Scott's Orchard Blurb

I am a fruit experimenter, in search of the best and most problem-free fruits I can grow in my yard. I use close planting systems in order to fit many varieties in a small space. I have found 3' to be a good close spacing for most fruits (4' is better for Euro pears and Euro plums); regular summer pruning is needed to maintain trees at a close distance. I use a minimal spray program and I don't want varieties that I need to baby, I don't have the time for that.

Here is my varieties list as of Winter 2015/2016. The *'d ones are recommended. I rotate out the ones I don't like so most of the ones not starred I am waiting for more data on; I have already removed more than 50 apple varieties that did not work out. If you want to see what the orchard looks like, here are some pictures I took in Spring 2012.

PS: check out our fruit growing forum at growingfruit.org!

Apples Abbondanza, *Adams Pearmain, American Golden Russet, American Summer (Pearmain), Apricot, Aromatic Russet, Ashmead's Kernel, Bedford Pippin, Belle Fille, Belle Fleur de France, Belle de Boskoop, Belle de Pontoise, *Black Limbertwig, *Blenheim Orange, Brushy Mountain Limbertwig, Bonne Hotture, Calville Blanc d'Hiver, Campfield, Caney Fork Limbertwig, Catherine, *Cherryville Black, Chestnut De L'Estre, Doctor Mathews, Early Joe, Enterprise, Esopus Spitzerberg, Fall Pippin, Fall Russet, *Freyburg, Gilpin, Ginger Gold, Golden Nugget, Golden Russett, **Goldrush, Gravenstein, Grimes Golden, Hall, Harrison, *Hawaii, **Hooples Antique Gold, Horneburger Pfannkuchen, *Hubbardston Nonesuch, Hunge, Hunt Russet, Ingrid Marie, Jefferis, Keener Seedling, Kentucky Mountain Limbertwig, **Kidd's Orange Red, King David, Lady Sweet, Lamb Abbey Pearmain, Laxton's Fortune, Magnum Bonum, Margil, Melon, MonArk, Mother, **Mutsu, Myers Royal Limbertwig, NY 74840-1, **Newtown Pippin, October Gravenstein, Old Nonpareil, Oliver, Orenco, Pecks Pleasant, **Pitmaston Pineapple, Pixie Crunch, **Pomme Gris, Pristine, Pumpkin Sweet, Rambour d'Hiver, Razor Russet, **Reine des Reinettes, Reinette Clochard, Reinette Gris Parmentier, Reinette d'Armorique, Reinette des Carmes aka Downton, Reinette du Mans, Roxbury Russett, **Rubinette, Sandow Sansa, Seedlings, Shizuka, *Smokehouse, Spigold, State Fair, Steeles Red, Summer Queen, **Suncrisp, Swaar, Swayzie, Sweet Sixteen, Swiss Orange, Transcendant, Tumanga, Vandevere, Viking, Virginia Beauty, Wagener, Waltana, Weisser Wintertaffetapfel, *White Winter Pearmain, Wickson's Son, Winesap, Worcester Pearmain, Yates, Young American, Zestar.
I started out growing many European cider apples but none of them were reliable enough; they are particularly prone to rots and fireblight, and they have less flavor than when grown in a cooler climate. Cider apples for the mid-atlantic need to be later varieties and not of European cider apple type. I also trialed many English and French heirlooms; most had problems but a few of them worked very well. Now I am trialing southern heirloom apples; they are more reliable in my climate.

Pears Aurora, Belle Lucrative, Bergamotte, Beurre Giffard, Beurre Gris, Beurre Superfin, Blakes Pride, *Chojuro, **Doctor Desportes, Drippin' Honey, **Fondante des Moulins-Lille, Glou Morceau, Grand Champion, Harrow Delight, Harrow Sweet, *Hosui, Josephine des Malines, *Kosui, Lantai Jujuli, Louis Bonne des Avranches, Magness, Marie Louise, Meigetsu, Nouveau Poiteau, *Nye Russett Bartlett, *Olympic, Seckel, Sheldon, *Shin-Li, *Shinsui, Sueri Li, Tennosui, Tyson, Urbaniste, *White Doyenne, Winter Nelis.

Peaches and Nectarines *Athena, August Flame, Baby Crawford, Carolina Gold, *Clayton, Early Crawford, *Ernie's Choice, Fantasia, Flamin'Fury PF 11, Flavortop, *Foster, *Gold Dust, Heath Cling, Hong Chi Zhi, Indian Cling, *Indian Free, *John Rivers, *Kit Donnell, *Late Crawford, Mericrest, *Nectar, *O'Henry, Okubo, *Oldmixon Free, *Pallas, Phil's Twin, Rochester, Qui Xiang Mi, *Red Baron, *Rio Oso Gem, *Sanguine Pilat, *Sanguine Tardeva, Salwey, Sanguine de Chateauneuf, Sha Zi Zao Sheng, Shui Mi Tao, St. John, Summer Beaut, Sunglo, *Winblo, *Zin Dai Jiu Bao.
Peaches are one of my most rewarding crops, its a lot of work to keep the squirrels and bugs off of but the taste is sublime.

Japanese Plums and plumcots AU Producer, AU Roadside, AU Rubrum, *Earli Magic, Elephant Heart, Emerald Beaut, *Laroda, *Lavina, *Purple Heart, **Satsuma, Shiro, Superior, Sweet Treat Pluerry, **Weeping Santa Rosa, *Spring Satin, Hesse.
Most pluots are either too prone to rot or don't set any fruit. Spring Satin has been reliably good, provided it is adequately thinned. Hesse is looking promising. Flavor Grenade works well but its taste is too much like kid's candy for me so I pulled it. Flavor King is similar in taste to Flavor Supreme; it sets better but rots more easily. It was in a bad spot so I removed it.

European Plums Bavay's Green Gage, Coes Golden Drop Plum, French improved, *Golden Transparent Gage, Imperial, Jefferson, *Middleburg, Pearl, Reine des Mirabelles, Valor.
All of these have rot problems for me. The later ripening ones do the best.

Sour Cherries Montmorency.
I tried some of the newer types but good old Monty is much tastier to me.

Bush Cherries Romeo, Juliet, Crimson Passion

Sweet Cherries Black Eagle, *Black Gold, Black Tartarian, Early Purple Guigne, Regina, Reverchon, Sandra Rose, Waterloo, *White Gold.
Sweet cherries don't like hot weather and have problems for me with cankers, rots, bugs, birds, and splitting. I like White Gold because the birds are not as interested in white fruits, and the tree is also reliable. Black Gold is also a good cherry.

Apricots Afghanistan, *Florilege, Habiju, Hoyt Montrose, Lasgerdi Mashaad, *Moniqui, *Orangered, Paiwand, Shalah, Stark Sweetheart, Sukphany, **Tomcot, Ultra Orange, *Zard.
I am growing many white apricots to find a good one or two. They take much longer to come into bearing so you need to be patient. The Hunza apricots are similar - very long to come into bearing.

Jujubes Black Sea, Bu Luo Shu, Da Bai, Dong, Hana, **Honey Jar, Mei Mi, Redlands #4, Shanxi Li, Sihong Li, So, Tae Seoul Jo, Xu Zhou.
I have been having lots of problems getting fruit set on jujubes. Its not clear if its my climate or the amount of sun; I am currently trying new varieties in new spots.

Asian Persimmons 20th Century, 5-Sided, Aizu Michirazu, Chocolate, Huk Gam, Jiro, Kyung San Ban Si, Maru Wye, Miss Kim, OC Maru, Rojo Brilliante, Saijo, Vaniglia, Yotsumizo.
Hachiya lasted 12 years for me but died in winter 2015. It is the least hardy of all the persimmons I tried.

Grapes Faith, Golden Muscat, Gratitude, Hope, Joy, Jupiter, New York Muscat
I need seedless grapes for fresh eating (few people anymore tolerate seeds) and the new Arkanses grapes are ahead of all the others in terms of flavor and texture.

Muscadine Grapes Black Beauty, Darlene, Ison, Sugargate, Supreme, Tara.

Arguta Kiwis *Annasnaya, Smith 2 male, 74-46 male, Myer's Cordifolia, *Ken's Red.
I had more of these but my kids never liked them, they have a "green bean" component to the flavor. Ken's Red has none of that and is excellent. Unfortunately it has root problems.

Chinensis and Deliciosa Kiwis Blake, *El Dorado, *Saanichton, California male, Seedling males.
These guys take temps down to 0F with no problems at all. The main issue for me is getting varieties that will ripen in time; the most common one, Hayward, will not ripen in time. I put my Saanichton in the fridge to ripen until February, at which point they are great-tasting. El Dorado is similar.

Pawpaws 275-56, Marias Joy, NC-1, Overleese, Rappahannock, Rebecca's Gold, Shenandoah, Sunflower, Susquehanna, VE-21.

Figs Alma, Atreano, *Battaglia Green, Brunswick, Celeste, Col de Dame Blanc, Col de Dame Noir, Excel, *Hardy Chicago, Kathleen Black, Marseilles Black VS, Maryland Brown Turkey, Ronde de Bordeaux, Sal's #1 / EL, Violette de Bordeaux, Vista.
VdB is not hardy enough, it dies back every few years. Celeste and Hardy Chicago are very reliable. Atreano is no good, it goes from unripe to mush overnight.

Mulberry Kokuso, Illinois Everbearing, Rupp's Romanian

Pomegranates Al Sirin Nar, Austin, Bala Miursal, Inhulsen 14, Kaj acik anor, Kazake, Medovyi Vasha, Nikitski Rianni, Russian Hardy EL, Sakerdze, Salavatski, Surh-anor.
Angel Red and all the soft-seeded poms died back and did not come back. I still have not gotten reliable production as the bad winters of 13-14 and 14-15 killed all the poms to the ground.

Gooseberries *Poorman.
I didn't have good luck with other gooseberry varieties, they lacked sweetness and flavor compared to Poorman.

Black Currants D-8, *Minaj Smyriou.
Minaj Smyriou has been far superior than all the other black currants I tried, it is excellent.

Blueberries Atlantic, Bluecrisp, Brigitta, Herbert, Ivanhoe, Jersey, Olympia, Oneal, Ozarkblue, Rubel, Sierra.

Red Raspberries Josephine, Nantahala

Black Raspberries *Bristol, *Jewel

Blackberries and hybrid berries Black Diamond, Boysenberry, Columbia Star, *Kotata, NZ 9351-4, NZ 9671-1, *Newberry, Obsidian, Onyx, **Orus 2711-1, Orus 2816-3, Orus 2816-4, **Osage, *Siskiyou, *Triple Crown.
I prefer the taste of "west coast" blackberries such as Marion, but it is not hardy enough for me. So, I am trialing several of the new western berries to find a few that are both hardy and tasty. So far failures include Black Diamond (runts), Black Pearl (not hardy), Metolius (taste mediocre), Tayberry (goes from too sour to mush so it has no good picking window), the NZ's and Orus 1431-1 (heat-adverse). My current favorites are **'d, they are very hardy and tasty.

Hazelnuts Jefferson, Santiam, Theta, Yamhill

Pecans Caddo, Kanza, Peruque.