Fruit variety will fight late freezes

Question: I planted an orchard about four years ago here in Pahrump. I planted many different fruit varieties and have come to find some of them do not work here. Their blossoms and foliage, in most cases, are very beautiful, but the fruit does not ripen. I was wondering about some other fruit trees that may work in our area.

I have a list of recommended fruit trees for the eastern Mojave Desert located on my blog at tinyurl.com/8x4rt75.

Our fruit frequently will grow here, but sometimes the quality of the fruit is a problem depending on the variety. That's why testing these varieties will aid you in your selection and not waste so much of your time and resources.

In Pahrump you will get a lot of late freezes that will eliminate or minimize your fruit production, particularly if you are in low spots in the valley where freezes collect in the late spring. This can also cause dieback on some fruit trees such as peach and nectarine.

In valleys it is always best to grow fruit trees on slopes that provide air drainage to help minimize late-spring freezes or you have to focus on fruit trees that bloom as late as possible to avoid these freezes. We will frequently lose plums and plum relatives and some peaches and nectarines due to late freezes.

Bob Morris is a professor emeritus in horticulture with the University of Nevada and can be reached at extremehort@aol.com. Visit his blog at
xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com.