You are in Illinois. I'd say the fruit buds were killed by winter just based on location.

All my buds were killed in the Detroit area, so yes, winter kill. I have 4 peach/nectarine trees. Not one flower.

This post was edited by Drew51 on Thu, Jun 5, 14 at 14:06

Same here. We had a hard frost in April that ruined my chances of peaches and cherries. At least my trees are growing and not dead!! Have some apples so there's something.

Hi Wdedwards,
Yes, definitely winter kill. On another post, I cried out to my fellow gardeners to give me some advice on what to do about the trees that got hit hard here in Georgia in my backyard. Looking back to a few weeks ago, I was so disappointed and depressed, I actually went crazy because I had somehow made it up in my mind that I was going to uproot my trees and put them all in containers so I would not have to endure anymore inclement weather!!! I have 25 fruit trees and that would have been a straight mess and a hard task with major losses (some of my trees) instead of gain!. However, they (my fellow gardeners) brought me back to reality and reminded me that this is life and we are going to endure some losses and some wins. We just have to hang in there and hope for the best during the following season because there will be times when we will be truly rewarded for all our growing efforts. I have at least 4 elberta trees and they all bloomed and even had baby peaches on them, but lo and behold, harsh winds took most of them right off the trees! So I have said all of that, to tell you that I do understand your frustration but if the weather is not so harsh next season, you will definitely have peaches and wdedwards, those peaches are certainly worth the wait! I can smell them and taste them now (in my mind). Just hang in there and don't give up!!! And don't start thinking crazy like I did. LOL

That was good Ahgrower! I remember the thread well! I think one should have backup, blackberries, raspberries, some other fruit, that can recover and produce faster.
I also grow tomatoes and peppers, beans etc. You know growing something from seed, and keeping alive to harvest is very rewarding, even with small plants. Fun too! I'm growing 8 different melons, hopefully one of those will produce!
Some hard to mess up tree like mulberry isn't a bad idea too.

I had alot of blooms, but no set on my Elbertas or Nectarines. Some peach varieties set but set light. Plumcots no set, but some pluots did set lightly. I'd have thought the pluots would get smoked 1st.

" I have at least 4 elberta trees and they all bloomed and even had baby peaches on them, but lo and behold, harsh winds took most of them right off the trees!"

Ahgrower,

We get plenty of high winds here in KS and I don't think I've ever seen this happen to any of my peach trees.

As peaches get close to harvest, wind can knock them off, but not when they are young. We've had winds strong enough to blow trees over and still young peaches hang on.

Last year you also posted the wind took your peaches off. I really think there is another cause affecting your peaches.

You might look at Oriental Fruit moth or Plum Curculio as the cause of your peach drop. I had such a light crop of peaches at the farm, it didn't justify spraying the trees out there. The few peaches which did set on the trees have pretty much all dropped by now. Cutting open the drops shows tunneling in the flesh of the small peaches (i.e. brown trails) and/or the seed eaten out. Of course I'm not at all surprised. Several weeks ago I witnessed tiny blobs of pectin coming out of the small fruitlets, which around here generally indicates Oriental Fruit moth.

The peaches in my backyard have been sprayed, and so they look and hang on the trees like normal, though the crop is very light due to the cold winter.