By Tom Kalb, Horticulturist

NDSU Extension

What’s your favorite fruit? Is it apple or banana? Maybe it is something exotic like mango or pomegranate.

My favorite fruit is peach. You can’t beat the taste of a tree-ripened peach.

I will never forget the first peach I grew. I was walking through my teaching orchard in Wisconsin on a sunny, Sunday afternoon.

All of a sudden, a giant peach appeared out of nowhere. It beamed before my eyes.

The fruit was ready to pick, but who would eat it? There was no one else in the orchard. I told myself, “Heck, I planted this orchard so I am going to eat this peach!”

The taste of this peach was truly wonderful. Its juices dripped down my cheeks. I fell in love with fresh peaches. It was love at first sight—and first bite!

Sadly, the tree died that winter. It had lived less than three years. I lost my love and was heartbroken.

I was determined to plant another tree. I chose a Reliance peach, known to be the hardiest and most reliable variety.

The same story happened again. The tree bore fruit in its third year and died over winter. I had fallen in love and suffered a broken heart again.

Looking back, do I regret growing peaches?

Certainly not. As the romantic proverb goes, “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” I’ll have those memories forever.

That was more than 30 years ago. I learned my lesson and stayed away from growing peaches.

Then I moved to Bismarck. Gardeners asked me if peach trees were hardy in North Dakota.

I decided to plant a peach tree in a college orchard in Bismarck to show gardeners the folly of growing peaches on the prairie. It was a Contender peach, the latest of the “hardy” peach varieties. That tree survived one winter.

Every now and then one reads a story of a Chinese peach tree or a new variety that can survive North Dakota. Be careful. For every one of those success stories there are hundreds of peach trees that have died on the prairie.

For best success, choose a sunny, east-facing location that is sheltered from wind. Use shredded bark as mulching. This environment will warm up later in spring, delaying the blooms and protecting them from a late killing frost. Good luck and have low expectations.

Another option is to grow a dwarf tree in a large container. Move the tree and container to a cold, very dark location during winter. An unheated garage that does not get sunlight may work.   

The most important lesson of growing peaches in the north is we need to resist challenging Mother Nature. She is a very powerful force.

Rather than fighting Mother Nature, let’s cooperate with her. It’s more fruitful (literally more fruitful) if we limit ourselves to growing hardy fruits.

Among the hardiest golden fruits in the peach family, there are Canadian apricots, yellow plums and golden chokecherries that grow well here in North Dakota.

These golden fruits will delight us with their flavors. Better yet, they will survive our winters and won’t break our hearts.

For more information about gardening, contact your local NDSU Extension agent. Find the Extension office for your county at ndsu.ag/countyoffice.

NDSU Agriculture Communication – Oct. 25, 2023

Source: Tom Kalb, 701-877-2585, tom.kalb@ndsu.edu

Editor: Kelli Anderson, 701-231-7881, kelli.c.anderson@ndsu.edu