Frost has been our best performing peach. We’ve tried many different peaches. We have one nice big red haven tree that seems to have been an outlier to the others that were planted. Seems like Veteran is almost identical to frost, but a week later. Its seems promising as well. Got first year fruit in a Salish Summer. It looks like a good grower, but the fruit texture is a bit mushy for my taste.
Camano Island , WA
I think my peach tree that was on the property when we got it 16 years ago was also Redhaven. I’ve propagated it to others to keep it going, but it fits the description.
The peaches taste better and have a better texture than the Frost but the pits split, more them are mis-shapen or rotten and other issues. But they are big and delicious, the fruits, or parts that ripen cleanly. Curl hasn’t been a problem on it, but it gets canker and gumosis - but didn’t succumb to them for many many years for a peach.
Apologies if I’ve said it all before.
My Hana Fuyu has persimmons for the first time! It started with three flowers and dropped one fruit at about dime size, but the other two seem to be doing well. I hope they hold on and ripen in time.
JohnS - Contender is all the rage now in PNW. It can be had just about anywhere and is even being sold in many box stores. Watch out for the rootstock selection though, it is being sold by many nurseries on Citation.
Of the 14 peach varieties i grow Contender is the only one that will reliably produce commercial quantities of fruit every year. Some years some of the other varieties dont produce any fruit. Frost peach has always been a good producer of at least a few peaches in years when others failed but the eating quality of Frost is sub par. Contender is a top quality peach and is a true freestone unlike many others that advertise as such but turn out not to be.
Salish Summer is extremely frustrating, I’m grafting over 15 trees this year. Not only does it turn into one big bruise regardless of what ripeness it’s picked at, it’s yield is terrible. I got about 1,500-2,500 pounds of peaches per 300 foot row off of my 3rd and 4th leaf peach trees this year. Didn’t end up picking any of the Salish other than when I was out working and wanted a snack, but there was maybe only 100 pounds for the equivalent area. It’s a really weird tree too, I have a feeling it’s not very self fertile and blooms so late that nothing pollenizes it. However, the flavor is great, so it does make for a nice smoothie or other processed stuff, but that’s about it.
Contender is sold out at One Green World and $65 at Raintree. Home Depot is just getting a shipment in. $41. I bought one. Thanks for all your responses.
John S
PDX OR
Im not sure if we ever trialed Salish Summer at Mt Vernon but of all the many that we did there was definitely a positive result with later blooming varieties in regards to fruit set. Contender is my latest blooming variety out of 14 and it always performs well.
