Apples & Peaches in Tucson?
By Lois Lockhart
The pleasure of sinking your teeth into a crisp apple or a juicy peach that has just been pulled off the tree in your landscape is now possible in Tucson. Fruit and nut trees have been developed that will bear fruit which requires only 500 hours or less of chilling temperatures, or below 45° F and dormancy hours need not be continuous.
APPLES: Anna needs a pollinator such as Dorset Golden and ripens in late June. Dorsett Golden ripens in mid June to early July. Fuji and Fuji Red ripens in September. Granny Smith is a green apple that ripens August to September. Shorter apple trees are called Spur Apples and are better suited for smaller planting areas. A Granny Smith Spur will ripen in September-October.
APRICOTS: Autumn Royal ripens in September. Blenhiem is large and juicy and ripens in late June. Golden Amber produces fruit in mid-June to mid July. Royal is medium sized, ripens in late June to early July. A dwarf Apricot, Garden Annie is about 10 feet tall and ripens in early June.
CHERRIES: Since Cherries require more than 700 hours of chilling, few are recommended for the valley. But English Morello is self fertile, is tart, and ripens in late July.
FIGS: Fig trees are drought tolerant, require few hours of chilling, and will set fruit through out the summer. Black Jack, Black Mission, Brown Turkey and White Kadota are among the 100 varieties suitable for home gardening. Italian Everbearing is a large bush form.
JUJUBE: Li ripens earlier than Lang. Another name for Jujube is Chinese Date. Trees grow to 15-20 feet with attractive shiny leaves, and they like desert heat.
NECTARINES, DWARF: Southern Belle grows to 5 feet, and ripens in August. Necterina is 5-6 feet tall, and ripens in late July.
NECTARINES: Goldmine has large freestone fruit, and ripens in early August. Panamint is a medium freestone fruit that ripens in early July. Sunred ripens in mid May to early June.
PEACHES, DWARF: Bonanza reaches 4-5 feet and ripens in June. Flory is also a freestone reaching 5 feet, and ripens in late July. Southern Flame is 5 feet high and ripens in late July. Southern Rose is 4-5 feet high, and ripens in early August.
PEACHES: Freestone: Babcock and Giant Babcock, both white & juicy, ripens in early July. Desert Gold is yellow and ripens late April to mid May. Earligrande is yellow, and ripens late April to late May. Early Amber ripens in May with yellow flesh. La Feliciana has yellow flesh with red flecks and ripens late June to early July. Rubidoux ripens in late August and has yellow flesh. Shanghai, with white flesh, ripens in late July. Springtime ripens in mid May, white flesh,
PEARS, DOMESTIC: Will need cross-pollination, but these are resistant to fireblight. Comice is large with green-yellow skin, and ripens in August. Fan-Stil is medium size with yellow skin and ripens in August. Moonglow is large with brownish-green skin, is a good pollinizer, and ripens in early August. Pineapple is a large, russet skin, with pineapple flavor, and ripens in August.
PEARS, ASIAN: Most are self-fertile in home gardens. Hosui with golden russet skin, is medium size and ripens in late August. Shinko, medium size with brownish-green skin, ripens in mid August to mid September. Tsu Li has oval fruit, medium to large size, good aroma, and ripens in early September. Pollinate with Ya Li. For good fall color, plant Ya Li. It ripens late August to mid September. Pollinate with Tsu Li.
PLUMS, JAPANESE: Burgundy has a small pit, self-fertile, and ripens in early July. Casselman is large purple, is self-fertile, and ripens in early August. Santa Rosa is a large, oval purple, is self-fertile, and ripens in early August. Weeping Santa Rosa, is semi-dwarf 8-10 feet, and ripens in July.
PERSIMMONS: Fuyu (Jiro) will ripen in November with large round fruit.
POMEGRANATES: Wonderful as a shrub or tree to 20 feet, ripens in September.
GRAPES: Both Flame and Thompson Seedless are good table grapes. Flame ripens in late July, Thompson in early August.
BLACKBERRIES: Black Satin is thornless, disease resistant, and ripens in July. Olallie is sweeter and less tart, ripens in late May to early July.
BLUEBERRIES: Southern Highbush are self fertile with three varieties, Cape Fear, Georgia Gem and Sharpblue.
RASPBERRIES: Bababerry is a red everbearing, with large fruit, and ripens in early summer.
STRAWBERRIES: Sequoia is everbearing, blooms within 10 weeks of planting. Tioga has very large fruit, is a tall plant, and needs very little fertilizer.
ALMOND: All-in-One has large to medium nuts, soft shelled, grows to 15 feet, and is self-fertile.
PECANS: All will need a pollinator. Mahan has very large nuts with soft shell, and ripens in November. The tree provides good shade. Western Schley has a large nut with a soft shell, is a large tree, and ripens in October. Wichita is medium with a soft shell and ripens in October.
PISTACHIO: Pistachio trees are not too difficult to grow in Pima County. However the elevation should be high enough to receive 800 to 1000 hours of 45 degree weather each winter. And you need a bit of room because one male tree, variety Peters, is needed to pollinate 4 or 5 female trees, variety Kerman. Also heed the direction of the wind on the property as the male must be planted upwind from the females. If you really would like to grow pistachios, see Bernie at the Arizona Pistachio Nursery, 742-2241 and purchase a booklet for $6.
Be sure to speak with the garden center about exact information on planting trees, vines and bushes. Trees will require 20 to 25 feet of space each, except the dwarf trees. Grapes and berries need to be 3-4 feet apart. Hopefully your landscape will accommodate at least one of the fruits or nuts that will produce fruit in Tucson.
Sources of information: Arizona Pistachio Nursery; California Cooperative Extension Service; L. E. Cooke Co, Wholesale Grower; Magic Garden Nursery; Tortolita Mountain Nursery.
Lois H. Lockhart is a Master Gardener, a Master Composter, and a member of the Tucson Organic Gardeners.
Email the author at gardengoddess@qwest.net gardengoddess2@msn.com
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