Fruits
Home-Grown Fruits for the Front Range
One of our specialties is fruiting plants that are adapted to Colorado conditions. All the apples we carry are resistant to fireblight and good-tasting. And the cherries we sell are all proven successful in Colorado. Our grapes are the hardiest of any you will find and delicious fresh, in juice and a couple are good for wine. And we have currants, strawberries, raspberries, etc.
Fruit Trees
All of our fruit trees are container-grown and have their entire root systems intact and ready to grow (unlike field-dug trees). Listed below are the varieties we already have on hand or on order for the 2010 season. We will bring in additional varieties as they become available.
A Note About Dwarfing Root-stocks:
You may be tempted to choose dwarf fruit trees, but before you make that decision, please read the following. Dwarfing root-stocks are used to make trees smaller. A standard apple tree will grow to a height of 20 – 25′ tall, while the same apple variety on a semi-dwarf root-stock may only reach 12-16′ tall and on a dwarf root-stock only 8-10′ tall. How does this happen? It’s because dwarfing root-stocks make the trees weaker. Aside from keeping them smaller, these root-stocks make trees more vulnerable to drought, diseases, winter dessication, and lean or poorly drained soils. They also weaken the trees’ root-anchoring system and can make trees more prone to suckering.
In other words, dwarf and semi-dwarf fruit trees are not well adapted to the often challenging growing conditions in our region. The more dwarf, the more extra care, water, soil preparation, disease control, etc. they will require. There are many different dwarfing root-stocks used in the trade. We do not carry any trees on dwarf root-stocks, but we do do offer some varieties on semi-dwarf root-stocks that are carefully chosen to be the best available for our area. The majority of the fruit trees we sell are standard, as they are more sustainable and will serve you better in the long run. These should be pruned to produce the best fruits, the strongest structure, and to keep the tree size more compact.
We are adding descriptions as rapidly as we can – check back frequently!
APPLE:
All of our apple varieties are resistant to fire-blight and good-tasting.
This year we plan to offer:
Honey Crisp
Haralson
Cortland
Sweet Sixteen
Renetka
Yellow Delicious
PLUM:
This year we plan to offer:
Stanley
American Plum (Prunus americana)
La Crescent
APRICOT:
This year we plan to offer
Moorpark
PEACH:
This year we plan to offer
Elberta
Red Haven
Reliance
Unnamed Hardy Peach from Cheyenne Station
PIE CHERRY:
This year we plan to offer
Meteor
Northstar
SWEET CHERRY: This year we plan to offer
Stella
Berry Bushes and other Small Fruits
STRAWBERRIES:
Tristar: a really everbearing, day-neutral variety producing from June to frost. Very productive of medium-sized fruits of excellent dessert quality, also good for freezing and preserves. Grows well in the garden and in containers. Hardy to Zone 4
Earliglow: A popular June-bearing variety, very sweet, excellent flavor. The earliest-fruiting variety available. Medium-sized fruits are great for fresh eating, jams and freezing. Longer fruiting season where weather is cooler. Hardy to Zone 5
Mara de Bois: Everbearing, day-neutral. Not your ordinary strawberry, this distant relative of the woodland strawberry is a modern hybrid bred in France from four heirloom varieties, each contributing layers of unique rich aroma, flavor or texture to create a rare balance of sweetness, acidity and musk. The berries range in size from small to walnut-size, with succulent red-orange flesh. Bears heavily May or June through September, and makes lots of vigorous runners.
Fort Laramie: Ever-bearing, bred in and for our region. Very hardy (to Zone 3) and sturdy, standing up to heat and cold. The medium to large firm red fruits are sweet and aromatic, and excellent for all uses. Very productive, good fruit set in both cool and warm weather, self-pollinating.
‘Reugen’ Alpine Strawberry: a superior selection of our native wild strawberry, Fragaria vesca. Ever-bearing, with aromatic, flavorful, sweet 1/2″ to 3/4″ fruits on short runner-less plants, great groundcover for edible landscapes.
CURRANTS:
Ribes nigrum ‘Alagan’ (black)
Ribes nigrum ‘Blackdown’: Large, jet-black, juicy, sweet, flavorful European black currant, great for fresh eating or wonderful preserves. Full sun or partial shade. Hardy to Zone 3.
Ribes sativum ‘Blanca’ (white): selected for sweet flavor, heavy production and frost-resistance. Opaque white fruit in large strings, for cooking and juice. From Slovakia, hardy to Zone 4.
Ribes ‘White Imperial’: Heirloom variety “considered to have the richest flavor of all currants”. Bears clusters of translucent white fruit, early-ripening, hardy to Zone 3.
Ribes silvestre ‘Red Lake’ (red)
Ribes aureum ‘Gwen’s Buffalo’ (black)
Ribes odoratum ‘Crandall’ (black)
RASPBERRIES:
Anne (gold)
Autumn Britton (red)
Fall Gold (gold)
Heritage (red)
BLACKBERRIES:
‘Triple Crown’: Thornless and vigorous, very productive of large sweet fruit. Can be trellised or grown upright – prune to 40″ to 45″. Zone 5
‘Boysen‘ prostrate thornless blackberry
SERVICEBERRIES:
Amelanchier alnifolia
Amelanchier alnifolia ‘Regent’
GOOSEBERRIES:
Comanche
Tasti-Berry (black currant-gooseberry cross)
Invicta: Very large, good-tasting green gooseberries on a very productive plant. Mildew-resistant, very thorny. Great for pies, jams, freezing, fresh eating and crowd control; best with some pruning; needs less watering than other bush fruits. Hardy to Zone 4.
ELDERBERRIES:
York: Sambucus canadensis hybrid variety bred for larger, sweeter fruits. Grows to 6 – 10′ tall. Grow with ‘Nova’ for pollination.
Nova: Sambucus canadensis variety with large, sweet fruits in huge clusters, ripening in August. Grow with York for pollination.
GRAPES:
Flambeau Seedless
LaCrosse
Saint Theresa Seedless
Swenson Red
Swenson White
Valiant
Concord
MISCELLANEOUS FRUITS:
Chokeberry (Aronia sp.)
Nanking Cherry (Prunus tomentosa)
Mulberry (Morus alba tatarica)
Squaw Apple (Peraphyllum ramosissimum)
Desert Holly (Mahonia fremontii and M. haematocarpa)