Peach flower bud

General Fruit Growing
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Hi

I would like to ask what kind of flower buds peaches have? I looked on internet about peach flower buds information. It is easier to write this with pictures I found on internet so I put links to the internet site. I have Red Heaven peach tree and I found on internet from southwest Michigan from Bill 7.4.2015 that peaches are in swollen bud, so they are not yet flowering there :

Same information for Western Michigan :

Bill said there is some damage to peach trees there, some said they have enough flower buds for good crop.

I wrote those because it is good to know what growing state other peaches is now so that you can think when your peaches starts growing. Also I have some idea how much Michigan is ahead me.

This link from Michigan shows temperature thresholds with images for peaches and other fruit trees in different flower bud states :

Michigan peaches seems to be first stage based on this information.

Here is update to 14.4.2015 situation :

Here is few peach images from South Carolina :

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/peach/faq/what_temperatures_cause_cold_damage_to_peach_flower_buds.html

I looked my peach tree and it looks like my peach buds are dormant. Buds are small and looks like they are closed. I don’t know does my peach tree have flower buds or not. I think not because I planted it in 2014 so it might too young to have flowers.

One more link from Michigan which shows peach branches :

It would be good if my peach tree survived last winter. Based that Michigan is just getting peaches to flowering, means I think my peach might made winter. I guess my peach may start growing about 1 month later so maybe about may 2015 i can see my peach to grow. It is too early yet to tell how my peach did this winter. My peach branch looks like something like last link red branch.

Does peaches have flower buds only in bunch, leaves only in bunch or both flower buds and leaves in bunch? When looking that peach in that picture which have red branch in Michigan text says two flower buds in center have begun swell. O.K. I see center bud. There seems to be 3 buds in center, 1 in left side of it which is thicker than middle one, 1 in middle which is thinner and 1 in right side of it which is thicker. So are those thicker lower buds in left and right flower buds and middle is leaf bud? So they have 3 buds in bunch? 2 flower buds and 1 leaf bud? Are those flower buds going to make 1 or 2 peach? Or can they have other arrangement too? It said beginning to swell, are flower bud and leaf bud looking same way in dormancy? When I looked my peach I saw 3 something on some branch. They are really small, something like that in South Carolina first image, maybe that image was taken close to it so it looks bigger in image than actually is. They are in grey in color or something like that. My peach branch looks like that of Michigan red branch, do you know what those other buds are in that image? Do you know before buds starts to growing do you have peach flower buds?

I think we had warm winter 2014-2015, although not as warm as 2008 so I can be hopefully my peach surviving, i think that flower buds looks good to me and red branch of peach tree. I think i don’t see winter damage and had net for protecting it from rabbit. Also there was snow cover during coldest time. Now my peach tree don’t have any snow cover, but growing season starts in few weeks or so here. So i think my peach tree is still dormant as i don’t see change of flower buds based on those images. I think i stop here, let’s see what you can say about this.

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I have also been eager to determine if buds on my various fruit trees are flower buds or leaf buds. I was so curious that I picked twigs from several kinds and put them in glasses of water indoors so I could watch the buds swell. One plum tree that I thought might have died last fall has opened a couple blossoms so far, which was exciting. I examine the twigs closely several times a day, since I have been sick and unable to get out to the orchard that often.

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Dennis,

Peaches can have just about any type of bud arrangement, as one of your links shows. The most common is three buds together, with the two outside buds being fruit buds and the middle bud being vegetative, but it can be any combination. There are also a lot of bud arrangements with two buds (one a fruit bud and the other a vegetative). Most of the time if there is just one singular bud at a location, that bud is a vegetative bud. For young trees like yours, if you see single lone buds, they are almost always vegetative. Vegetative buds are not as fat as fruit buds.

You should be able to easily tell if your tree survived. In my experience, young peach trees shrivel badly if they didn’t make it through winter. The wood looks dead. It’s not quite the same with older peach trees which die during the winter. They can look pretty normal, but just won’t leaf out in springtime.

One other thing which can prevent a young peach tree from leafing out is too much water in the spring. The soppy roots will simply die and the tree won’t leaf. As I recall, you are from Scandinavia. I’ve never been there, but my impression is that there is a lot of precipitation, so watch out for water-logged soil.

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I think Dennis is on Finland. That is one cold place! I think some of my fruit buds are OK, but not positive yet. They are swelling now, and it looks like some are flowers, still hard to tell. My nectaplum has red leaves, so the vegetative buds look red too.It had some dieback. I may end up pulling this tree if it is damaged badly. Last year it died back to just above the rootstock. It looks better this year as some buds are for sure alive. Still all scaffolds might not have made it, time will tell.

Drew in Michigan

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Olpea hi

Thanks for the information. I think i saw on internet peach flower buds can have different arrangement, but wanted to still ask it. I think it sounds O.K. that most common is three bud using common sense. You said " in my experience, young peach trees shrivel badly if they didn’t make it through winter". Can you say in detail what you mean by shrivel if they die in winter young peaches? I think i have idea about, dead wood looks black? I am from Finland. I think we don’t have as much rain as you say. I think water logging tolerance depends on rootstock. I have my Red Heaven peach on Prunus Institita which plum rootstock. In U.S.A. common Lovell peach rootstock which is peach rootstock Prunus Persica, don’t like much water logged soil, plum rootstock tolerate better way water logging. I think soil type affect how easily soil gets water logged.

Drew51 Hi

I am from Finland. I think winter 2014-2015 was quite warm as i said. I think we are not as cold as you might think, we are are warmer than can be thought based on our location. What fruit trees you have there? What fruit tree is swelling now, peach tree? You mentioned nectaplum tree, i looked on internet it is nectarine plum so not peach tree. Is it Asian plum or European plum? It seems to be from California. There are some concerns growing western U.S.A. peach/fruit trees in eastern U.S.A. Disease issues. Some California peaches do well in eastern U.S.A. like White Lady peach tree. Did you check what was the hardiness of this tree? You might tell us how things progress in this spring.

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The Spice Zee Nectaplum is from Zaiger genetics. Creator of Pluots, apriums, etc. It is hardy to zone 6. Yet appears to be barely hardy here. I will know more soon. The plum part is Japanese. It appears to be more nectarine than plum, I have 2 other trees from Zaiger. The 4 in 1 pluot. Appears to be very hardy. No dieback at all. And Arctic Glo nectarine. It is a high acid fruit, and those interest me more. It also appears fine. Proven to grow well here too. I also have Indian Free and Paul Friday Lucky 13. Paul Friday is a breeder from Michigan. I also have 15 Cornus mas trees aka The Cornellian cherry. 14 are in a hedge. I have a White Gold, and a Glacier cherry tree. Coming this year is a Weeping Santa
Rosa, A Nadia Cherry-plum hybrid from Australia. And a Satsuma plum.
I also have a bush cherry from the Romance series called Carmine Jewel.
An excellent tart cherry tree or bush.
It usually is not cold enough to damage peach fruit buds here. But the last two years it has been. We got down to -16F this year.

Here is a photo of the nectaplum

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That’s a nice looking Spice Zee,Drew.When the Winters stay a little warmer,there is going to be a lot of fruit. Brady

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nice looking tree drew, but damn…that milorganite is really doing doing some great things for that lawn. I bet that stuff is a pia to bag when you mow…it looks so juicy! Very nice.

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LOL! I have a mulching mower. I’m going to try Turf Trust this year. Probably the best lawn food made. Although as noted the milorganite works well. I have moved the grass back some on this tree last fall and this spring put leaves around and covered with compost.
The tree is interesting because this is late summer, in spring and early summer the leaves are all red. They turned to green late here. Just not as hot. In CA this tree is mostly green all summer. I’ll take a shot when it’s leafed out for the record. The tree has three scaffolds. Two are going to be grafted on most likely. It’s going to look strange then, but I will have more variety in fruit.

The grass is thick, man I was cutting out a circle for Nadia and the Satsuma plum today. I only got as far as the Nadia. I moved the grass to a bare spot my dog made in the backyard. The sod was too heavy to move by myself.I used a wagon. I’m getting old too! It kicked my butt! It’s only spring too, the grass has yet to be cut (any second now). I live on a court and no doubt my grass is the greenest on the court. The milorganite works well, and still is from last fall! The sod was extremely thick! Thank goodness the Weeping Santa Rosa is going in the garden! The trees will be here May 1st.

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Dennis,

The dead wood isn’t necessarily black, but more like it’s dry and the bark is somewhat shriveled. A scratch test would reveal brown vs. green bark underneath.

Plum rootstock is indeed more water tolerant than peach roots.

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Drew51 hi

I think Zaiger made many peach varieties. You are from Michigan, in Detroit which is zone 6 when I looked temperature data but near zone 5-6 border line. So if this Nectaplum is zone 6 fruit tree it is just for in for your zone but not leaving much space for temperature decline. You said plum is Japanese plum, I think those are not as hardy as European plum and it think it said those bloom before European plum. I think that can make tree more susceptible than peach tree. You said it is more of nectarine tree than plum, in what way? In peach tree how they look or in fruit taste way? Pluot looks to be plum and apricot hybrid. You said 2 peach variety that Paul Friday is that those variery called pf- something? Cornelian cherry, are those fruit trees, I think they are listed as ornamental. I think they are not fruit trees as usually fruit trees are rosaceae and this is not. You said White Gold and Glacier cherries, those looks to be sweet cherries. You have 2 trees so they can pollinate each other. I think there has been some problems in eastern U.S.A. with sweet cherries about cracking in rainy weather. Also birds seems to like sweet cherries. Did you got any sweet cherries? Nadia cherry plum hybrid, what this is? Some kind hybrid of Japanese plum and sweet cherry or what kind of hybrid? Satsuma plum is Asian plum, do you have pollinator for it? Carmine Jewel is tart cherry, do you like this kind of fruit? It is not as sweet as sweet cherry. About this image, do you know why it have red leaves? What is purposes or red leaves instead of green leaves? I think I have seen on internet some peaches on some rootstock have red leaves, although i don’t know meaning of this why they have red leaves.

That is little cold temperature for peaches. Where did you got your temperature reading? From weather station in nearby airport? I think you told you are in Detroit or little bit north of it. I have told solar cycle 24 it can have bad impact to world temperature, as we might get global cooling. It is sun thing, also it is looks it is not only solar cycle 24 which is weak solar cycle, also following solar cycle 25 looks weak, if it forms at all. You said it usually is not cold enough to damage peach fruit buds here. Good to hear that, What is this usually time? From 2008 or past 6 years or what? What time period you had peach tree? So you usually don’t have this kind of cold?

Olpea hi

O.K. for information. I think I need to wait and see how my peach is processing. We need to get growing season to begin first.

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The leaves are peach like, and the fruit resembles any other nectarine. I have not tasted one but am lead to believe that they taste like nectarines.
Yes, I live near Detroit. 8 miles north.

Yes Pf-Lucky 13 is what I have.

Here’s a photo of the fruit. It tastes like a tart cherry. Great as a syrup, to flavor say pancakes, or to use in ice cream. Makes a good jam too. The fruit has loads of pectin. A rather large pit, hard to process. A traditional fruit of Iran used to marinate meats. Much like we use cranberry or other fruits with meat. The wood was used to make arrows. It is now used to make tool handles. It’s heavy and dense, the wood will not float in water. It is native to the Middle East but is very hardy, must be from a mountainous region. Use is documented for thousands of years.

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Here is a photo of a tree from the internet. About 25 different cultivars exist. Shapes and sizes and even color of fruit varies. I have 3 different cultivars. One has yellow fruit. Size can be from 12 feet to 30 feet depending on cultivar.

Here is a yellow fruited cultivar
http://www.raintreenursery.com/Yellow-Fruited-Cornus-Mas.html
Other cultvars
http://www.whitmanfarms.com/category/allplants/ornamental-plants/dogwoods/cornus-mas/

Yes

http://www.thepacker.com/fruit-vegetable-news/Cherry-plum-hybrid-advances-in-Europe-Washington-199931741.html

They are 35 miles away from each other. Glacier is at my summer home. Both are self fruitful.

Yes, a Weeping Santa Rosa plum.

Yes, it is better for cooking. For a tart cherry Carmine Jewel has high sugar levels. Still not the best for fresh eating. used to make pies or syrup,to flavor dishes. Much better for cooking with than sweet cherries.

No, not really? A plant with red leaves probably has higher than usual amounts of
anthocyanins, But chlorophyll is still present and at work.

From the closest weather station about 6 miles away
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Sterling+Heights&state=MI&site=DTX&lat=42.58&lon=-83.0305

No, the past 2 years have been really cold, but we usually hardly ever go below 0F in the winter, and if we do only a few degrees.

Yes, not ripe yet. I get cherries every year, and yes they can crack badly.
They are hardier than peach trees. Fruit buds were fine.

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Drew51

You mean you have not get fruit yet from nectaplum? Maybe this year. I think there is many of those pf-lucky peach variety. That is too far away, good you found out if your sweet cherry is self fruitful or not.

You wrote " No, the past 2 years have been really cold, but we usually hardly ever go below 0F in the winter, and if we do only a few degrees."

What you mean by usually? Do you mean only few days in year or what?

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Yes, sorry I will try and keep phrasing simple. I work with a lot of people from Europe on various musical projects. Many think my writing style is rather primitive, but over the last 20 years of working with people who speak English as a 2nd language I try to keep my words simple and direct. Apparently I failed here!

Yes no fruit from the Nectaplum yet, I may have fruit this year, as it appears some fruit buds are OK on my other trees. I can’t tell yet on the nectaplum if it has fruit buds or not? buds are still small.

Yes the PF series has many peach trees. The idea is to have fruit all through the growing season. The small numbers like pf-5 fruit early in the season. The numbers like pf-24 fruit late in the season. PF-13 is mid-season. Only PF-13 is called lucky. Here the number 13 is considered bad luck. Paul Friday was way ahead of BYOC idea about trees fruiting throughout the season. Not like Zaiger or DWN invented the idea. The idea of having fruit all season is older than i am!

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Drew51 hi

You can tell us how your fruit trees progress. Yes you can have many peach trees if you have varieties available and growing season is enough long. Baby Gold peach varieties also has those numbers that way bigger number is later ripening variety. What you had in mind saying “past 2 year have been really cold”? You just said what or was there something behind those words? You might know something what I think about solar cycle 24, sun and coming situation of sun based on what I know how sun have been changed it activity in past times.

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Hi

Sorry i forgot write few words for my message. “You just said what or was there something behind those words should have been” should have been You just said what kind of winter you had in past 2 years or was there something behind those words?

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No we had double digit negative numbers the last two years. Normal years we go below zero maybe 5 times all winter and it is say -2F or -4F. Not that bad. Yes the current solar cycle I’m sure does not help. But local weather is more influenced by what the jet stream is doing. This year the west had a very warm winter thanks to being south of the jet stream most of the winter. Michigan was north of the jet stream and we remained in the cold air most of the winter. All around a strange winter this year.
Peaches usually grow really well here. We have been hit hard the last 2 years. Somehow though I have flower buds, some anyway. How many were killed I’m not sure? I don’t have that much experience with fruit trees. I’m very excited, now to keep them alive and away from fungus, insects, birds, and squirrels. So I made it to 1st base, but home plate is a long ways away!

Every 10 years we do have very cold winters. So the weather is not completely unusual. Although it seems to be very bad. I don’t ever remember it being this cold. And historical records show bad winters about once a decade. Hopefully it will be another 10 years before it becomes this cold again! Yes, the solar cycle may have contributed, but that influence is more longer term, I suspect overall the earth will continue to cool like it has for some time now. Apparently the long term trend (100 year) we are warming, but the last 20 years we have been cooling. Still warmer for the 100 year period. That soon may change though if this keeps up! All temps have done this many times. To me the weather is the weather, happened before, will happen again. Nothing new or unusual.
Look at the headlines from 1970, looks like today!
http://www.c3headlines.com/global-cooling-dataevidencetrends/

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I thought about putting Milorginate on my lawn. I suppose it would be fine if my spreader flung some onto my trees mulch beg.

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Yeah I only use fertilizer on my lawn. So if it strays on the trees, no big deal. Also as stated Milorganite is now approved for gardens. I hand pick weeds out. If the grass is growing well, it pushes most weeds out. I know a few are really bad, like Creeping Charlie, but I have never seen that here.
I suppose I might spray that if I had it. Ever hear of phragmites? It’s an invasive reed like grass that is killing all the cat tails here. Out competing them. I have property up north with these beasts, and round up is called for here. Spread by risomes, a hard to kill invader.
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/aquatics/commonreed.shtml

I was just clearing a spot on the lawn for my Nadia Cherry-plum hybrid. The stuff is wet, thick and heavy! I’m moving the grass to bare spots my dog made. Some snow mold damaged the grass here. I piled the snow in this spot. I’m going to have to find another next winter. I figure best to get this out now before it starts really growing!

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My Nectaplum is loaded with flowers and they are just about ready to bloom… hopefully i can give a review on them at the end of summer. high hopes!