Oooh, I’ll add Lasgerdi Mashhad to my list to get, too. Is it freestone?
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Yes, it is free stone.
Such pronouncement are interesting. I cannot imagine any fruit being way better than Sugar Pearls. At a certain level, improvements can only be slight, IMO. Sugar pearls is sweeter than other cots I grow and has a perfect acid sugar balance, but that is as grown where I am. I have noticed that cot texture can vary from site to site in ways I’ve never figured out the cause of. A mushy cot is never going to be good.
I have experimented with lots of different types of fruit and I’m usually most pleased with ones known to do well in my climate- especially if bred for my general conditions and the Rutger’s creations tend to fill the bill. .
Scott was unimpressed with Sugar Pearls, and thought it was bland. My brother in law has been stationed in Afghanistan for almost 5 years and seeks out great cots, but considered the ripe Sugar Pearls he tried form my tree the best he ever tasted. I’m guessing there may be some variability in quality going on.
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I had a Sugar Pearls for several years. It grew, but never produced fruit. I then bought a Westcot for pollination. The top half of the Sugar Pearls died. The following year the bottom half died. Now I have a Westcot that doesn’t produce fruit. Two years ago I planted another Sugar Pearls on another property, along with a Harlayne, I believe it was. We will see if anything comes of it.
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It’s very likely the cultivar varies in quality depending on the climate it’s grown in. A lot of fruit trees are like that – I believe the concept is called terroir?
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yes, its why i value your opinion on what does well for you, we live quite close. though i am a BIT different, so i need to sort of homogenize your favorites and then the people of marylands favorites. and together i get close
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The concept goes beyond general climate and includes all the environmental factors that influence fruit quality, particularly soil, but nearby sites can also have very contrasting air drainage where dew and humidity in general moves at much different rates. I live in a hollow protected from wind where cold and dew linger- Ahmad lives only 30 miles from me or so, but likely on top of a hill. He’s only been there for about 5 years, I think, so also I doubt he can conclusively rate the fruit he is growing… he’s talking about a single graft.
Then there is the issue of scion wood legitimacy.
CHAT’s def-
In viticulture and enology, terroir refers to the full set of environmental conditions that influence wine grapes and, ultimately, the character of the wine. It is broader than just soil and typically includes:
- Soil composition and structure (mineralogy, drainage, depth)
- Climate (temperature patterns, rainfall, sunlight, wind)
- Topography (slope, aspect, elevation)
- Local ecology (microbial communities, surrounding vegetation)
- Human factors tied to place (traditional practices associated with that site)
In French wine discourse, terroir is understood as the interaction between place and plant, not merely a checklist of physical variables. There is no precise English equivalent; the term is commonly used untranslated in technical and commercial contexts.
You are really stretching it to try to grow most apricots where you are. Do you have Sungold and Moongold. The fruit is not great but that is a consequence of breeding them for your climate. They are still quite good when tree ripened and better than store bought from CA that are picked way to green.
I try not to stretch things too much, but I still periodically break down and order things I shouldn’t from time to time. Once in a while I hit a jackpot, but many experiments haven’t panned out. Now I am old, but that doesn’t totally restrain me from trying to grow new things. The Romance cherries and honeyberries have finally panned out very well. Many other things have not, but I don’t want to miss out on any possible fruit I could be growing.
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(Laugh.) Yes, I know the feeling. Sometimes I get things that seem very likely to fail in my climate because you never know . . .! (Wry grin.) Most of the time, the predicted failure happens, but I have been pleasantly surprised a few times, so I think it’s worthwhile to sometimes try things that will probably fail just in case they succeed.
The important thing is to treat such things like experiments: demanding no specific result, simply testing to see what will happen in order to learn something you didn’t know from personal experience before.
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