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 2020:
Gordon Apple
Popular variety for Southern Calif. Low chilling requirement, about 400 hours. Red over green skin, good quality. For fresh use and cooking. Self-fruitful. USDA Zones 5-10.
Pink Pearl Apple
Unusual pink fleshed, highly aromatic fruit. Medium-sized, cream and pale green skin, sometimes blushed red. Tart to sweet-tart, depending on time of picking. Early fall harvest. Good keeper. Makes colorful, tasty applesauce. Early, profuse, pink blossoms in spring. 600 hours. Pollenizer required. USDA Zones 4-8.
Gold Kist Apricot
Excellent backyard apricot for warm winter climates. Freestone, very good quality. Heavy bearing. Early harvest, 3-4 weeks before Blenheim (Royal). 300 hours. Self-fruitful. USDA Zones 7-9. (Zaiger)
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)
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.
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.
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
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)
Desert Gold Peach
Very early ripening: May in Southern Calif./Arizona. Tree-ripened fruit has good flavor and sweetness for such an early variety. Yellow clingstone. Heavy bearing. 200 hours or less. Self-fruitful.
Donut (Stark Saturn) White Peach
Unique white-fleshed fruit with a sunken center (shaped like a doughnut). Sweet, with a mild flavor described by some as almond-like. Ripens late June/early July in Central CA. Estimated chilling requirement 200-300 hours. Self-fruitful.
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)
Giant Babcock White Peach
From a cross of Babcock and July (Kim) Elberta. Large, red-skinned, white-fleshed freestone. Sweet, aromatic, very similar to Babcock. Excellent dessert quality. Harvest about one week after Babcock. 500 hours. Self-fruitful.
May Pride Peach
Very early peach for warm winter climates. Ripens in May, about with Desert Gold. Delicious, sweet and tangy, semi-freestone when fully ripe. Very large for such an early peach. Large, showy pink blossoms. 150-200 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)
Octoberfest Peach
Large, yellow-orange, firm, freestone peach with blushed red interior. Excellent true peach flavor with a sweet balanced taste. Ripens late season, September through October. Chilling requirement preliminary estimate 500-700 hours. Self-fruitful. USDA Zones 7-9. Patent pending. (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.
Santa Barbara Peach
Bud sport of Ventura peach. Large, red-blushed yellow freestone, red near pit. Performs well in Central and Southern California's mild-winter coastal climates. Midseason harvest. Estimated chilling requirement 300 hours. Self-fruitful.
Tropic Snow White Peach
Delicious white freestone for warm-winter climates: balanced acid and sugar, superb flavor. Harvest begins mid-June in Central CA, about three weeks before Babcock. Showy blossoms in spring. From Florida, introduced in 1988. Very low winter chilling requirement, about 200 hours. Self-fruitful.
Monterrey Pear
Large, round pear with yellow-green skin. Smooth flesh with crisp, sweet flavor. Vigorous low-chill tree from Monterrey Mexico. Ripens Aug-Sept. Self-fruitful. 300 hours USDA Zones 6-9.
Chocolate Persimmon
Small to medium size, oblong, bright red skin. Sweet, spicy, firm, brown flesh, superb flavor the choice of connoisseurs. Astringent until ripe. 200 hours. Self-fruitful.
Fuyu (Jiro) Persimmon
Medium size, flat shape, still crunchy when ripe, non-astringent. Cool or hot climate. Hardy, attractive tree, practically pest free. Fall harvest. 200 hours. Self-fruitful.
Sweet Treat Pluerry™ Interspecific Plum
Sweet Treat is the first of its kind, the Pluerry™: a new fruit type from the genius of Floyd Zaiger. This taste-test favorite is a complex interspecific hybrid, predominantly of plum and cherry, combining the sweetness of a cherry with that summer fresh plum zing. Much larger than a cherry, this precocious and prolific variety will hang on the tree for over a month, and the colorful fruit make Sweet Treat a true ornamental. Tested as 46MB583. Harvest late June through July. Estimated chilling requirement 450 hours. Pollenizer required: Burgundy or Santa Rosa plum, or Flavor King Pluot® recommended. Patent Pending (Zaiger)
Beauty Plum
Sweet, flavorful plum, more widely adapted than Santa Rosa (more productive in cool, rainy climates). Red over yellow skin, amber flesh streaked red. Ripens June in Central CA, a week or more before Santa Rosa. 250 hours. Self-fruitful.
Burgundy Plum
Maroon colored skin and semi-freestone flesh. Sweet, with little or no tartness and a very pleasing, mild flavor. High taste test scores. Prolonged harvest, mid-July to mid-August in Central CA. Very productive tree with narrow, upright habit. 300 hours. Self-fruitful.
Methley Plum
Earliest plum: June in Central CA. Juicy, sweet, red flesh, mild flavor. Reddish purple skin. Attractive tree is heavy bearing and vigorous. Extremely cold hardy. 250 hours or less. Self-fruitful.
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)
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.
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.
Prime Ark Freedom® Blackberry
First thornless primocane blackberry, from U of Arkansas. Large fruit with good flavor, floricane bloom ripens early July. New canes (primocanes) begin fruiting mid-August in years when summer heat is not excessive. For home gardens and local markets; short storage life. Upright growth habit, but may require some support. USDA Zones 5-9. Pat. No. 26990.
Triple Crown Blackberry
Semi-trailing, thornless. Medium to large flavorful berries. Dense foliage prevents sunscald. Vigorous vines to 15’ require support. Very productive, reliable harvests. Widely adapted, excellent home garden variety. USDA Zones 5-12.
Nonpareil Almond
No. 1 commercial almond, the standard of quality. Interfruitful with Price, Mission, All-In-One, Carmel. (Neplus in Northern California only.) 400 hours. Pollenizer required.
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
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.
California Native Sycamore, low branch
Platanus racemosa
Large tree to 80-100 ft. Large, light green leaves, lobed like maple. Mottled, multi-colored trunks due to bark shedding in patches. Tolerates heat, wind, likes deep watering in summer. Sunset Zones 4-24. USDA zones 5-10.
