Came across this. Maybe it has been discussed here? Don’t think i’ve seen it.
http://horttech.ashspublications.org/content/21/6/767.full
Twelve peach (Prunus persica) cultivars, six apricot (Prunus armeniaca) cultivars, two japanese plum (Prunus salicina) cultivars, three european plum (Prunus domestica) cultivars, four sweet cherry (Prunus avium) cultivars, and three tart cherry (Prunus cerasus) cultivars were monitored for winter damage at New Mexico State University’s Sustainable Agriculture Science Center in Alcalde, NM (main site), and the Agricultural Science Center in Los Lunas, NM (minor site), in 2011. Uncharacteristically low temperatures on 1 Jan. and 3 Feb. were recorded as −7.2 and −11.3 °F, respectively, at Alcalde, and 4.8 and −13.9 °F, respectively, at Los Lunas. On 10 Jan. at Alcalde, live peach flower bud percentage varied by cultivar, ranging from 11% for Blazingstar to 25% for PF-1, and 85% to 87% for Encore and China Pearl. Apricot flower buds were hardier, with 70% survival for ‘Perfection’, 97% for ‘Sunglo’, and 99% for ‘Harglow’ on 10 Jan. By 10 Feb., almost all peach flower primordia were discolored, with no cultivar showing more than 1% survival. Based on this information, the 10% kill of flower buds for most peach cultivars occurred at temperatures equal to or slightly higher than −7.2 °F, and 90% kill occurred between −7.2 and −11.3 °F. On 10 Feb., 0% to 15% of apricot flower buds on spurs or shoots of the middle and lower canopy had survived. For vigorous shoots in the upper canopy, apricot flower buds on 1-year-old shoots had a higher blooming rate than those on spurs of 2-year-old or older wood. Flower buds of japanese plum were also severely damaged with less than 0.2% survival for ‘Santa Rosa’ and 4.8% for ‘Methley’, but european plum were relatively unaffected with over 98% flower bud survival for ‘Castleton’ and ‘NY6’, and 87% for ‘Stanley’ after −11.3 °F at Alcalde. Cherry—especially tart cherry—survived better than peach, apricot, and japanese plum after all winter freezes in 2011.
Keep in mind that they had a warm spell in late Jan when temps were between 50F-60F… Those buds probably lost their winter hardiness after that and would have been smoked by those negative teens…
On 1 Jan. 2011, the chilling hour accumulation was 766 h and 1010 h on 3 Feb. 2011 at Alcalde. So, the chilling hours had not been met for high chilling requirement cultivars on 1 Jan., but on 3 Feb., most cultivars had received enough chilling hours. At the end of January, the high temperatures reached 50–60 °F for 5–7 d at both locations (data not shown), which could make the flower buds more vulnerable to the early February freeze, especially those cultivars with a low chilling requirement.
Blazingstar does not like cold…i have no idea what China Pearl…
2 Likes
Drew51
March 25, 2016, 1:29pm
#2
More info is always good, thanks!
Some of these are North Carolina varieties. They are on my list should my Redhaven not cooperate.
https://yancey.ces.ncsu.edu/peachtreevarietydescription/
There is also this publication to come out of MSU after the 2014 polar vortex v 1.0 winter.