Did you try Rolling River? I have never ordered from them but I think they are a good place.

Scott

Is the Indian Blood Cling more hardy than the Free? I see that the chill hours for Indian Blood Free are fewer than for the cling (850 vs. 700). Also, apparently the Free needs a pollinator but I don't believe the cling does.

Does anyone have more info? I have heard lots of good reports about the cling, but certainly a free-stone would be better.

I don't know about hardiness of these guys but you should know these two peaches are very different. Indian Cling was a well-known peach since the early days of our country. Indian Free came via a totally different route, and from my observations is not directly related to the former. Blood-fleshed peaches are very old and there used to be a great many kinds of them. Indian Free was in fact originally called Blood Free, meaning a blood peach with a freestone, but at some point the Indian got put on in confusion with the Indian Cling name (a.k.a. Indian Blood or Blood Cling) since they shared the red flesh. Neither Downing nor Hedrick, the classic fruit-book writers, ever refer to an "Indian Free" peach, only Blood Free.

Indian Cling is not really meant for eating, it is best as a pickling or cooking peach. It makes some out-of-this-world peach pies and ice cream. For cooking the fact that it is clingstone does not matter much. Indian Free on the other hand is an excellent eating peach. It is smaller, the flesh softer, and is much more prone to rot. The trees also grow very differently, Indian Free is very upright and the Cling is a lower more spreading tree. Indian Free is a very late bloomer, much later than the Cling, and that sometimes bodes well for hardiness.

Scott

scott, thats right Indian Blood and Indian Free are two totally different peaches. I am growing the Indian Blood, it is yellow and red streak fleshed with wild parentage. I read it has exceptional disease resistance. I got IB scions to trade for Indian Free.

Indian Free is a small purple fleshed peach. Excellent eating quality but I'm sure it grows differently outside California.

Here is a link that might be useful: Indian Blood or Cherokee Peach

I have Indian Free on one of my multi-grafts--I can send you some scion wood if you want to graft it. But you need to act quickly, because my early peach flowers are a-poppin', so scion time is very limited!
E-mail me if you want some...

Carla in Sac

Thanks for clearing that up. Is it true that the "Indian Blood Cling" can be bred true from seed?

Both do very well in my garden. Absolutely no peach leaf curl. Indian Blood is an incredibly vigorous tree. I disagree with that Indian Bloods are not good eating. The key is that they must be perfectly ripe.

One issue is that they must be pealed or you get the same experience of eating a tennis ball.

racaille, I did not say they are not good eating. I like to eat Indian Cling as well, and they are quite unusual as an eating peach, it is just that that is not their strength. They are an incredible kitchen peach.

I have heard that both Indian Cling and Indian Free come true from seed but have not tried it myself.

Scott

I would like to add, for those who are considering one, what the nurseryman reminded me of--that Indian Free is one of the HANDFUL of peaches which cannot self-pollinize, and you need to have another peach blooming nearby to get a crop.

Carla in Sac

They are unusual. The nice thing about them is they are the latest peach in my garden. The color is magnificent.

I bought some seeds for Indian Free Peaches at the following website. I received them, but haven't planted them yet. I was hoping to also find some Indian Blood Cling seeds somewhere, but have only found grafted trees. I like growing peaches on their own roots and have had good luck just planting seeds.

http://www.localharvest.org/indian-white-freestone-native-peach-tree-seed-C242?r=fr

It seems odd to me that a peach variety which requires cross-pollination would come true from seed. Maybe there's more than one "Indian Free" out there.

I have a grafted Indian Blood (cling) peach from Dave Wilson. It is delicious eaten fresh, and yes they are best ripe. As to the tennis ball comment, you sound like somebody who peels their apples ;)

Nothing wrong with a little fuzz. Washing with a towel removes the worst of the hair.

I have a Luther Burbank July Elberta peach also, but it is so much earlier the blossoms don't overlap the Indian Blood. So it would seem the Indian Blood does not need a pollinator.

I'll have to try using it in ice cream or cobbler.

My yard seems to have some deadly stone fruit diseases. I have had a Stanley plum, Frost peach, and North Star Cherry that grew fast, fruited well, then went into decline and died after 2-3 years. The Indian Free seemed to do well at first but the growth from one year would die the next year kind of like fire blight, and the tree keeps trying to grow fast to overcome the dieback but the result is that the live growth has gone up, up up, and is all at about 20' off the ground now so it's very hard to pick any of the few fruits.

The only pollinator I have now is a peach-almond cross, but I think there was fruit last year, even though it was so high it was hard to see and I didn't see it drop. The peaches are great though, very flavorful.

Hello all,
I'm the person who grows and distributes the Indian ~ Iowa White Freestone Peach mentioned above. Here is some more information about them ~ they need a month in the frig. to stratify, or nature can do it and you'll have baby trees next spring. I grow them both ways, and find that if I have them germinated and in the ground by mid-July they put down enough roots & gain enough height to make it through the harsh winters we have here (in zone 5, but a "severe micro-climate" version). The ones I stratified and planted last year are about two feet tall, and the ones that stratified naturally are a bit over a foot tall. It was a very unusual year, though, with all the flooding, etc.

Let me know if you need stratifying tips. I may also have some 2 year old trees to give away later this year. I'm interested in getting as many of these trees planted as possible, it's a species preservation project of mine ~ a legacy I hope to leave.

Our trees bear their first fruit 4-5 years from planting the seeds. If they are damaged by animals or mowers, and have 3"-4" left above ground they re-grow multiple trunks and take an extra year to start bearing, but I've never had one die.

Best,
Ericka Dana, Catnip Farm
Iowa County, Iowa

P.S. These are SMART trees, I love them. They seem to know when they ought to bloom later than usual to avoid a late frost, and often one seed out of three will wait a year to germinate, which could be a genetic survival trait...

I'm growing an Indian Free peach tree in the Pacific Northwest. And luckily it is pretty resistant to Peach Leaf Curl. It ripens in early October here, very very late, but doable.

Here is a link that might be useful: Photos of my Indian Free Peaches

Why are some Indian Free peaches mostly cream or white colored and those from Tall Clover are so nicely colored?

My guess is the color difference has to do with the climate its grown in.

Scott

I ordered an Indian Free from Burnt Ridge Nursery within the last two weeks. Can't remember the exact time as I keep adding to my order, 4-5 times each year.
Dan

Will be planting some Blood Cling seeds this week - picked them up at the San Francisco Green Festival. Soon as we have a crop we will be posting to share the "pits"!
Tom

Is anyone willing to send out a couple seeds for the Indian Free peach? I am also interested in Peach, Nectarine and Plum scion wood if anyone is kind and willing enough to take the time. I am located just outside of Portland, Oregon.
Thank you!