Cool,
That’s a good question, and a subjective one. Many people want the best flavored peach. But that’s pretty hard to define as people’s tastes are different. Sugar content of the fruit is generally a pretty big factor but not the only factor for flavor, so it’s hard to single out varieties which please everyone’s palate.
For myself, I try to please my palate, because I find if it pleases my palate, it pleases the palate of most of my customers. This method does get a little less reliable with white peaches, as I don’t really like many white peaches, but some customers do.
For myself, I’ve found most yellow peaches (but not all) will produce a very nicely flavored peach if it ripens without too much rain.
In general, early and midseason peaches are more juicy, whereas late peaches are generally firmer and not quite as juicy. Also early and later peaches tend not to be quite as sweet to me, vs. some of the midseason peaches. Some new peach enthusiasts might read that as not to grow any early, or late season peaches, because they are no good, but they would be wrong.
Early season peaches are harder for me to get the flavor up, because of heavy rainfall when they ripen, but some varieties are acceptable, or quite good. Late season peaches tend to be a little less sweet tasting, but are loaded with peach flavor. Late season peaches, though not quite as juicy as earlier peaches, are still plenty juicy and delicious.
Flavor is just one category in which to base an evaluation. Production is another consideration to me. Perhaps this is less of a consideration for backyard growers, but even for some hobbyists, it’s worth noting.
Some peaches just don’t produce much at all for me, if weather conditions are the least bit challenging. Coralstar is an example for my area (although it should be noted some members of this forum have indicated Coralstar produces abundantly for them, but I have to evaluate how it does here for me).
Lastly, but not necessarily less important, is how the variety tolerates bacterial spot, which is a big issue here, but not so much for many backyard growers.
Some varieties, like the yellow, Sweet Scarlet, and many whites, and California varieties, absolutely suck at bac. spot tolerance. Sweet Scarlet was so bad. I had 5 trees for 5 years and maybe sold a handful of peaches off them. Seriously. Here’s a thread I wrote some about them, if interested:
Back to, “What does one look for in a good peach?” For me, its a combination of those factors mentioned above mostly. I want a peach which is not a dog in flavor (it happens, but not too common), a peach which will produce some crop in adverse weather, and has a fair amount of marketable fruit in high bac. spot disease pressure.
Those are the three biggies for me. However, I might sacrifice one category, if the other two are high enough. For example, I have a peach which I love for flavor, but it’s terrible for bac. spot. That variety I’ve relegated to growing in my backyard (5 trees) because backyard bac. spot pressure is less, and I can easily keep those trees sprayed with an antibiotic. I wouldn’t dare grow this variety at the farm.
In a different category is Loring, which can be very unproductive with adverse weather, but the size and flavor are good enough I have kept them (even though I may change my mind at some point in the future).
So the evaluation gets fuzzy and subjective depending on how much one values a trait over another.
For the Midwest, I would suggest standard size peaches on standard peach rootstocks. Peaches on standard roots can easily be kept at pedestrian height with proper pruning. I do it all the time.
No, it doesn’t depend on variety, but on how the peach tree is managed. Proper management includes a weed free zone past the drip line for young trees, properly drained soil, and a soil with adequate fertility. Here a mulched, and/or tilled soil will produce peaches the third year. Sometimes the second year if a lot of nitrogen is added.
Yes, peaches, and any of the more common fruit trees should be grafted (apple, pear, etc., if you want the variety to have a high chance of producing a top line fruit). A non-grafted fruit tree (to borrow a line) is like buying a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get, which is why we reserve those for Valentines day. The day you want surprises in food (or clothing).
I buy the smallest peach trees possible because I’ve found if I do the things mentioned above, they grow very vigorously. I specifically order the smallest peach trees when I order patented varieties from a nursery.
Slower starting things like apple/pear have an advantage starting out with bigger stock. Peaches, not so much.