I'm in zone 6 and am interested in planting some peach, apricot and fig trees. I am not much of a gardener, but am sick of trying to buy decent apricots and peaches in the store. I can buy figs locally, but they are .94 cents each. When I was a kid growing up in L.A. we could pick slightly green apricots from the tree in the alley and they tasted great. Nowadays the apricots are like tasteless rubber for $3 a pound. The peaches in the store have the fuzz buffed off and they are waxed with anti fungals and pesticide mixed into the wax. Most of the store bought peaches rot before the ripen. In any case, I've been shopping around for some fruit trees and see a big difference in prices. Some companies charge $29.95 for their peach trees others are $7.95. Are the more expensive fruit trees better? http://www.naturehills.com/new/product/ ... White+Lady Any net sources you can recommend for buying good fruit trees? Are white peaches easy to grow and low maintenance? Maintenance is a big concern to me, as health and time issues limit me in this area. What about apricots as far as hardiness and ease of growing? Can I raise a fig tree in zone 6? Thanks for your help.
I'm in zone 7 and was surprised recently to discover there were fig varieties that would not only grow here, but would produce usable fruit - I'd always associated figs with much warmer areas. They are hardy to about 10 degrees, and need sun and shelter from cold winds. If you wanted to grow one in a large pot so you could prune it back a bit and bring it in for the coldest part of winter, it might work. Elberta is a reasonably good hardy peach, and there are probably other varieties that will ripen with the shorter warmth. Apricots are very much like peaches, so where one grows the other most likely will too, but a late frost in the spring can eliminate your fruit crop for the year - you'll need to plant in a sunny, sheltered place if possible, or be prepared to cover it if a late frost threatens.
