Kandituft:

Read the thread below about apricots. You will find my vote there, and some pretty good why's.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

It ain't a tree, but Jupiter grape. Vigorous, seedless, very productive, disease resistant, bears second year, and (of course) trainable to any configuration. Oh, did I forget to mention, one of the most delicious and enticing fruits I've tried. This University of Arkansas introduction is one one of the most exciting horticultural developments in my lifetime.

that's one vote for tomcot apricot by jellyman

"Over the past 30 years I have planted at least a dozen different apricot varieties, starting with the large California varieties like Tilton, Wilson, Hungarian Rose, and several other lost in the mists of time. I soon found I couldn't grow these. They ripen too late, become too large, and they all cracked on the trees, which also suffered from extensive cankers. The edible-kernel Sweetheart was a dismal failure, and never set any fruit after 7-8 years.

In the early 80's I had the great good fortune to order in a couple of Tomcots in successive years from the now defunct Mellinger's Nursery in Ohio. Mellinger's carried a limited range of fruit trees, and Tomcot was the only apricot they sold. Now I have the 2 mature Tomcots, a younger 8-year Puget Gold (from Burnt Ridge), and an even younger (4th season) Goldcot (from Gurney's). The differences among these varieties are dramatic. Last season I picked 110 pounds from the two Tomcot trees; this season it was 92 pounds after extensive thinning. I picked most of them on June 20 after a few started to fall, and the balance on June 23. That is earlier than any other variety I know of for zone 7. The Tomcots are all clear-skinned, large, with deep orange flesh and simply delicious fruit. Puget Gold and Goldcot are still on the trees, but nearly all of them have some degree of mildew or other anomalies on the the skins. They are ugly. They are much smaller than the Tomncots. We will probably use them anyway if they ripen out, but they are not like the Tomcots at all.

All the trees are similarly sited in full sun, similarly pruned, thinned and all received several early sprays of Permethrin and Topsin, mixed together, so there is no difference in the way they were treated.

So my advice to mid-Atlantic growers who really want to grow apricots is pretty simple: Grow Tomcot and forget the rest."