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We know that new and better varieties and rootstocks
should always be in your orchard. We try to travel to our nursery sources every
year to take a look at new and improved sports, cultivars, and varieties.
We don't recommend them until we are sure that they are actual improvements,
worthy to plant in your orchards. We
also can help educate you about new trends in the fruit industry so that you can
stay ahead of the curve.
WineCrisp™ (Co-op 31 cv.) (USPPAF)
WineCrisp™ is a new scab-resistant apple release from University of
Illinois-Urbana-Champagne. It is the latest of the "Co-op" series of
disease and scab resistant apples bred by the cooperative effort of Purdue,
Rutgers, and University of Illinois---the PRI Cooperative Apple Breeding Program. Moser
Fruit Tree Sales has just been licensed to propagate it, and we are excited
about the possibilities of this new release. We will have trees available
for Spring 2011.
WineCrisp™ is a deep red, late ripening apple. Ripening a
couple weeks after Red Delicious, it appears to hang on the tree well through
October. The medium sized, round-oblate, well colored fruit is deep wine-red but not bright and glossy.
It has somewhat "scarfy" or russety skin, giving it a matte finish similar to older strains
of Winesap, which is somewhat resembles. It has a pleasant flavor with a
good mix of sweetness and tartness. It is a very firm with
crisp flesh. It will store in common cold storage for up to eight or nine
months, according to Dr. Schuyler Korban of UIUC who evaluated and released the
apple. It is reported to be extremely productive with annual bearing on a
moderately vigorous, semi-spreading tree. It is reported to have good
resistance to fire blight, moderate resistance to powdery mildew, but is
somewhat susceptible to cedar apple rust under unfavorable conditions. Pick when its
background color has turned greenish-yellow. It appears to be cold-hardy
for winter temperatures in Illinois and Indiana--- Zones 4-5.
Definitely worth planting and evaluating by organic growers
since it will not require extensive spraying for apple scab.
Frostbite™ (MN 447 cv.)
Just recently named by the University of Minnesota,
Frostbite™ or MN 447 is an older cultivar that has been used as a parent in the breeding of
other successful U of MN apple varieties. Because of its unique, sweet,
aromatic, and unusual flavor people who know MN 447 have been encouraging the
University to release it. The fruit is only small to medium in size, being
2¼ to 2½ inches in diameter, but is very firm, crisp and juicy. It usually
tests 17-20 pounds pressure at harvest, and it will store for 3-4 months in
common storage at 34-37°F. The flesh is a creamy, light yellow. It
is an attractive maroon red over a yellow gold background. It usually
exhibits striped coloration, but often can be somewhat dappled. It
sometimes russets lightly, depending on the season. Like most Minnesota
varieties, it is extremely hardy to USDA Zone 3b (-30 to -35°F). It has
low to medium vigor. The tree is spreading and produces annually.
We are proud to offer this new variety. We expect that it could be a suitable variety for local farmer's
markets and the backyard fruit grower, where its unique and appealing taste will
make up for its smaller size. Due to its smaller size, we don't expect it
would do well as a commercial apple for packing and shipping, unless the
consumer is well educated of its merits.
SnowSweet® (USPP Pending- MN-1797 cv)
SnowSweet® is one of the newest introductions from the
University of Minnesota breeding program. The fruit ripens approximately
two weeks after Honeycrisp™. It has an attractive bronze-red blush
covering 70-90% of the fruit. The flesh is very white and resists browning
when cut. It has a very rich and sweet flavor with slight tartness.
Fruit is reported to stay firm in storage for up to two months. Like all U
of MN varieties it is a hardy, regular bearer and very suitable to colder
climes. Call us now
for availability!
Zestar!® (USPP# 11367- Minnewashta
cv)
Zestar!® was introduced several years ago by University of
Minnesota, and is now gaining a very good reputation with growers. It is a
very high quality, late summer, early fall season apple that ripens in the Paulared™ season. It has very crisp, juicy, firm flesh with an excellent
sweet-tart flavor. It is probably one of the best apples in its season and
will probably gain in popularity when it becomes better known at farmer's and
roadside markets. For an early apple it is reported to keep
extraordinarily well--- for 6-8 weeks in ordinary storage. The tree is
slow to moderately vigorous, spreading and productive. Hardiness is very
good. Availability is improving.
Honeycrisp™ (USPP 7197)
One of the most exciting new apples to be introduced.
Developed as a cross between Macoun and Honeygold by the University of
Minnesota, this apple is creating a sensation with consumers. Probably the
most crisp apple on the market. Very juicy and tasty. Ripens about a
week after McIntosh and a few weeks ahead of Red Delicious. Will store well, but
has problems with bitter pit on young trees. Tree is moderately vigorous
and precocious, but susceptible to powdery mildew. Tree tends to settle
down into a very productive mode within a couple years of planting, so may not
take up as much space in row as most varieties. Somewhat like a Rome in
growth. We recommend Honeycrisp™ highly for farm marketers,
pick-your-own, or any market that is close to the consumer.
Gale Gala® (USPP 10114- Malaga cv)
Gale Gala™ is one of the highest coloring strains on the
market today. Deep red stripes and full red color. It may be a one
pick apple in many areas. While it is very high coloring, in Michigan it
does get very red, but not too dark. Still retains that "gala"
look that sets this variety apart from others.
 Pacific Gala®
(USPP 9681-Olsentwo cv)
We really like this strain of Gala. Has very high red
color, but retains that "glowing look" that consumers have come
to identify as Gala. There are other redder strains in the marketplace,
but in high coloring areas they can become too dark when properly mature.
(Is it really a Gala when it looks like a Jonathan?) Picks 5-7 days before
Royal Gala and stores much better.
September Wonder™ Fuji (USPP 11193-Fiero)
Formerly known as Jubilee™ Fuji, this is the earliest true Fuji on the market. Ripens 6 weeks
earlier than normal Fuji--- picking in Red Delicious season in most areas.
September Wonder™ will allow you to offer true Fuji flavor and sweetness if you grow in
an area where it is difficult to mature normal Fuji's. Reddish blush skin
color. Keeping qualities are similar to Gala. We recommend it for
farm marketers or U-picks where consumers expect you to have Fuji, even though
it may be early in the season. September Wonder™ will give you 6 more weeks to
sell this popular apple to your customers.
Auvil Early Fuji™ (PP# 10141-Fuji 216 cv)
An excellent strain of early Fuji offered by Van Well Nursery.
Similar maturity to September Wonder™. We recommend it as another early
Fuji strain to try.
Red Jonaprince™ Jonagold (USPP# 11112)
Red Jonaprince™ brand Jonagold is one of the newest and
earliest high coloring strains of Jonagold on the market. It is a Van Well
Nursery exclusive. The deep red color shows up on all apples, even shaded
fruit, and in our experience it starts coloring a week to 10 days ahead of other
popular, high color strains. It will finish to a nice deeper, red
attractive color with some subdued striping. Stores well and maintains
excellent Jonagold flavor. We recommend it.
Rubinstar® Jonagold (USPP # 7590)
Rubinstar® Jonagold has proven to be one of the best red
Jonagolds in the market. It has intense red color covering almost the
entire apple. Colors uniformly throughout the tree and matures a week
ahead of standard Jonagold. It is brightly colored with some
striping. It has all the eye and taste appeal that growers are looking
for. The apple may be slightly smaller than regular Jonagold and other
strains, which can be a plus in the extra large sized variety. We have
observed it for many years and highly recommend it.
 Red
Cameo™
We're sure you've heard a lot about Cameo™. Now Van Well has a
new, redder, more attractive strain. Even
though it is late season, it can be successfully grown in almost all
locations. The flavor, eating quality and storage characteristics are its
major selling factors---keeping well in common and CA storage. The tree is
vigorous and hardy with standard growth characteristics, but can be quite spurry
too. The fruit is attractive and distinct.
The Michigan peach industry is fortunate to have several peach breeding programs,
two private and one pubic, which have been developing peach varieties for commercial
growers. The most successful and productive, by number of new varieties
introduced, has been the FlaminFury® program started by Paul Friday many years
ago. The other private breeding program, Stellar Peaches™, by the late Jim Friday,
a relative, has also produced many successful introductions. The public
breeding program run by Michigan State University is finally introducing some
new varieties for the commercial peach industry in Southwestern Michigan.
All of these separate and independent programs started in Southwestern Michigan when
the industry was facing challenging times--- shrinking markets for the older
standard varieties which did not have sufficient color and quality for the
marketplace and severe winter damage which was forcing most peach growers to
re-evaluate their orchards. The "fruits" of their labors are now
being widely planted and tested in commercial orchards all across the
country.
If you are a beginning or established grower, It is well worth
the effort to trial these new varieties. In our peach growing years, we
test planted and evaluated almost every new variety to come out, looking for the
ideal peach. Since every peach growing area is climatically and culturally
different from another, one can never predict beforehand exactly which new
variety will be the best for your market or customer, so take the time to talk
with other local growers and extension and university people.
 Flamin'Fury® Series Peaches
Paul Friday started independently breeding his Flamin' Fury® series of peaches
many years ago, and I was able to often walk with Paul through his seedling
blocks and I continue to look at his new introductions in his extensive test
orchards now. The Flamin Fury® series has produced more new varieties,
covering a greater range of ripening season, than any other program that I know
of. It presently has more than 25 varieties in commercial introduction, with more
coming every year as Paul continues to carry on the program. There is
certainly a Flamin' Fury® variety suitable for
your particular geographic location, orchard site, season and market. Paul is a
master of identifying the niche each peach he breeds may be most suitable
for. His breeding goals are more open ended, with most varieties
exhibiting high red color, roundness, firmness and shipping quality and good
size as well as a
much wider ripening range, from a whole month before Red
Haven to well after Red Skin season. There have been excellent reports on
Flamin'Fury® peach varieties from peach areas across the country and I have
been impressed with them when I have seen them on Paul's farm.
Please contact us for a brochure describing his achievements or
click the link above to view all his currently offered varieties, since they are
too numerous to list.. Most varieties are available for Spring planting
from a variety of nurseries. Call us!
Stellar™ Series Peaches
Annette and Randy Bjorge, Jim Friday's daughter and son-in-law,
are carrying on Jim's breeding efforts with the introduction of over ten Stellar™
peach varieties which presently ripen from before Garnet Beauty/ Early Red Haven season
to very late September. Commercial growers across the country have been
testing and planting many of these varieties. Stellar™ varieties are
reported to have high quality,
good fruit size, high color, firm flesh, and good resistance
to bacterial spot and canker. Look for more varieties to be released in the future as their
evaluation of new material continues.
Please contact us for a brochure or click the link above to
view all his currently offered varieties, since they are too numerous to list..
Most are available from a variety of nurseries. Call us!
New from the Michigan State University
Peach Breeding Program
Beaumont™ (MSU 26' cv, USPPAP) Beaumont ripens 18
days after Redhaven in the Loring season. 60-90% red blush over a yellow
background. Fruit is reported to average 2.5" or better and maintain
firmness and store exceptionally well. A prolific bearer with good shelf
life, good flavor, and uniform fruit. Requires multiple pickings.
Good bacterial spot and brown rot resistance.
Beaumont™ was bred by Dr. Bill Shane and Dr. Amy Iezzoni at
the MSU Clarksville Research Station. Its parents are SH424 X
Fayette. It is named after the famous Beaumont Tower, which is a landmark
on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing, MI. Beaumont™
will become generally available from many nurseries for Spring 2007
planting.
Balaton™ Tart Cherry
An exciting alternative to the standard Montmorency.
Balaton™ was introduced by Amy Iazonni of Michigan State University who found
it in Hungary when she was searching for new genetic resources for her tart
cherry breeding program. Balaton™ is larger and firmer than Montmorency.
Excellent for processing with red skin, flesh, and juice. Ripens after
Montmorency and blooms a few days later. The tree is vigorous may need to
be trained similar to a sweet cherry. Worthy of limited trial.
Bubblegum Plum®
Bubblegum Plum®- This plum ripens 20 days after Redhaven and is
the most exciting plum for retail marketing to ever come down the pike, in Paul
Friday's opinion, who has registered the trademark for marketing this fruit.
Moser Fruit Tree Sales offers this variety under license from Paul Friday, the
world famous breeder and marketer of Flamin'Fury® peaches.
"It has the essence and taste of bubblegum which has driven our
retail customers wild. Our retail patrons of all status and economic levels
request this plum way after their availability every season. We sell this
plum 20 to 1 over any other plum at our farm stands throughout the season, it is
an unbelievable winner. It requires another variety for cross pollination,
Pipestone, Waneta, and Superior are three of many choices suggested. This
varieity is very hardy and can be grown from zone 3 up."
 New York Series of Prunes
Stanley prune has been the mainstay of eastern prune
production. The New York series of prunes were bred at the Geneva
Horticultural Experiment Station to offer growers better alternatives.
Three varieties are presently available with harvest seasons earlier than
Stanley. Castleton™ ripens approximate 2 weeks before
Stanley. NY 6 and NY 9 ripen approximately 7 to 10 days
before Stanley. All three are worthy of limited trial.
New Apple Rootstocks with great
potential:
The Cornell-Geneva apple rootstocks have all been bred
with increased fire blight and crown rot resistance in mind. If you grow
in an area that may be prone to severe fire blight infestations or on heavy,
wet, poorly drained soils with crown rot problems, this series of rootstocks
should be of great interest. Presently they are in limited supply, with
few varieties budded to them and still require much observation and
testing.
Geneva 16 reported to be between M 9 and M 26 size, but
is probably going to be replaced by another Geneva clone which has more
adaptability. It is not often found in the marketplace at this time.
Geneva
30 is reported to be similar in size to M 7. We think it may be
slightly less vigorous that M 7, but more so than M 26. We recommend trialing
them with other rootstocks for comparison. Staking or support is also
recommended as a safe guard as full information on graft compatibility and
whether they can support themselves is still being gathered.
Geneva 11 is reported to be similar in size to EMLA 26.
It is becoming more widely available, but is still very limited in what
cultivars are available on it.
An Observation
about Geneva 30 and Fire Blight in Michigan in 2000.
Southwest Michigan had an extremely severe fire blight infestation in
the spring of 2000. Many hundreds of thousands of dwarf trees are going to
be lost. All varieties showed some level of blight, including Red
Delicious! While the disease seemed to have run its course by July and
August when drier weather conditions helped growers out, in September and
October, it was evident that the blight was running into the rootstocks.
Even in varieties that did not seem to have much blight, one could see the trees
turning purple and destined to die. Cutting into the rootstocks, one could
see the browning and death of the root, while the trunk above the bud union was
still showing green. M 9, M 26, and M 7 seem to have been hit
hardest. M 106 took it a little better.
A young block of Gala budded to Geneva 30, which looked pretty well devastated
in July and which seemed destined for removal was showing some pretty good
re-growth in August. In September the comparison trees of Gala/ M 7 were
turning purple and dying. The Geneva 30 trees still had very green and
healthy looking growth and it appears that the rootstock is unaffected by the
blight. However, there is was certainly no "transmittal" of
resistance to the scion--- it was just as susceptible as any other Gala on other
rootstock, but it appears that it may be possible to save these trees because
the rootstock is healthy! We'll see!
UPDATE!
With the exception of the trees on M7,which were removed in 2002 because
of fire blight infection in the rootstock, this block of trees has done amazingly
well. There was a lot of regrowth in the trees and a excellent crops
considering the amount of lost productive wood in 2001. The grower will
need to make special effort to try to regain lost ground, especially in trying
to maintain a central leader, the orchard is viable and will survive for
many years to come. The few trees on Geneva 30 that died were because of
rodent damage. It is important to support this
rootstock. They are very precocious and the first crop will tend to
"drag" the trees down unless supported. In 2003, this block
produced a prodigious crop of Gala, with good size and color. The previous
fire blight damage is not noticeable, except that one can tell that the tree
structure has been compromised somewhat and it not what would be optimal for a
dwarf orchard. Crops in 2004 and 2005 where very good. It
appears that Geneva 30 has very good anchorage, but MUST be supported in early
years in order to develop and maintain the central leader. We have seen
very little tipping over or trees and no bud union brittleness with Pacific
Gala.
Geneva 30 definitely has great commercial potential from the
"grower" side. Its blight immunity, precocity, and
dwarfness (similar or slightly less than EMLA 7) make it highly desirable.
However, from the "nursery" point of view it has many drawbacks, which
will probably cause it to continue to be of limited production. Geneva 30
does not produce a high amount of high grade layers in the stoolbed. It
produces lots of thorns, which the producer needs to prune off. These two
qualities make it more expensive to produce than other rootstocks.
However, most importantly, Geneva 30 can suffer high loss of liners when
the nurseryman lines it out in the field prior to budding. Reports from 15
to 50% loss are not unusual. This causes it to be an expensive risk for
the fruit tree nursery. However, well established liners bud well and
produce nice feathered trees. For the most part, it seems than many fruit
tree nurseries are shying away from using Geneva 30 as a rootstock, because of
its potential for trouble, even though there seems to be a market for every tree
produced. Growers should expect to have trouble locating already budded
trees of many varieties on this rootstock, should expect to pay more for those
trees, and should plan ahead and contract where possible for Geneva 30 trees in
quantity.
Cherry Rootstocks
The Gisela® Series of cherry rootstocks holds great
promise for revolutionizing the production of sweet cherries. There are
many rootstocks in the series, with Gisela® 5, 6 and 12
showing great promise for size control and early production. While trees
on these rootstocks carry a hefty royalty and are expensive when planting, it
appears that being able to bring in early and heavy crops on much more dwarf
trees, compared to the standard mahaleb and mazzard rootstocks, and may make them a
better investment over the life of the orchard.
The latest trend for the introduction of new varieties, particularly apples,
is the "club". This trend has its pros and cons in our opinion. As a
fruit tree broker and small nursery, we are not able to participate with the
clubs and are not able to provide varieties which have been clubbed.
Securing these varieties almost always must be done directly with the club
management. Typically there are many restrictions and conditions that must
be complied with in order to join a club. If you contact us about club
varieties, we may be able to help you get in contact with the club managers, but
we usually will not be able to sell you the trees.
Essentially a club variety is a variety that is restricted in its production
and marketing to members of the club. However, there still are many
varieties which are still being introduced into the open market with no
restrictions--- call us if you have questions about a particular variety.
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