Blenheim (Royal) is the most standard and has the biggest and best tasting apricots, if you don't mind the amount of fruit production being just a little subpar. Blenheim will perform acceptably with 300 chill hours, though it's not the most optimal.

The other low-chill apricot is 'Katy', though I think Gold Kist is better.

EarliGold supposedly has a better taste than Katy or Gold Kist, but they recommend a pollinator for this variety for better fruit production.

I have Goldkist and Belnheim. I prefer Goldkist at this point. You could get a multi graft apricot that might solve your problem! Goldkist is very early for me. My earliest stonefruit this year ripening Mid May.

I'd love to find an apricot low chill multi-graft, so far I've only seen one at the local nurseries, but it was mostly peaches and plums with one apricot (from what I remember). I'll keep an eye out.

This made me think of another question: When they say a tree is self fertile, but does better with a pollinator, does that just mean production suffers, or is the fruit sub-par in taste and quality as well?

Thanks for the responses so far

Dave Wilson does do a multigraft apricot/aprium. I planted one for my Mom and she tasted her first aprium from the tree this last Summer. If I had to pick one, I would go with Blenheim. I grew up going to a family members house where a grand old Blenheim tree grew. It produced apricots by the hundreds and made the best preserves. I would pick apricots off that tree till it was time to leave.

The fruit quality is not affected in any way by the tree that pollinated it.

Though it does take pollination to occur for the fruit to start growing in the first place (with rare exceptions). If a tree is "partially self-fertile" that means it can produce fruit on its own, but will produce more fruit if there's a different variety to pollinate it. This is a reproductive strategy to still allow the tree to propagate by itself but not waste too much energy reproducing offspring who are genetically identical to it. Or in other cases, the tree might just not be a very good pollinator.

Apricot trees are generally self-fertile. Sweet cherries usually require a pollinator (with the exception of a small number of varieties), and tart cherries are self-fertile.

Yes, DWN sells a multi-graft apricot with these varieties, they are a wholesaler and have a list of retailers that order their stock. You could call the local retailers until you found one of these trees.

APRICOTS + APRIUM

Semi-Dwarf Multi-Budded Apricot/Aprium® on Citation

Tomcot
Katy
Blenheim
Flavor Delight
Royal Rosa

Good info on pollination, thanks.

There are two nurseries in the area that sell Dave Wilson bare root trees in the Winter, I will keep an eye out when they get this year's stuff in and see if they get the multi-graft varieties.

You might contact those nurseries and ask if they can special order it for you. Sometimes they will do that.