"Subtropical" decidious fruit

The more I grow fruit, the more I realize that some the best fruit turn out to be local low chill selections. So many low chill varieties that originate in California or other mediteranean climates just turn out to be sooooo good. on the apple front, Anna and Dorsett Golden are absolute winners, very suitable for a sub-tropical palate as they both are very sweet, but not at the cost of loosing that fragrant aroma of fresh apples.

One of our local commercial apple growers has stumbled onto Beverly Hills, which seems to ripen to perfection in our cool coastal low chill climate.

Then on the plum front, my latest discovery, Howard's miracle is simply delicious. Zaiger's low chill cherries, peaches and apricots are reliable producers of very high quality fruit here as well.

our local heirloom apples are also outstanding. "My Jewell" is a fantastic banana flavored apple. "Vanilla pippin" really tastes like vanilla, it's delicious.

I am trying out a few of the Southern California heirlooms, pettingill and Gordon, my pettingill tree is loaded, and seems to be producing good apples.

The only place where low chill varieties have failed me is on the pear front. The low chill pears that originate out of the Southeastern US are really not that good, just gritty and bland.

The bottom line is that there seem to be a plethora of "subtropical" deciduous fruits that are both low chill and full of tropical flavors that are quite deserving to be part of California's subtropical gardens.

The following thread was started by Axel on July 27, 2009 at 3:26 pm PST