I'm not sure what you have. The term "patio peach" usually refers to a tree that has been grafted onto a full dwarfing rootstock. A seedling from such a tree would be an entirely different animal (or plant in this case). Is the tree that you have a small grafted tree or a seedling from a small grafted tree?

A non-grafted seedling will likely get VERY LARGE. Also, seedlings can vary considerably in fruit quality, taste, production, disease resistance, etc.

I'm not sure what I have either, except that it is not grafted, but a seedling/volunteer that was growing near the original.

How large is VERY LARGE? :)

Probably 30' to 45' tall and wider than tall, eventually. You can keep them smaller with proper pruning, but pruning a standard (non-dwarfed) tree will require quite a bit more effort, persistence, and knowledge than pruning a tree on a full dwarfing rootstock. If you want a small tree, you should probably purchase one on a good rootstock. Not only do you get the more manageable size, but you can also get greatly improved disease resistance, better quality and tasting fruit, etc.

Brandon is pretty spot on here. Most "patio peaches" I've seen are the grafted variety. The seedling comes from the part that is grafted on the hardier stock, so it may not be quite as hardy or as vigorous as the grafted combination is.

I've got a two tone tree going this year where I let a sprout from the stock grow up through the grafted on part. Looks pretty cool but I'll be watching that piece carefully as it will quickly get bigger than I want for the space it is in.

But for now it is pretty neat.

Well, for me, the whole thing that makes this appealing is that a friend gave it to me :) I would not have gone in search of a patio peach, but because she gave them to me I now feel compelled to give them a good home. ;) Some of my favorite plants have been given to me by friends, and it's so neat to think of them every time I see the plant. But the down side is, sometimes you have no idea what you're getting.

I guess I will just see what they look like they're going to do.

Tngreenthumb,

Not only can your rootstock sprout get big quick, but it can also rapidly steal all the tree's energy away from the grafted top and lead to graft failure. I'd get rid of the sprout if it were me.

Last year Lowes was selling Patio Peach trees, they were an ornamental variety- no fruit.
That's all I remember, though! No botanical name...

I have also seen an ornamental variety referred to as a patio peach, but most companies I've seen on the web selling what they call patio peaches are offering dwarf grafted fruit-producing trees.

Like many common names, the name patio peach is not specific without more info.

I have both ornamental and "real" varieties of "patio" peaches. Even the ornamentals make *some* fruit, just not a heckuva lot -- and not of high quality, either. But they sure are pretty in the spring, and one of em has purple leaves all year.

Hey Connie,

I rec'd a little sucker/sprout from a lady off her ornamental peach. It has the purple leaves like amazindirt mentioned. Got it at the beginning of summer 2007 and potted it up and left it til this spring because I was afraid it might not have good roots. Planted it this spring and it's doing great. The tree this came from was about 7' tall by maybe 4' wide - but I don't know if that was it's mature size. Mine has the same purple leaves so I'm thinking/hoping it's going to be the same as the tree it came from. Good Luck!

Frances

Frances, that's about the size my friend was describing, so it's probably the same thing or close! :) Thanks!