I have a Spring Satin and meant to graft a plum to it for pollination, but haven't gotten around to that yet, so there were no Asian plums around last year for the two blossoms it produced. We did have beach plums and apricots blooming at the same time, though. Both blossoms set fruit, one dropped early in the summer, but the one that finally ripened was delicious. It was also only slightly larger than a cherry and ripened very late so I'm not sure whether one of my trees cross-pollinated it, or if it's a case of being able to produce tiny fruit on its own. I don't care for asian plums, so was hoping to find someone who would say an apricot was good enough. Everyone in the US seemed to agree it had to be a plum, but this place in Australia says apricot is fine, IF it blooms at the same time, suggesting that bloom time is what makes a plum preferable. http://www.plantnet.com.au/new-spring-satin-plumcot/

frank: I had the same experience with apricots outdoors in Amarillo. I even put a bee hive right under the trees and it didn't seem to help much. Most of my trees set when it didn't freeze. But certain named varieties didn't set much. Now in my greenhouse, bumblebees seem to prefer apricots over about any other tree. Not sure what is going on there, type of bee or what. It could be that honeybees just like something else better right now.

Frank, I'm not sure my variety is La Crescent, it was from my parents yard and its just a lot like La Crescent. It produced a good crop but they are fairly low-acid and low-sugar and low flavor. So, while it is super reliable its too low on the flavor list. For awhile I liked how different it was, few japanese type plums are low acid, but after four years its just .. boring. My best cold-hardy plum at this point is Purple Heart; I didn't get many fruits this year but it looks like a winner. Fedco sells it. For white peaches I am also looking at trying some of the newer commercial ones; the only "top" white peach I have so far is Oldmixon Free, all the others have some sort of drawback. So I want to try a few more. Here is my current interest list for planting next spring: Sugar May White Lady China Pearl Snow Giant Nectar Comments appreciated on these. I am also going to try a few more nectarines, most of them rot too much but so far I have two that are working (Lord Napier and Violette Hative) and I am sure there are more. I also may add a few more apricots, Robada, Orangered, Tasty Rich and Early Blush are under consideration. Scott

Fruitnut - Thanks for the info. on spurs and the peach scab on Puget Gold does seem to be a trend now. Scott - Thanks for the heads up on Blenheim! I saw that 14-day spray schedule and I'm a bit wary off choosing trees off of any one source. There doesn't seem to be a ton of data out there about what works here other than Tomcot and Puget Gold (sounds mediocre). Tilton sounded good but I want to stick to early-ripeners to avoid the greater insect and brown rot pressure. I'll happily dry fruit to eat later in the summer. New List of Apricots to Try: Definite - Tomcot Top Maybes - Rival, Goldrich (sold by both ACN and Boyers I noticed . . .), Robada, Orangered, Early Blush (can't find a source for this one as ACN is out)