I'll take 2 dozen! I'm coming over! I wish I could!

Thanks Drew, you're such an encourager.

I've grown several white peaches and this is my favorite white so far.

Below is a link from Desmond Layne (his favorites). I've found white peaches are more problematic to brown easily when cut (or in heat) and are more problematic to rot.

Here is a link that might be useful: White fleshed peaches/nects for S.E. U.S.

Have you ever grown Old Mixon Free? My tree didn't make it. It was really nice too, hard to believe it died. It makes no sense to replace when I moving in a few years. I have Indian Free, technically a white peach. Also Arctic Glo nectarine, related to Arctic Jay, another I want to try. Glo is more tart, I was thinking of cooking with it. So my whites are not good examples of typical whites.

Olpea, how great is that? I'll trade you a two pound lobster for your peach! I'm happy to have ten large Elberta's this year! They'll be ripe in about a week or so. Large too, but not like your Lady Nancy! Wow!!!! Mrs. G

Olpea-

I've been eating Blushingstar..not too impressed...its a white fleshed peach. Its the first year and i didn't thin enough...squirrels found the tree too, so i just picked them ..maybe a tad early on some. Not bad, but nothing special..but maybe that will change. L Nancy looks huge.

Olpea,

Great to hear good things about Lady Nancy. I just T-budded a few on my PF-1. Now, I really hope that a couple of those buds will take!!

I'm not sure if it qualifies as a white peach (or a "honey peach", as Scott has described it), but I've got a new favorite, Pallas. I picked the last one late last week and ate it after 2 days on the counter. It was extremely sweet and juicy, with 21.5-22.,5 brix. The brix in a comparatively grown White Lady was 13-15, which was also sweet and juicy, but a step down in flavor.

Regrettably, it was quite small (about as big as an undersized apricot), as my tree is currently growing in a fabric pot. I received it from Arboreum last spring (2013) and got 4 small peaches (lowest was 17 brix). I'll be planting the pot in the ground, so I can get it to grow a bit bigger (both the tree and the fruit). Hopefully I won't reduce the sweetness too much, though it wouldn't surprise me. I grew it at quite a water deficit this year, as I've been pretty slow about watering the pots.

I myself want the as described "intense sugar-acid balance". I always liked high acid fruits. I would love a measrment of the acids in fruits, it would make my decisions easier.

Lady Nancy has more acid than most whites- it is a sport of Jersey Queen- a big, rich freestone yellow. It's the only white on my property I haven't cut down and also grow in my nursery. Years ago Rutgers evaluated white peaches using LN as the standard by which all others were rated. None were deemed to taste as good.

It's also huge, which has to help Olpea, but very susceptible to brown rot here.

Olpea, if your customers like big white peaches you might also try Manon. It's not as good as LN but the best and largest early white I've grown.

Drew, Oldmixon Free is very similar to Lady Nancy. For me, Oldmixon is bigger and more rot resistant but very similar otherwise. My LN stock is weak so that could explain my size/rot differences. I thought they were the same peach for awhile, thats how similar the flavor is. Unfortunately they also ripen at the same time so planting both to stretch out the season is not going to help.

Bob, I also like Pallas a lot. It takes several years to size up, and you need to thin like crazy as it seriously oversets. Pallas and Oldmixon are probably my favorite white peaches. Silver Logan is just as good but it had too much rot.

Scott

Scott-

Good to hear about Old Mixon...excited to try that one. No reason to try LN if they are so similar.

Drew

I don't know how Lady Nancy compares to some of the heirloom whites like Old Mixon and Pallas, which Bob mentioned. I know Scott has very favorable comments for some of those heirloom whites. I have planted one white Scott has recommended (Silver Logan) but it hasn't fruited yet. Part of the problem with Zaiger creations like Artic glo and Artic jay is that they tend to have low res. to bac. spot, which is a problem in my climate. Like you, I too like some acid in peaches.

" I'll trade you a two pound lobster for your peach!"

lol. Mrs. G, I'd trade you a whole box of peaches for a 2 lb. lobster. We are very land locked here in KS and good sea food is hard to come by. I never even heard of crab cakes till my brother told me about them from his trip to Boston.

Frank,

I thought I grew Blushingstar, but it turned out what I bought as Blushingstar was yet another mislabled tree (from Adams). I have a couple Blushingstar from Vanwell which should fruit next year. From your description, it doesn't sound like Blushingstar is anything special.

Mamuang, Good luck on your budding. L. Nancy is worth the effort. I budded three more of them a few days ago.

Bob, We've had tremendous rains here. I don't know the brix of the peaches, but I have noticed rain doesn't seem to destroy the flavor of later peaches like it does early peaches. I don't know if anyone else has observed this, but would be interested to know if someone else has seen this.

Hman,

I've heard you recommend Manon as a good white peach. I've almost ordered it several times, but always forgo because I think, "why do I need another white peach?" That said I did order a White River for next spring. I had it once but it died before I could try the fruit and always wondered what the fruit would have been like.

I bought an Old Mixon, but it didn't survive the winter. It was a tough winter for a new tree. I will not replace it as I hope to move, and it makes no sense. One day though.

Manon is very large and good quality for such an early peach- white or yellow, so if your customers like Lady Nancy I'm sure they will buy Manon, which precedes LN here by almost 2 months.

I was at a clients yesterday with many samples. He tried a slice of Lady Nancy and thought it fantastic,but than tried a slice of a perfect Messina, a recent Rutger's release with yellow flesh, and liked it more. Then I gave him a slice of a Redgold nectarine and he just wondered how such an amazing thing could exist without his knowing about it.

If I grew fruit for money, I'd have to charge 4X for tree ripe nectarines though- they are difficult to get a very big crop of pristine fruit for me but they are mostly what I eat during peach season.

"If I grew fruit for money, I'd have to charge 4X for tree ripe nectarines though- they are difficult to get a very big crop of pristine fruit for me but they are mostly what I eat during peach season. "

Hman,

For a long time I was afraid to try to grow nects, but hearing nothing but high praise for the flavor of them from you and others, finally convinced me to try some. I started planting them a few years ago but none have fruited yet (would have this year but the hail took their fruit off).

Commercial growers grow some here, but say the same thing you do (i.e. very hard to get a nice looking nectarine). I've seen a block of Redgolds on another orchard around here. The trees were eaten up pretty bad w/ bac. spot. Nevertheless, I bought one Redgold for next spring, just to try it.

I have a hard time getting good looking Gage plums. Are nects harder to raise than Gage plums?

I also was afraid to try nectarines at first, but after a few years I put in some heirloom varieties. They were very prone to rot or had other problems. I did get one that is very good from that batch, John Rivers. It comes through very clean, no spots or rots. But its a white-fleshed nectarine; it has good acids but white flesh is not as popular in nectarines. It also has a slight green tinge when ripe which consumers tend not to like. I then tried a few more recent varieties, but again had split/rot problems. Mericrest was the one I kept from that batch; its not going to work for you since its highly prone to spotting, but other than that and not sizing up well (from all the spotting) it is excellent.

This spring I decided to go one more round and put in five different modern nectarines. If I get one good one from those I will be happy.

Scott
PS I agree rains don't bother the late peaches as much. It might be that the soil is generally more dry this time of year.

For the two previous years both Summer Beaut and Easternglo were the ticket while later varieties cracked like mad, but something about the wet spring messed both of them up this year- really deformed the fruit (I'm assuming its weather related) while Redgold provided me with the most good fruit. In the past it had tended to be more cracked.

I would say the odds favor the earlier ripening nectarines- except maybe in Kansas, where later summer tends to be drier. I would just try several different varieties that ripen at different times. On a good year it means you will have a couple months of amazing fruit.

I'm trialing about 7 varieties right now. All in all, Easternglo has proven the most consistent so far. Summer Beaut is nice for being a more vigorous tree than most Necs.

Scott and Hman,

Thanks for the response. It pretty much sounds like trial and error with nects. That and hitting a good year weatherwise.

Sounds like you guys are currently trying the same ones I am. Adams has offered a lot of new nects the last few years. I assume that's what you guys are trialing?

I also put in a Summer Beaut last year and Easternglo (via Hman endorsements). I think I've heard you mention John Rivers, Scott, but have no idea who would carry it.

I think mid-season and later varieties may indeed work better for this locale, since apparently nects are more susc. to rot. Of course weather can be variable, but it typically gets pretty hot and dry by the middle of July (sometimes sooner) a little before Redhaven ripens, and doesn't get wet again till the end of August. We have about a month and a half of pretty dry heat where peaches do well. Once Sept. hits, dew starts settling on the fruit in the morning, and rot becomes more of an issue, like with early varieties.

Well we get heavy dew throughout the growing season but there are commercially produced nectarines here and on good years I get plenty of unblemished fruit with a couple fungicide aps. If you can bring tree ripened nectarines to market I'm sure you will get a following for them and can charge a premium price.

Old thread but I just heard (on NPR) that a Lady Nancy grown around Kansas City may have beaten the world record for largest peach.

My wife's name is Nancy, we have grown some peaches in the past (although not currently - all shaded out by neighbor's trees) and we would both love to plant a Lady Nancy. Any idea where to get one? They do not seem to be very common yet. We are down the road from Stark Bros. but it's not in their catalogue. I found it on a couple of websites but one seemed like it was an orchard supplier (read large quantity) and the other, Adams County Nursery, wanted $30+ for a tree and $30 for shipping if you only buy one.