peach identification
 

I purchased a home in the Chicago suburbs and have a tree that appears to
be a peach, but am trying to identify what kind. Currently in early May
it has slender red leaves and little red flowers with pink hairy things.
The reddish yellow fruit has been small enough the past 2 summers that I
almost thought it was an apricot, but that apparently has a different leaf
shape and I think requires a warmer climate. I have pruned it, but maybe
need to thin out the forming fruit for remaining fruit to get larger.

It certainly seems to grow well in this area, there were many sprouts this
year from dropped fruit pits. Since the existing tree is too close to a
fence, I transplanted the best 2 year old sprout to a better location with
more space around it. Time will tell if I did that right.

Does anyone know of a good web site to help identify type of peach?

Hi David,
Your best hope is to wait for the peaches to mature. That at least will tell you if it
has certain characteristics, like red/yellow flesh, freestone, etc. I think trying to identify it
by it's trunk or leaves would be much more difficult. No books come to mind with illustrations.
You may try checking the libraries at the Chicago Botanic
Garden or Morton Arboretum, who may have such books.

Sherwin D.

David Efflandt wrote:

I purchased a home in the Chicago suburbs and have a tree that appears to
be a peach, but am trying to identify what kind. Currently in early May
it has slender red leaves and little red flowers with pink hairy things.
The reddish yellow fruit has been small enough the past 2 summers that I
almost thought it was an apricot, but that apparently has a different leaf
shape and I think requires a warmer climate. I have pruned it, but maybe
need to thin out the forming fruit for remaining fruit to get larger.

It certainly seems to grow well in this area, there were many sprouts this
year from dropped fruit pits. Since the existing tree is too close to a
fence, I transplanted the best 2 year old sprout to a better location with
more space around it. Time will tell if I did that right.

Does anyone know of a good web site to help identify type of peach?

Hi again David,
Just noticed something else in your posting. I also live in the Chicago area, and my
Apricot tree has already produced small marble size fruit, whereas my peach trees are still in the
blossom stage. Also, if your peach tree was pollinated by one of your
neighbor's peach trees, those sprouts won't be the same as your original tree.

Sherwin D.

David Efflandt wrote:

I purchased a home in the Chicago suburbs and have a tree that appears to
be a peach, but am trying to identify what kind. Currently in early May
it has slender red leaves and little red flowers with pink hairy things.
The reddish yellow fruit has been small enough the past 2 summers that I
almost thought it was an apricot, but that apparently has a different leaf
shape and I think requires a warmer climate. I have pruned it, but maybe
need to thin out the forming fruit for remaining fruit to get larger.

It certainly seems to grow well in this area, there were many sprouts this
year from dropped fruit pits. Since the existing tree is too close to a
fence, I transplanted the best 2 year old sprout to a better location with
more space around it. Time will tell if I did that right.

Does anyone know of a good web site to help identify type of peach?

sherwindu wrote:
....................Also, if your peach tree was pollinated by one of your
neighbor's peach trees, those sprouts won't be the same as your original tree.
...................................

Even if it wasn't pollinated by another tree, the seedlings will not be
exactly the same as the original tree.

David,
I'm too far north to grow a peach tree but I grew up in Ohio and my
parents still live there. They sometimes save some seedlings and the
peaches from them are quite edible. Not usually quite as good as a named
variety and sometimes not as disease resistant but there's nothing wrong
with growing up some seedlings to see what you get.
By the way, I own several apricot trees. The hardiest of the apricots
are far more hardy than any peach. They aren't much like the fruit from
less hardy apricots. Smaller and no fuzz at all. Every several years, I
get a really big crop and they are nice to have.

Steve (in the Adirondacks, where even the apricots aren't ready to bloom
yet)

On Tue, 10 May 2005, John Savage wrote:
(David Efflandt) writes:
It certainly seems to grow well in this area, there were many sprouts this
year from dropped fruit pits. Since the existing tree is too close to a
fence, I transplanted the best 2 year old sprout to a better location with
more space around it. Time will tell if I did that right.

Does anyone know of a good web site to help identify type of peach?

It might be a seedling, i.e., a peach of no particular known variety that
has grown from a discarded seed. It need not follow the genetics of just
its parent tree. The fact that it is badly positioned too close to a fence
tends to support this: that it is growing where a seed/stone fell and not
where a good gardener would have planted a young tree. Does it have any
visible grafts?
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

Sometimes people plant things not knowing how big they will get, like when
my boss planted tree near his garage that was supposed to be a dwarf, but
ended up growing up and around the overhang. Oops!

There is no noticeable graft on the peach tree, so it is possible that it
grew naturally. Peaches are self pollenating and the seedlings looked
just like the original tree (same red colored leaves and flowers now). I
have not noticed any similar trees nearby. Maybe the family of squirrels
in my neighbors Maple ate my peaches last year and planted their pits.
Not sure where the corncobs came from that the squirrels leave lying
around (I am in a city).

I pruned back the transplanted peach, it has not wilted yet, and is still
standing after stormy weather.

I do have a large maple out front that was apparently grafted, looks like
half Crimsom King and half Sugar Maple (red leaves one side, green leaves
other side).