The Apricot

Apricot is a stone fruit that (in my opinion) no home should be without. While they are not the easiest fruit to grow in areas where spring weather fluctuates, in the seasons that the blossoms do survive the last frosts, the tree provides some of the juiciest semi-tart fruit that you could imagine. Last year was one of the unfortunate years that my blossoms were frozen in early spring from a late frost. Nearly all of the stone fruit trees that I had suffered from this event last season.

I have since added more apricot trees in an effort to spread this risk round a bit in hopes that I will still get a healthy harvest of apricots in the coming seasons. I now have three apricots in my yard: ultra-dwarf Royal Blenheim, semi-dwarf Gold Kist, and a semi-dwarf Early Autumn.

First weekend in March and this
Royal Blenheim is almost in full bloom

The Royal Blenheim is the first apricot tree that I planted in the summer of 2008. In 2010, it produced a healthy harvest of around 60 apricots that I ate fresh and made into sauces or jams. I especially enjoyed them over my morning pancakes. This tree is planted on a Southeast facing corner of a block wall. It is one of the first trees that you see when you walk into my courtyard, and it looks very picturesque during all seasons. This season it has begun flowering in mid February and does not appear to have suffered from frost at this point. I expect fruit on this tree to be ready for the picking around the end of June.

Beginning of a Gold Kist apricot
free-form fan espalier

The Gold Kist apricot is my first attempt at an espalier. Espalier is a technique of growing a tree along a 2 dimensional plane. I have chosen to espalier this tree against the South-facing back wall of my fireplace. My intention is to keep it more of a natural fan shape to accent the characteristics of the apricot branches. This tree looks as if it will produce fruit this season, however, since I planted the tree early last season, I intend to pinch off any fruit to promote branch development the current season. It is currently blooming at the beginning of March, and if I let the fruit develop, I would expect them around the beginning of June.

The newest apricot - Early Autumn

The Early Autumn, was just planted on the 2nd of March 2012. Most apricots produce early in the season, but in my search for the right fruit trees, I found a later blooming and later fruiting apricot tree that produces in August. It was the logical choice for my yard because it allows me to have some of my favorite type of fruit later in the season. This one is placed in a north west corner of my block wall. The wall is only 5 feet high so growing the semi-dwarf tree to a height of 8-10 feet will provide the tree with plenty of sunshine for a nice harvest. I doubt there will be a harvest next year, but we shall see how the tree grows over this first season.

For pruning these trees, I try not to prune off too much growth because they seem to produce on spurs from older growth and on the tips of last years growth. I found the best way to see what can be pruned is to wait until the tree blooms and then just try not to prune off the blossoms unless I am trying to encourage new growth. For tips on pruning, I recommend The Pruning Book by Le Reich. It has been very informative for pruning of all types of plants.

Apricots

Nothing quite so elegant as soft white blossoms among gnarled craggy branches

Fruit combination of sweet and tart with only the juiciest flesh

Leaves of summer shimmer on the tree like aspen

Gnarled branches are picturesque in winter



A single Royal Blenheim apricot blossom in mid February



So I leave you with this; an apricot is not the easiest of fruit trees to grow, but it has been one of the most rewarding for me. I hope sharing my apricots with you has inspired you to try one in your yard.

-Desert Orchardist