Thanks to Scott and a few others, I know some great peach varieties I want to try. However, almost nobody seems to carry them, so I’m resigned to grafting my own at some point.
This year, I want to start off with a “starter” tree. As far as companies I can still order from, I had questions about a few varieties and how they’d do in my area (Central Maryland, zone 7):
Kit Donnell
The Flamin’ Fury series
The ‘star’ varieties (Blazingstar, etc).
Hi BG
Some of Paul Friday’s trees and the ‘star’ series can still be ordered from ACN. They show as about having about 50% of these types still in stock. And as far as the Kit Donnell goes, I think I’ve only seen these for sale at the west coast nurseries although I could be wrong about this. Raintree Nursery still shows them in stock but ordering just 1 tree because of the shipping price makes this a killer in the wallet.
ACN Nursey
https://www.acnursery.com/
Raintree Nursery
http://raintreenursery.com/
Grandpa’s Orchard and Nursery sells some Flamin’ Fury and Stellar peaches. They have a fairly good reputation.
Do you recommend any if those varieties for Kansas? I’m in Wichita, first time peach grower. If not, any recommedations?
KU man,
This is an old thread, but I want to give you some guidance. For my part, you might look at my last year’s report. I keep learning as I gain more experience, so my latest guidance is probably best.
Thanks for the link. My grandfather had some Redhaven growing up, they were great when the frost didn’t get them. From your evaluation, it looks like you regard the Redhaven and Blazingstar as the cream of the crop. I like the hardiness of the Blazingstar. Would you recommend one over the other? or any others in particular since we have?
If I had to choose between Redhaven and Blazingstar, I’d go with Redhaven. Blazingstar is a spectacular tasting peach, but it can have problems bearing a crop some years. In that regard, Redhaven is as regular as rain.
If I were just going to plant a couple peach trees, I wouldn’t plant both Redhaven and Blazingstar because they ripen so close together (only 4 days apart). I’d plant a Redhaven and maybe an early peach like Earlystar, or Redhaven and a later peach like Veteran, Madison, etc.
Thanks, Olpea! Is the Blazingstar or Redhaven more disease resistant than the other? I am all about low maintenance. Any apples trees you recommend for our climate?
I’ve found both fairly resistant to bac. spot. In terms of resistance to brown rot, they are both probably about the same, except that some years we are still getting heavy rains as Redhaven ripens. Blazingstar ripens a tad later which makes it perhaps a teeny bit less prone to brown rot. But in all reality, unfortunately, you would probably have brown rot issues with either one, unless you spray a fungicide.
I would also try Contender.
Contender is also a fine choice. Produces like crazy here. I added more of them this year.