I wish I could be so optimistic. I have driven and ridden scores of thousands of miles in SC's countryside for nearly a third-century and all the while with more than a casual interest in fruiting plants. This was all over the state with only a few exceptions. Added to the rural through-roads and side roads, of the past two years I have driven an intensive few thousand miles on small country roads and dirt roads. I also deal with rural people not rarely (regarding unrelated problems) and I talk to county agents or staff in several counties or regions. I see some muscadines and figs, some scattered pears, occasional blueberries and plums, and the rare apple (probably far more common in the mountains and higher piedmont). Pecans are pretty plentiful though, and very occasionally a chestnut is seen. I probably wouldn't notice scattered blackberries, but would see a row. I might miss a small plot of strawberries. Big rural yards often have their fruit bushes and trees in the wide front or side expanses where it is possible for me to see them. City people are more backyard oriented. Commercially I see peaches, pecans, muscadines, apples (upstate only),strawberries, blueberries, pecans, and even one chestnut grove and one kiwi vineyard. The evidence that these can be grown here is there for all to see. A few people make jelly from the ornamental jelly plam (Butia), many banana plants are grown for ornamentals but few for fruit, loquat fruit from the common ornamentals are eaten by some, as are ginkgo nuts. I could hardly miss Japanese persimmons when fruiting in the fall but these are so rarely seen I off hand can't remember a one but my own. And what could be easier and more trouble-free to grow? I have seen fruiting cold hardy citrus, but very few. They may however be far more common near the coast. I just don't see the interest directly. The only counter-argument that is starkly obvious is that thousands of fruit plants are sold each year by the various nurseries and some of them actually are appropriate and have a reasonable chance to live (muscadines, rabbiteye blueberries, figs, a few of the pear selections, a few plums, pecans including rarely a good selection, and blackberries). Most others are doomed. Doomed peaches probably kill a lot of potential later interest.

"I bought lucky 13 a mid-season because it is the biggest selling PF peach. Olpea grows it but I never heard him comment on it?" I do grow Lucky 13 and it's a good peach. I do prefer more of the stellar series peaches vs. Paul Friday's varieties. Just as a background note for anyone reading this thread. Paul Friday's (Flamin' Fury) varieties were bred in Michigan, as were the Stellar series varieties (any peach with "star" in the name). The Haven series peaches (Redhaven, Cresthaven, Glohaven, etc.) were also developed in Michigan (a long time ago). The Harrow series peaches were developed just across the line in Ontario, so they are also Michigan climate peaches (more or less). Harrow varieties can be identified with the letters "har" somewhere in the name. A lot of peaches were developed in the Michigan area! I've grown Harrow Beauty and Harken for quite a few years. I prefer Harken, which tastes like Redhaven in my opinion. Redhaven doesn't bring much praise on this forum, but I love it. Unless there is a lot of rain, Redhaven has excellent flavor here. Harrow Beauty is good too, but it is prone to turn a bit mealy in extremely high temperatures during ripening. It's done it a few years and whenever it happens, I sell them as seconds (intended for canning or jam). I agree an early peach might be the best bet for no spray. I planted Harrow Diamond for the first time this year so I'm anxious to see how it tastes. I agree with Drew, any homegrown grafted variety peach will be superior to a grocery store peach. I'm also excited about Rich May for a very early variety. I planted the variety in 2012, so I haven't tried it from my own trees yet (did have one from the grocery store). I've heard good things about it for an early peach. It's supposed to ripen 10 days earlier than Harrow Diamond.

It was as beautiful as ever there and this time we added the lechonerias to the trip. Some of the highlights for me, lots of new fruits to try and more of the great ones from last year. One of the gents that came along has family in PR and offered history and background on many aspects of PR living. Not to mention he spoke fluent (Caribbean) Spanish and me living in CA I hear Mexican Spanish all the time but they do have subtle differences. The best meals we ate (to me) were at Siglo XX (Signal 20) just around the corner from our hotel. Excellent, authentic PR cooking, one treat was breadfruit tostones, mmmm. The people at the Howard Johnson's in Mayaguez were very kind and helpful, not to mention they enjoyed all the strange fruits we shared with them (and a few guests nearby). We toured the USDA facility in PR, what a beautiful compound, nice people, with an amazing collection of trees. To top it off, we had Sadhu touring the grounds with us, sorta like having Phil Mickleson playing miniature golf with you. Very informative to say the least. All the farms we visited were amazing, beautiful fruit trees surrounded by lush landscapes punctuated with vibrant heliconias and gingers. The people and their employees were very kind and generous with their time. I think like many of us, they enjoy showing off their collections even though their collections cover acres. As for bringing stuff back, there is a long list of what is allowed with inspection. I had plans of bringing fruits back to a friend of mine who brings me fruit from the OC but did not want to deal with any inspections or delays that might make my 15+ hours of travel any more difficult. So in the end, the ladies that clean the hotel room will be enjoying a few more strange fresh fruits. boy I sure could use a bite of durian now, -Ethan

Those pictures were taken at 6pm and the area was just getting overtaken by shade from the pines in the west. I will watch this weekend, but I believe it has sun from ~11am to ~6pm. I am hoping I can get by with some sun loving shrubs, because I like both Forsythia and smoke tree as options. Some of the options I have been looking at: Forsythia (sun) Red twig Dogwood (partial sun) Smoke tree (sun) Lilac (sun) Althea (partial) Amelanchier (partial) Oriental spruce (sun) Compressa Juniper (sun) I saw a golden hinoki cypress that I loved, but I think deer will devour it. Any big reasons to avoid something on the list above?