Fruit Trees - E -  Plant Nursery

Early Golden
Early Golden Apricot

The Apricot, Early Golden, Prunus armeniaca, is an early apricot with large smooth, orange-gold skin, orange flesh, and is a freestone. It has attractive leaves, and pink or white flowers in the spring. The Early Golden Apricot grows in sandy, well drained soils and is not drought tolerant. This large golden apricot is especially suited to the south and good for eating fresh, baking, canning or drying. Early Golden is a fast growing tree and is self fertile, but produces best with two varieties. Fruit trees need a minimum of 6-8 hours of sunlight daily, and regular watering. Apricots are rich in Vitamin A, B and C, Calcium, Copper, Iron, and Phosphorus, so are a very healthy food.

Early Harvest
Early Harvest Apple

The Apple, Early Harvest, Malus x domestica, produces a golden apple that is often used for cooking. The fine white flesh is juicy and pleasantly subacid when fully ripe. It ripens irregularly over about a month, and if you pick it when not absolutely fully mature it is a good cooking apple, and when fully tree ripened is a very good dessert apple. The tree is vigorous, productive, and relatively disease resistant. The core is small. Sometimes the skin will have an orange blush and whitish specks that turn brown when the fruit ripens. It is an upright, slow growing tree that bears early and heavily, and the wood is reddish-brown with small white specks. There are varieties of apples suitable for almost all of the climate zones in the United States. They prefer cold winters, moderate summer and high humidity. Apples are deciduous and must be pollinated in order to produce fruit. Apple trees should be pruned in summer and winter. Fruit trees need a minimum of 6-8 hours of sunlight daily, and they need regular watering.

Early Italian
Early Italian Prune

The Early Italian prune has dark purple skin with yellow-greenish flesh that runs dark wine color when cooked. It separates freely from pit. This good commercial quality prune variety produces ten days to two weeks ahead of regular Italian. Fruit is large and has a rich flavor and is very sweet when fully ripe. It is used as fresh, dried or canned prunes. Early Italian prunes are vigorous and are a cold hardy tree.

Early Richmond
Early Richmond Cherry

The Cherry, Early Richmond, Prunus cerasus, is the first sour cherry available in the late spring, and it is a small, round, bright red cherry with a tart-acidy flavor. This bright red Early Richmond is excellent for cooking. Sour cherries are richly flavored and firm of flesh so that they don’t go mushy during cooking. Use sour cherries for pies, cobblers, dessert sauces, preserves, and jams. Plant Early Richmond in full sun and well-drained soil. Cherry trees can be used as specimens and shade trees on larger properties. It can be held to any height with summer pruning.

Elberta
Elberta Peach

The Elberta Peach tree has very large fruit. It is the best known yellow canning peach. The skin is red blushed over a deep golden yellow color. This is a high quality eating and canning peach. Elberta peaches has the smallest pit-to-fruit ratio of any peach tree we offer. It’s as sweet a peach as you could imagine that you could have on the table. Along with the delicious fruit, it’s a beautiful tree. In the spring, rose-red blossoms will fill the air with fragrance. And it grows well in a wide geographic belt, from Zone 5 all the way through the northern portion of Zone 9. In our opinion no finer or lovelier peach tree exists anywhere. The elberta on Lovell rootstock can be kept to any height by summer pruning.

Elephant Heart Japanese Plum
Elephant Heart Japanese Plum

Plum - Japanese - Elephant Heart, P. salicina 'Elephant Heart', produces large, heart-shaped plums with sweet, juicy richly flavored firm blood red flesh. It's juicy, blood-reed flesh has a rich and distinctive flavor that is good for fresh eating, canning and freezing. Ripens when most plums are long gone, in September, so you can spread your plum harvest throughout the year. Prolific bearer. Plums can grow in many soil types but do best in fertile, well-drained soil. Periodic deep watering in summer months is advised, even though trees are fairly drought tolerant. Heavy pruning is necessary at all ages. Plums are delightful eaten fresh, and can be stewed, used in jams and jellies, or made into compotes, puddings, pies, and cakes. Plums are a good source of Vitamin C.

Lemon - Eureka
Eureka Lemon

The Eureka Lemon produces large crops of lemons annually. It bears all year and is a standard market variety. This lemon is somewhat knobby, thick-skinned, and has a short neck at the stem end. Eureka is easy to espalier, and has fewer thorns than other traditional lemons. Dwarf Citrus will average 8-10' tall, and it will get taller unless pruned. Watering can vary, depending on container size, drainage and location of the tree. Containerized citrus trees should be allowed to dry between waterings. The Eureka lemon contains a moderate amount of juice, and is grown primarily for this acidic juice, which can be used to flavor both sweet and savory dishes. Lemons are very rich in vitamin C and also provide potassium and folic acid. The Eureka Lemon can be kept in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Lemons stored at room temperature will keep for about 1 week. The juice and zest of lemons can be frozen.