Community and Resources for Home Gardens
RETAIL NURSERY VARIETY LIST
The Ecology Center
32701 Alipaz St
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
949.443.4223
Plant varieties ordered from Dave Wilson Nursery for 2021:
Dorsett Golden Apple
Outstanding sweet apple for warm winter areas. Firm, very flavorful, sweet like Golden Delicious. Productive throughout So.CA and Phoenix, AZ. Good early season sweet apple for Central CA. 100 hours. Self-fruitful. USDA Zones 5-10.
Golden Russet Apple
One of the great family orchard apples of 19th century America. Crisp, aromatic, sub acid, creamy yellow flesh with great flavor and legendary sugary juice. Used fresh and for cider, drying and cooking. Ripens about with Spitzenburg: late September/early October in Central CA. Ripe fruit hangs on the tree until frost, fruit stored properly keeps until April. Skin partly to almost completely russeted, varying from grayish-green or greenish-yellow to an attractive golden brown with orange highlights. Winter hardy, vigorous tree, bears mostly on the tips of branches. Medium size. Good disease resistance. Apparently originated in New York as a seedling of English Russet sometime in the 1700s. Estimated chilling requirement 800-1000 hours. Partly self-fruitful, biggest crops with cross-pollination. USDA Zones 4-6.
Mutsu Apple
A favorite of connoisseurs: very large, crisp and flavorful. Late September/October harvest. Pick when green or wait until partly yellow. Large, vigorous tree resists powdery mildew. 500 hours. Pollenizer required: Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji, Gala. USDA Zones 4-8.
Flavor Delight Aprium® Interspecific Apricot
Apricot-plum hybrid. Resembles an apricot but with a distinctive flavor and texture all its own. High taste-test scores, one of the most flavorful early season fruits. Early June. Very low chilling requirement, less than 300 hours. Self-fruitful, but largest crops when pollenized by another apricot. (Zaiger)
Leah Cot Aprium® Interspecific Apricot
Large size Aprium® with deep orange color inside and out. Reliable annual bearer, high flavor and firm texture, ripens mid to late June in Central California, just after Flavor Delight Aprium®. Self-fruitful, required chill 500 hours or less, best in zones 7-10. U.S. Plant Patent No. 21863 (Zaiger)
Excel Fig
Medium sized, yellow fruit with amber pulp. Sweet rich flavor. Resistant to splitting even under adverse conditions. Superb, all purpose fig. Introduced in 1975. Considered very hardy. Self-fruitful. USDA Zones 7-10
Flanders Fig
Medium-sized, long-necked fruit with violet stripes and scattered white specks. Amber to white meat with light strawberry pulp. Rich flavor, split resistant, highly productive. Two crops per year. 100 hours. Self-fruitful.
Panache Fig
Especially fine flavor! Small to medium-sized fruit with green color and yellow Tiger stripes. Strawberry pulp is blood-red in color. 100 hours. Self-fruitful.
Purple Smyrna Fig
Small purplish black fruit with strawberry red pulp. Rich sweet flavor, good for drying or fresh use. This selection does not require caprification (pollination by fig wasp). Required chill 100 hours or less. Self-fruitful. Best in zones 7-10.
Violette de Bordeaux Fig
Small to medium size purple-black fruit with a very deep red strawberry pulp and distinctive, sweet, rich flavor. Brebas are pear-shaped with a thick, tapering neck, main crop figs are variable, often without neck. Medium eye. Excellent fresh or dried. Good for container culture or small spaces. Hardy. Self-fruitful. USDA Zones 5-10.
Pakistan Fruiting Mulberry
Morus alba 'Pakistan'
Long (3 inches), firm, red to black, sweet fruit. Non-staining juice. Month-long early summer harvest. Fruit used fresh and for pies, jams and jellies. Large, vigorous, disease-resistant tree.
Persian Fruiting Mulberry
Morus nigra 'Persian'
Densely foliated tree to 25-30 ft. Large heart-shaped leaves. Large fruit is juicy, dark red to black and good for jam. USDA Zones 7-9.
White Fruiting Mulberry
Morus alba (selection)
Medium-sized, sweet, white fruit shaped like blackberries. Grows at a moderate rate to 20-60 ft. depending on soil quality and depth. Drought tolerant once established. Grows larger and more rapidly with irrigation.
Double Delight Nectarine
Sensational fruit: consistently the best flavored yellow nectarine plus magnificent, double pink flowers. Dark red-skinned, freestone fruit is sweet, with unusually rich flavor. Very high scoring in taste tests. Heavy bearing tree. Harvest early to mid-July in Central CA. 300 hours. Self-fruitful. (Zaiger)
Panamint Nectarine
Attractive red-skinned yellow freestone. Aromatic and intensely flavored with nice acid sugar balance. Dependable, long time favorite in warm winter Southern California climates. Late July/early August. 250 hours. Self-fruitful
Manzanillo Olive
Manzanillo is the classic table olive. It's a large variety that can be eaten both green and ripe black. This variety becomes fruitier and less bitter as it ripens. Moderately cold hardy. Self-fruitful but produces higher yields with a pollenizer.
August Pride Peach
Large, all-purpose yellow freestone for mild-winter climates. Sweet, aromatic, rich flavor, one of the very best. Ripens 3-4 weeks after Mid-Pride. Chilling requirement less than 300 hours. Self-fruitful. (Zaiger)
Eva's Pride Peach
Delicious, fine flavored peach with very low chilling requirement ripens 2-3 weeks before Mid-Pride. Medium to large-sized yellow freestone - also recommended as early season peach for moderate climates - harvest 3 weeks before July Elberta. 100-200 hours. Self- fruitful. (Zaiger)
Mid-Pride Peach
Best yellow freestone for warm winter climates of So. Calif., Phoenix, Houston, S.F. Bay Area. Also recommended for Central CA for its exceptional flavor and dessert quality. Midseason. 250 hours. Self-fruitful. (Zaiger)
Red Baron Peach
Flowering/fruiting. Large, juicy, firm, richly flavored yellow freestone fruit. Highly rated in taste tests. Showy double red blossoms. Mid-July. Long-time favorite in Southern CA and Texas. Low chilling requirement, 250-300 hours. Self-fruitful.
Flordahome Pear
Low-chill pear from Florida. Very nice quality: sweet, smooth-textured, juicy, flavorful. Harvest July/August in So. Calif. Early bloom. Chilling requirement less than 400 hours. Partly self-fruitful.
Hachiya Persimmon
Large, deep orange-red, acorn-shaped. Hot summer required to mature the fruit. Sweet, flavorful, astringent until soft ripe. Mature fruit can be frozen and thawed to ripen. Productive, ornamental tree. 200 hours. Self-fruitful.
Flavor Punch Pluerry™ Interspecific Plum
Small to medium (golf ball size) fruit with orange-red exterior and bright orange interior. Firm texture with unique sweet tropical punch flavor. Late season harvest, September into October. Requires another Pluerry™, Plum or Pluot® as pollenizer. Chilling requirement preliminary estimate 500 hours. USDA Zones 6-9. Patent pending. (Zaiger)
Weeping Santa Rosa Semi-Dwarf Plum
One of the most flavorful, aromatic Japanese plums when fully ripe. Beautiful 8-10 ft. tree, weeping growth habit: long slender limbs bow gracefully to the ground. Easily espaliered. 200-400 hours. Self-fruitful.
Dapple Supreme Pluot® Interspecific Plum
A new low-chill Pluot® for home gardens, Dapple Supreme derives its name from two of the best: Dapple Dandy and Flavor Supreme. With red dappled skin like Dapple Dandy and sweet, dark red flesh like Flavor Supreme, Dapple Supreme is sure to please. Harvest is between Flavor Supreme and Dapple Dandy, mid-July in Central CA. 300 hours. Pollenized by Flavorosa Pluot® or other early blooming plum or Pluot®. (U.S. Plant Patent No. 16412) (Zaiger)
Flavor Grenade Pluot® Interspecific Plum
Elongated green fruit with red blush. Crisp texture, explosive flavor. Taste test winner. Hangs on the tree for 4-6 weeks. Pollenized by Flavor King Pluot®, Dapple Dandy Pluot®, Emerald Drop Pluot® or Santa Rosa plum. 300-400 hours. (Pat. No. 12097) (Zaiger)
Flavor King Pluot® Interspecific Plum
Taste test winner. Unique plum-apricot hybrid with sensational bouquet and sweet, spicy flavor. Reddish-purple skin, crimson flesh. Harvest mid-August in Central CA. Naturally small tree. 400 hours or less. Pollenized by Flavor Supreme Pluot® or Dapple Dandy Pluot® and Santa Rosa or Late Santa Rosa plum. (Zaiger)
Eversweet Pomegranate
Very sweet, virtually seedless fruit. (Even immature fruits are sweet.) Red skin, clear (non-staining) juice. Harvest late summer through fall. Coast or inland. 8-10 ft. arching shrub, or train as tree or espalier. Large, showy, orange-red flowers. 150 hours. Self fruitful.
Parfianka Pomegranate
Large size red fruit is sweet with a hint of acidity. Arils are red with very small edible seeds. Vigorous upright plant sets a heavy crop dependably. Maintain at any height with summer pruning. Consistently receives the highest praise for overall flavor. Great for juice or fresh eating. A Dr. Gregory Levin introduction through U.C. Davis. Very highly rated in U.C.Davis taste tests. Some rate Parfianka as the best tasting pomegranate. Required chill hours 100-200. Self-fruitful, best in zones 7-10.
Boysenberry Thornless
Rubus ursinus var. loganobaccus, a hybrid of blackberry, raspberry, dewberry and loganberry. Very large berry up to 2.5", dark maroon in color with an intense, tangy, sweet flavor. Excellent quality with few seeds and a pleasant aroma. Vine-like trailing growth habit. Harvest through summer. Self-fruitful, best in zones 5-10.
Chandler Walnut
Developed by U.C. Davis. Heavy bearing (bears on lateral buds, not just terminals like Hartley). High quality light-colored nuts. Smaller tree than Hartley, good choice for backyard walnut. Fall harvest. 700 hours. Self-fruitful. (Rootstock: NCB walnut or Paradox.)
Pedro Walnut
Very small tree, less than 2/3 the size of other varieties. Well-sealed nut, similar to Payne, has perhaps the finest-flavored kernel - winner of consumer taste tests. Widely adapted, excellent choice for home planting. 400 hours. Self fruitful. (Rootstock: NCB walnut or Paradox.)
Placentia Walnut
Best of the Santa Barbara-types, selected in the early 1900s. Adapted to mild-winter coastal climates of Southern California. Medium-sized nuts with fairly well-sealed thin shells. Light-colored plump kernel, mild flavor. Est. chilling requirement: less than 300 hours. Self-fruitful. (Rootstock: NCB walnut or Paradox.)
Western Cottonless (Cottonless)
Populus fremontii
Fast-growing to 60 ft. or more, by 30 ft. wide. Shimmering leaves are especially distinctive, ornamental. Widely adapted, including desert. Yellow fall color. Invasive roots. Sunset Zones 7-24.
Burgundy Desert Willow, clump
Chilopsis linearis 'Burgundy'
Small tree grows moderately fast to 20 ft. Long narrow leaves, distinctive crooked trunks with shaggy bark. Open growing, casts light shade. Attractive, large, trumpet-shaped, fragrant, reddish-purple flowers attract hummingbirds. Long flowering season, spring to fall. Sunset Zones 11-13, 18-21. Clump form is a multi-stemmed tree.