruit with excellent flavor and texture. Will be excited to try this more in coming years. This tree had a crop of only 1 fruit, so this is really TBD.

  5. Emerald Beaut Plum – The last spot goes to my favorite plum. Some years this fruit won’t totally ripen, but when it does it is fantastic. You can eat it crunchy and sweet or let it ripen and it becomes dark yellow on the interior with an almost peach like flavor.

That’s it for now!

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Thank you for posting this! Out of curiosity, you culled your Santa Rosa plum but kept the Weeping Santa Rosa plum. Any particular reason?

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I am in full agreement on Baby Crawford Peach. I look forward to this peach more than any other fruit.
Too bad my tree got terrible leaf curl and made no fruit this year.

Panache is also great, but I give VdB an edge over it, although they are different experiences and both are wonderful.

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I just wanted to try new varieties. I removed the Santa Rosa and put in the weeping. The fruit is very similar overall. The biggest difference is the weeping habit (Which I kinda like)

Thanks!

Any update two years later? :blush:

I would re order as follows.

  1. Baby Crawford on citation
  2. Flavor king pluot on citation
  3. Messina Lovell/ Red Baron peach on citation
  4. Silver gem nectarine Lovell
  5. Figo Preto fig

Notable mention: garden gold peaches (miniature) were excellent this year. Strong peach flavor like Baby Crawford. Excited to try many new varieties next year if weather allows.

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How do you like your garden delight mini nectarine?

It’s OK. It’s in a fairly shady spot in my yard, so not sure if my experience is accurate. Flavor was good, but sweetness was lacking.

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