Xtremehorticulture

Selecting the Best Apricot and Plum for the Desert

Listen to my podcast, “Selecting the Best Apricot and Plum while you read through this list. 

Apricot – Most apricots do well in southern Nevada
and have wonderful flavor

Recommended rootstock: Nemaguard preferred but
others have performed adequately over
the long term.

Top
Choice
·      
Blenheim (Royal) – early
·      
Flavor Delight (Aprium; actually a plum apricot
hybrid but fruit marketed as an apricot) very early
·      
Gold Kist – very early
·      
Moorpark – early
·      
Royal Rosa – excellent landscape tree, very early
Notable Mention
·      
Canadian
Blenheim White
– early
·      
Chinese – early
·      
Early Golden – early
·      
Flora Gold – very early
·      
Katy – excellent landscape tree, very early
Under
Review (Early results are good on all)
·      
Autumn Glo
·      
Early Autumn
·      
Goldcot
·      
Harcot
·      
Tomcot
Aprium – Plum apricot hybrid that does extremely
well in our climate

Recommended Rootstock:
Nemaguard but others have performed adequately over the long term.

Top Choice
·      
Flavor Delight – See apricot since the fruit is
marketed as an apricot, very early


Plum – Plums do well in our climate. The most
common fresh plums are Japanese plums.

Recommended Rootstock: Citation but other rootstocks have performed adequately over the long term.

Top Choice
·      
Santa Rosa
·      
Santa Rosa, Weeping – landscape tree form of Santa
Rosa
·      
Emerald Beauty
Honorable
Mention
·      
Beauty
·      
Burbank
·      
Burgundy
·      
Elephant Heart
·      
French Improved – Prune
·      
Italian Prune – Prune
Under
Review
·      
Catalina
·      
Green Gage – European plum
Plumcot – Apricot plum hybrid
Under
Review
Plum Parfait
Pluot – A very complex hybrid of apricot and plum
that has developed a very high sugar level and complex flavors when tree
ripened

Recommended Rootstock: Citation but other rootstocks have performed adequately over the long term.

Top Choice
·       Flavor King
·       Flavor Queen
Honorable Mention
·      
Flavor Supreme
Under
Review



·      
Dapple Dandy
·      
Flavorosa
·      
Flavor Delight
·      
Flavor Finale
·      
Flavor Grenade
·      
Geopride

2 thoughts on “Selecting the Best Apricot and Plum for the Desert”

  1. Thanks for this! I have a Moorpark apricot tree, and the apricots are really stringy and have become more so over time. Is this a problem with this variety, or do you have any idea what else might be causing it?

  2. I have not had that problem with Moorpark. In my opinion it is good for drying or fresh eating. Maybe try harvesting when they are hard but have color and let them ripen off the tree and see if that helps.

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