Mt homegrown peaches: mystery peach on the left, apricot-size Oregon Curl Free to the right.
Indian Free Peach; most unusual and very late season
Growing peach trees organically can be a real challenge in the Pacific Northwest, but with the renewed interest and recent introduction of varieties that are resistant to the dreaded peach leaf curl, the tide is turning on being able to pluck a fresh grown peach from your home orchard. Ironically, Vashon Island used to celebrate a peach festival some 60 years ago (likey made possible through the use of chemical sprays).
I don’t want to spray squat, so I’m always on the lookout for Peach Leaf Curl (PLC) resistant varieties that thrive in the cool, wet 50-75 degree growing season of the Maritime Northwest. It’s important to note that the young trees will initially suffer a bit with bouts of PLC, but as they mature their resistance seems to kick in and prevail. Here are some promising peach trees that I’ve planted so far with links to nurseries that I’ve ordered from:
PLC resistant varieties, planted Maritime NW, Zone 8
As of September 1, 2008 for young trees planted 2-4 years ago:
- John Muir: moderate growth, leaves slow to appear, minor curl, no fruit set
- Oregon Curl Free: steady growth, leaves good, very minor curl, nice fruit set, peaches small, taste sweet with tart edge, nice fall color
- Avalon Pride: steady growth, leaves good, minor leaf curl, no fruit set this year (a great performer when I lived in Seattle, very sweet).
- Autumn Rose: planted bareroot this spring, leafed out with a bit of leaf curl, new growth moderate
- Indian Free:
- 2007 – vigorous growth, leafed out with minor leaf curl, nice fruit set, harvested 6 small peaches on Oct. 2, superb flavor, gorgeous burgundy flesh.
- 2008 – vigorous growth, beautiful ornamental blossoms, no leaf curl, harvested 30 medium to small peaches Oct. 12, thick fuzzy skin almost brown in color, juicy fruit, deliciously tart when shy of ripe, when ripe bursts with flavors of blackberry, plum and peach.
- Q-1-8: white peach: vigorous growth, slow to leaf out, minor leaf curl, no fruit set.
- Charlotte: slow steady growth, slow to leaf out, minor leaf curl, no fruit set
- Kreibich Nectarine: vigorous, healthy growth, fully leafed out, very minor leaf curl, very young tree no fruit set
- Mystery peach: transplanted from a garden where peaches had no place (gasp!); good growth three years later, no leaf curl, and two of my best peaches so far.
With varied site placement taken into consideration, I’d have to say I’m encouraged by all of these trees, though John Muir is struggling with its less than desirable placement near a towering wild cherry tree. I may have to move it during dormancy next winter.
I’ve had good luck with the following nurseries and their PLC resistant peach trees:
Take a look how these Peach Leaf Curl varieties did the next season in My Peach Tree Report for 2009.
27 responses so far ↓
1 Renae // Sep 11, 2008 at 3:24 pm
wow! mystery peach looks like a winner.
2 Miffy // Sep 12, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Peaches are without a dribble of a doubt, my all time favorite! Peachaliscious! Thanks T!
3 Sustainable Seed // Feb 8, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Wow, the color on your Indian Free is totally different than ours here in Northern California. I would love to trade seed with you. Also, never heard of Oregon curl. Other than small in fruit, it produces well?
4 Tom // Feb 9, 2009 at 2:18 am
I’d be happy to save you some seeds, sorry it has to be October before that’s available. I think the Oregon Free will get bigger, as I didn’t really thin them last year. Oregon Curl Free is one of the best producing peaches along with the Indian Free and Avalon Pride. My trees are still young and I look forward to better results this year.
5 Larry D. Cook // May 31, 2009 at 6:06 am
…chances of getting any scion wood or budwood?
6 Åke Truedsson // Jun 15, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Hello There,
I’m also very interested in curl free peaches over here in Sweden. Possible we could exchange budwood in end of July?
I have Frost (orange flesh big Sept), Benedikte (orange flesh big Sept) and Riga (white flesh small July) and some on trial. Our climate could be similar.
7 Gill Fournier // Jul 24, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Very interesting!
Can any of these be acquired in Canada? If not where can I purchase some? And, could they be hardy to Zone 6?
Ever heard of Siberian peach?
I live in eastern Canada – in area by Bay of Fundy between New Brusnwick and Nova Scotia. I have grown Nectarine and peach as well as pear and apple. As we are in a maritime wet envrionment I do get peach leaf curl on my cultivars and am trying to find better suited ones for this climate.
Hope you can help.
Gill
8 Tom // Jul 29, 2009 at 4:16 am
Hi Ake, I sure appreciate your offer but am not set up to send scion wood. There are a lot of hoops to jump through from the US Dept of Agriculture and I don’t know that my trees don’t have some fungus or bug you don’t want in Sweden, but I’ll keep sharing information.
9 Tom // Jul 29, 2009 at 4:36 am
Gill I’ve never heard of a Siberian peach, though I have seen a Manchurian apricot.
I don’t know of cultivars for your climate or nursery sources, but like I told Mable, check out http://www.gardenweb.com in forum section and do a search for peach trees Canada or something like that.
Here are a couple links where they talk about fruit trees in Canada; it’s a start.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cangard/msg071635285748.html
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/farnorth/msg0618122316579.html
10 Marcia // Aug 5, 2009 at 4:22 pm
We purchased a Blood Peach tree about 3 yrs. ago. Finally got fruit this year after fighting the dreaded leaf curl with neem oil spray(it’s natural and it works, you can also use copper spray.), and it looks just like your mystery peach, but the fruit is hard as a rock so now we need to find out why that happened. I am sooo! looking forward to getting some fruit we can eat someday, can’t give up now.
11 Tom // Aug 5, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Marcia, on my ‘blood’ peach tree the fruit doesn’t ripen until October. It too is rock hard until then. It seems like they will never ripen and then one day boom, they plump up and are ready to go, but again that’s early October on my tree in Puget Sound region.
12 Gill // Aug 13, 2009 at 1:04 am
Thanks for the info Tom.
If anyone in Canada has seed for peach leaf curl resistant cultivars, please adivse. sSee would alos be fine.
13 Gill // Aug 13, 2009 at 1:14 am
Sorry about the spello’s above. I meant to say that seed would be fine as well, if it can be shipped. (I would pay for the shipping of course).
14 rowena // Aug 13, 2009 at 1:31 pm
GREAT post! Our peach tree has pulled through that bout with plc so we’ll give it another go, making sure to mulch around the base and well, generally taking better care of her
I think that first year where we had no plc problems at all made us think that we never ever had to worry. Now we know!
15 Tom // Sep 4, 2009 at 1:53 am
comment from Bruce B. — how are your trees doing in 2009? Good question. I’ll post results shortly.
16 Peach Tree Report 2009Update on Leaf Curl Resistant Varieties // Sep 6, 2009 at 5:28 pm
[...] 2008, I posted the peach season’s results for my young peach orchard, and will offer up the results for 2009 below: Peach resistant [...]
17 Fionna // Sep 12, 2009 at 11:30 pm
The Indian Free variety looks a lot like a variety we have here in New Zealand commonly called Blackboy Peaches. My Aunt had a large tree in her Christchurch garden some years ago, and I have bought another from a road side stall hoping for fruit exactly like the ones you describe: dark, plumy, tart and late fruiting. Love to hear more about your trees, and any advice you might have for a novice fruit tree gardener.
18 Kansas // Sep 23, 2009 at 4:33 pm
NRSP-5 has Newhaven and Mayflower scionwood.
Usda.ars has two un-named leaf curl resistant cultivars-budwood.
Through internet searches: Villa Ada and Cresthaven have some resistance. One Green World has Early Charlotte. Muir was available through Burnt Ridge Nursery.
19 Tom // Sep 23, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Thanks Kansas– good info, thanks for sharing!
20 Kansas // Oct 9, 2009 at 2:31 am
ars.usda also has Gold Drop,Rogany Goy and Tuscan Cling/Tuskena with leaf curl resistance. Cannot vouch for any as I only have Kreibich and Charlotte fruiting…and will have to beat the squirrels to them next year.
Some of my fave fruit tree sources are Whitman Farms-custom grafting too, Raintree and Bay Laurel. Spearheart Farm/ Nick Botner in Yoncalla OR for scionwood.
21 Tom // Oct 9, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Kansas great info! Is your Charlotte peach white? Mine was, but that makes me wonder if it was mistagged by the nursery.
22 nicola // Mar 24, 2010 at 8:16 pm
thank you, I finally know the type of peach I had in my backyard growing up in Sacramento, Ca. It was an Indian Free. Yours look and sound exactly the same. I have never had another piece of fruit that came close. They kinda spoiled me. Worst yet nobody believes me when i tell them the flesh was purple with no yellow and rarely a little whit around the pit. They just laugh it off. I don’t know a lot about growing peaches but would love to buy a few viable seed if possible. Thank you for your time.
23 Tom // Mar 25, 2010 at 12:09 am
Hi Nicola, of course, but I won’t likely have seeds until October. I do know that Dave Wilson nursery supplies the trees and tells you where to find them at local nurseries: http://www.davewilson.com/homegrown/get_trees.html
24 June // Jun 3, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Hi Tom – the big guy’s just sitting here with his morning coffee planning our Oregon Coast orchard …4 years away (Type A personality)LOL. Thanks so much for the information.
25 Tom // Jun 3, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Hi June, if I could only learn to plan so well. Can’t wait to hear more as the plan unfolds.
26 Peach Tree Report 2010: Neither Peachy, Nor Keen // Oct 13, 2010 at 12:49 pm
[...] Peach Tree Grow Report 2008 [...]
27 Avalon Pride: Sweet Peach With a Nice Nose // Aug 17, 2011 at 1:05 pm
[...] Peach Leaf Curl Resistant ( a huge plus for the Pacific Northwest) [...]
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