Home Orchards: Stone Fruit Variety Selection

Currently, no suitable dwarfing rootstocks exist for peaches, nectarines, plums, or apricot that will survive under Pennsylvania conditions. Dwarfing rootstocks have been introduced for cherries. It is doubtful that the available peach, nectarine, and apricot varieties will do well in the colder areas of the state.

Listed in parenthesis is the expected harvest date for Southcentral Pennsylvania. 

Peach Varieties

Harrow Diamond produces a medium to medium large fruit with an attractive scarlet-red skin over a greenish-yellow ground color. The fruit is semi-clingstone. (July 15)

Sugar May is a white fleshed, clingstone peach with firm flesh and good flavor. It is moderately productive but is somewhat susceptible to bacterial spot. (July 15) 

Garnet Beauty is a good early season peach. Semi-clingstone to freestone, very productive, and medium sized. (July 20)

Glenglo™ is an attractive, yellow fleshed peach. Medium large in size, moderately firm, and semi-freestone. This variety has low susceptibility to bacterial spot. (July 25)

Reliance was developed in New Hampshire. Its chief advantage is that it has better than average bud hardiness. The fruit quality is only fair, but if growers are on a marginal site in the state for growing peaches (generally north of I-80) this is one of the few varieties they should try. (July 30)

Saturn is a doughnut peach that produces many tender, sweet, flat, white fleshed peaches. (August 1)

Redhaven is a popular peach variety in the industry. The fruit quality is good, although fruit size may be small if it is not properly thinned. The fruit has above average quality for freezing but below-average quality for canning. (August 5)

Harbrite was released from Agriculture Canada at the Harrow Station. It is a productive freestone with medium to large, round fruit. It has good winter hardiness and is reported to have some resistance to bacterial spot and brown rot. (August 5)

Beekman was a red sport of Sunhigh found in an orchard in Boyertown, PA. The fruit is very firm and of a high quality, and the flowers are very showy and large. (August 15)

Harmony is a productive, winter-hardy variety. The fruit is medium to large and freezes well. It also is sometimes listed in nursery catalogs as Canadian Harmony. (August 20)

Madison is a firm fleshed, high quality peach and is good for freezing. The trees are more tolerant to frost than other varieties and are recommended in northern areas of the state. (August 25)

Cresthaven produces medium to large, nearly round, and very uniform fruit. The color is golden, overlaid with an abundance of bright red. This is a yellow fleshed freestone that shows considerable red around the pit. (August 25)

Encore produces large, 60 to 70 percent crimson-red fruit with a greenish-yellow ground color. Fruit is firm, freestone and ripens in late August to early September.  (September 5)

Nectarine Varieties

Harflame is a medium, dark red–skinned fruit with yellow ground color. Fruit are semi-freestone. The flavor is somewhat acidic but very good. (July 20)

Harblaze produces medium to large fruit with bright-red skin and an orange-yellow ground color. The fruit are semi-clingstone. (July 25)

Summer Beaut is a medium, yellow fleshed semi-freestone nectarine with firm flesh. Flavor is good and acidic. Moderately susceptible to bacterial spot. (August 5)

Fantasia is a large, yellow-fleshed fruit that is firm, and highly colored. The tree is somewhat susceptible to bacterial spot. (August 25)

Plum Varieties

Methley is an early ripening Japanese plum of good quality and appearance. It has round, sweet, very juicy,  purple fruit with a red blush. The flowers are partially self-fruitful, but the addition of Shiro will increase yields. (July 15)

Shiro produces a round, yellow Japanese plum with an occasional pink blush. Although clingstone, the fruits are very juicy. (July 20)

Bluebyrd was developed at the USDA station in Kearneysville, WV, and named for Senator Robert C. Byrd. It is a European type plum. The fruit is firm and sweet with a yellow flesh. (September 5)

Apricot Varieties

Hargrand was developed in Harrow, Ontario. These glossy fruits average a 50 percent orange-red surface blush. The fruit are somewhat flattened but have a mild good flavor. Reports from New York indicate the fruit is resistant to brown rot and bacterial spot. (July 15)

Harogem is a medium-sized fruit that has a bright-red, glossy blush over an orange background. Tree growth is very upright, and the trees are very resistant to cold. Reports from New York indicate the fruit is resistant to brown rot. (July 20)

Harlayne produces a bright-red, blushed fruit, often small in size, therefore requiring careful thinning. The fruit is best suited for fresh eating. Reports from New York indicate the fruit is resistant to brown rot and bacterial spot. (July 15

Tart Cherry Varieties

Montmorency is the number one tart variety and the industry standard. It is productive, but the flowers are susceptible to late spring frosts. (July 1)

Balaton is a new late-maturing tart variety that ripens about 7 to 10 days after Montmorency. The fruit are large and very firm with a red-burgundy, juicy flesh. (July 10)

Sweet Cherry Varieties

Royalton™ produces a large, dark, sweet cherry. It has high sugar levels in the fruit and is somewhat crack resistant. It is cross-compatible with Emperor Francis, Kristin, and Ulster. (June 20)

Kristin was introduced from Norway. The fruit average 1 inch in diameter. It is of a good quality, combining good flavor and high sugar content. It has moderate resistance to rain cracking. (June 20)

Emperor Francis produces a large, high-quality cherry that is resistant to cracking. It can be used either for brining or for fresh use. The fruit has an attractive red blush over a yellowish background. (June 25)

Hartland™ is an early season, crack-resistant black cherry. It is a vigorous tree that crops consistently. (June 25)

Ulster was introduced from New York, and produces a medium-sized, firm, dark-skinned, dark-fleshed cherry. (June 25)

Hedelfingen is a medium-large, firm, good quality black cherry with moderate resistance to cracking. Trees are early bearing and very productive. (July 5)

Self Fertile Sweet Cherry Varieties

Blackgold^TM is a late mid-season, self-fertile, sweet cherry selection developed by Cornell University. This is the latest-blooming sweet cherry in the Cornell collection and it has remarkable tolerance to spring frost. Its primary use is for fresh eating. (July 5)

Symphony was introduced in 1997 from British Columbia, the fruit are bright red and mature late in the season. The fruit are moderately sweet and very large. Of the varieties released from this program, it has shown better rain cracking resistance. (July 10)