Try Intrepid. Starks Bros sells them. The flowers are very hardy, to 20 deg F. Developed in North Carolina I believe.

http://yancey.ces.ncsu.edu/content/PeachTreeVarietyDescription

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~djw/intrepid.html

Wish I knew how to post a link but the above is the edress for a description of the Intrepid peach. I looked it up because the 20 degree claim seemed far-fetched. The description included no such claim and because it is the developers site I would think it may be more accurate. Where'd you get your info Astroman? Probably Stark Bros. I bet.

They do say that Intrepid has the hardiest flowers of any peach ever bred, however. Also that the flavor is excellent- pretty exciting stuff!

Interestingly, both of you (Harvestman and Astroman) give links from the N. Car. Extension which cite your numbers. Astroman's says tree and bud hardy to -20F. Harvestman's says it was selected after surviving -20.5C (about -5F) and blooming the next year. I wonder if somebody may have failed to convert between temperature scales when writing their extension article.

However, I have an Intrepid which bloomed a half a dozen or so blooms in its second year after -18 to -20 F during the winter (true, most of the buds were killed). In its 3rd year, all flower buds killed and the outer 1/3 of the branches also died after -26 F. This winter it is loaded again with flower buds after regrowing from last year, but we had -26 F in early Dec. and -23 F a couple nights ago, so we'll see what happens in the spring. Overall though, my Intrepid is handling my climate much better than the Reliance I planted at the same time (it died to the trunk last year, grew late & didn't harden off, and already shows dieback now while last year neither did until after the ground thawed in the spring).

Beeone, Astroman said "flowers are hardy to 20 degrees f." and wasn't talking about winter hardiness of flower buds. I didn't see what was written about winter hardiness of this peach.

The nurseryman in Ithica NY probably a cold zone 5, (a very knowledgeable source by the way) said his redhavens have fared better than Reliance or Contender

I actually learned about the Intrepid from an American Polomological Society article July 2001. See index http://americanpomological.org/journal/journal2000-09.html

China Pearl and Challenger were also included in the study. See if this helps. If I recall correctly, they listed the frost hardiness of all three trees.

As for Stark Bros, I know they sell Intrepids because I bought one from them last year. I haven't stopped by their website recently to see what their description is. I am interested in what others have experienced with the Intrepid.

Astroman, I tried to bring up the AMS evaluation on my computor but nothing beyond 07 was available. I can't believe the seemingly impossible level of frost resistance of Intrepid you suggest and the report on the cultivar I read only mentioned survival of flower buds after 5 subsequent nights of merely subfreezing weather. They're the ones who did the original evaluation after all.

I suspect that if the report made the statement you suggest that it is a misprint but I'd love for you to send a copy of the paragraph where the claim is made. The report I read was encouraging enough, but 20 degree F. survival of open flowers would be a pomological miracle.

Thanks for the heads up about intrepid. i will do some research on it. No one has any experience with either of the varieties I mentioned?

I had to special order the journal article through my local community college who had access to it. It has been several years since I read it, but if I recall, NC Extension reported 50% survival on blossoms after 22 deg frost - which is what got my attention. There was a table posted with the three varieties and their frost hardiness rating.