Today I started harvesting my first Winblos. This peach lives up to
all of the hype and then some. Just like Lay’s potato chips, you can’t eat
just one. I had to force myself to stop after eating number seven. I know
that may be glutonous, but that’s just how good it is. If you can only grow one
peach, make sure it’s Winblo.
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Damn Ray! I’m gonna have to buy a winblo after than endorsement
If you grow one peach, I say, make sure you have about 7 varieties of the best ones in their season grafted on the tree. Winblo is a fine peach here, but there are many fine peaches and you need a different one every 2 or 3 weeks for a season of fine peaches from late spring to early fall. If you manage this, I bet your favorite will always be the variety that is ripe on the tree.
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Ray, The makers of Charmin love you!
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I have 8 different stand alone trees that ripen sequentially from June
to October, so I’m never void of peaches. But to borrow a phrase from
Dr. Layne, “Winblo is the perfect peach.” I had two more for breakfast
this morning. I’ll have July Prince ripening for the first time in a few more weeks, and if it’s half as good as Winblo, I’ll be in High Cotton, as we say in the South.
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Chikn, I’m used to eating a lot of fruit. It’s about 75% of my
diet. I’ve been eating a couple dozen plums every day for the
past month. Doesn’t bother me at all and I weigh the same thing
I did in college 50 years ago.
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What about it hardiness? I couldn’t find the info about it on the sites they sell it. I am in zone 5. Will it be reliable here?
Thanks Ray for that strong endorsement. On your recommendation alone I am adding Winblo to my list, which only had Gold Dust on it before. Hopefully Winblo is later than Gold Dust? Anyone know?
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It isn’t sold as being cold hardy, but not many peaches are. It has
850 chill hours.and ripens 15 days before Elberta.
I don’t consider Winblo that exceptional here. To me Ernie’s choice is as good in its season but no particular peach stands out that much to me, although there are a few I can count on for some extra brix kick. Glenglow and Goldust (maybe, not sure about its productivity) for pre- Redhaven season- Sugar May before that. I like all the Loring strains about as much as Winblo which give you about 6 weeks between them. PF 28 after that and finish up with Victoria. Maybe further south Winblo performs better, or maybe it is just about individual taste. Scott was not that blown away by Winblo either when we discussed it last season. I ordered Winblo because of the quote you mention.
What is the brix reading of your Winblo and how does it compare to the other varieties you grow- and what ones are they? Down there, I bet you could add a couple weeks beyond what I can do and harvest peaches right through Oct. Do you grow anything as late as Victoria? Further south late varieties actually ripen later than here, believe it or not. Eventually our longer days surpass your warmer ones and earlier springs with peaches as far as ripening dates. At least my late varieties ripen sooner than the same ones in Kansas.
In the end, nectarines are my favorite anyway- higher brix, higher acid than peaches- but more trouble. .
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I don’t measure brix, because it can fluctuate widely depending upon
a number of variables, so it’s not that important to me. All I care about is how something tastes, when I put it in my mouth. The earliest peach that I grow is Harvester ( 21days before Elberta), while my latest is Flameprince ( 12 days after Elberta). Of course these dates fluctuate every year and can be off by as much as three weeks. IMO peaches are more of a Southern fruit, and perform much better in the South. That’s why we ship them all over the place.
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Scott Smith spoke well about Winblofro afew years. I boght mine from Vaungh 3 yera ago but it was a dud. Fortunatelt I grafted its wood to another peach, it took.
Not that cold hardy esp.for zone 5. Hard to find any good cold hardy peach for zone 5 anyway. The usual are Contender, Madison, Reliance.
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Have you tried PF28? I was surprised how flavorful it was when sampling some last season for the first time, even though I’ve grown a few in my nursery for quite a while. Seemed to have more intense flavor than Madison and is a little later. What’s wrong with Redhaven there?
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Brother, your GI tract is waaay tougher than mine. I’d be so devastated I couldn’t even get outta the john!
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Alan, PF28 sounds interesting. I planted a PF lucky 13 this year. has anybody ever tried one of them? How are they?
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Ray, I am quite surprised you have Wimblo ripening now. I am just finishing up Harrow Diamond which is rated at around 45 days before Elberta. Vaughn Nursery rates Wimblo as 15 days before Elberta. My Winblo look to be a couple of weeks away before they are ready.I am also growing Clayton and Challenger which are rated about a week before Winblo and they are not close to ripe either. Its pretty crazy how much variation in ripening dates there can be, even when growing in the similar temperature zones.
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Hard to beat a ripe peach grown in South Carolina!
California is the largest producer of peaches in the country by a huge margin (over 5X), but I have never had a tree ripened California peach. Only eaten those rock hard peaches with no fuzz they ship all over the country. I believe these peaches explain why peach consumption per person is so low and not growing. I would rather try to eat a rock.
On the other hand, I have never had a local tree ripened peach that was bad. If the juice runs down your face when you bite into the peach it going to be good! I really like Rich May, Redhaven, Fire Prince, Winblo and Contender in my climate. Winblo and Contender were developed about an hour from my location so they do very well here (NC).
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Looking forward to that report. I don’t think we’ve talked much about July Prince on the forum.
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I have been out of the Winblo game for several years, my tree got borers not long after it started producing. So I don’t have and recent data on it. It was really good a few years and decent other years. But it may have been under the weather from the borers, and that can effect fruit quality.
I do have a new tree coming along, but the seedling I put it on is a slow grower and its going to be a few more years.
I’m really looking forward to my Claytons this year, it didn’t set many fruits unlike its usual pattern and they are much bigger. Ernies Choice did the same thing. I think both overproduced last year.
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