Favorite fruit and nut trees for Texas

I am going to place an order for a client who is planting an orchard here in the Dallas area. I have done some research and have a tentative list. I thought I would round it out with some feedback from the experts on Texas gardening! So, what is your favorite fruit and/or nut tree(s) for Texas? I realize a preference for taste may be at odds with a preference for what tree actually grows and thrives the best. Also, what are your thoughts on growing grapes and almonds in Texas? I've never tried it. We are looking to plant a couple of varieties of pears, apples, peaches, some blackberries, fig, and persimmon.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Jamie

My favorite nut is Pecan, and i think peaches would do well too.
I bet Jujube can give you the most info he is really into it.
Josephine.

Chill hours vary enough in Texas that varieties that grow in south Central Texas may not thrive and bear fruit in North Texas. TAMU's AgriLife Extension has an office in every county and the larger cities have great urban office that can provide all sorts of information. TAMU's website is also full of information. There are also several books that have wonderful information. Neil Sperry's Complete Guide to Texas Gardening, 2nd Edition is one I would recommend. There is an extensive section on fruit trees with recommendation on varieties for the different areas in Texas.
http://www.amazon.com/Sperrys-Complete-Guide-Texas-Gardening/dp/0878337997
Here are some links with informatiion that will help you
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/lg_e_fruit.htm
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/stone/stone.html
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/publications/fruitlist.html
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/fruitgarden/fruitvariety.html

Whether you thinking of growing table or wine grapes, try to get varieties that are immune or resistant to Pierce's Disease which is spread by the Glassy Winged Sharpshooter, found all over Texas.

Almond have very low chill hour requirements and will break dormancy well before your last frost date. I had two in San Jose, CA that bloomed in late February.

If you can find apple varieties that are resistant to apple/cedar rust, get those. Apple are a high maintenance fruit, but with a good fruit spray program, you should get worm free fruit.

Eureka persimmon are supposed to grow very well there, but any persimmon will since they tend to bloom in May, there is not danger of frost damage.

If I had room for a whole orchard, I would sure plant pecan and black walnut. Your client won't see much production, but they can feel real good about what they're doing for the future (while enjoying the fruit of their faster maturing species).

The extension office could help with the details, but you can do some things with micro-environments if you really have your heart set on a certain fruit - creating north or south facing berms and depressions, for example.

Depending on what's around the orchard (and what might develop around it down the road), you might want to build in some pollinator-attracting strips.

Let us know what the final list is...

We would need to know the soil type first before you start as some plants dislike certain soil types. In addition, you need to purchase a tree with the right rootstock for that soil or all is lost.

Be warned that Black Walnuts excrete a substance that inhibits the growths of other plants.

Thanks for all the feedback! I actually started by looking at what a couple of my suppliers offered (type of each fruit/nut tree) and used the TAMU site to see what did best in North Texas. I cross-referenced that with what Howard Garrett listed in his organic vegetable gardening book. I want to get pecans, for sure, but they have about 25 different kinds available.

There is a local college that turned their entire football field under and made it into a garden. They want it to be an edible veggie garden and have incorporated a bit more space nearby, hence the orchard. My client is the lady they hired to plant and maintain this big garden! So space isn't really an issue. A pollinator attracting strip is a GREAT idea!

My list so far-

Apples: Mollies Delicious, Gala and Fuji

Pear- Kieffer, Leconte, Moonglo, Ayers, Orient

Peach- Sentinel, Harvester, Red Globe, Redskin, Dixieland, Loring, Frank

Japanese Persimmons- Hachiva, Eureka


Native Black Walnut

American Persimmon

Fig- Texas Everbearing, Brown Turkey, Celeste

Cherry- Montmorency

Almonds- Texas Mission, Hall's Hardy (pollinator for Mission). But you're saying the chill hour is too low here? I don't want to plant something that will just struggle and be frusturating.

Apricots- ruled out thus far... seems that they are prone to freeze here and don't produce well.

Thornless Blackberry- Navaho and Arapaho

Wonderful Pomegranates

Plum- Bruce, Methley, Allred, Morris, Ozark Premier

Grapes- nothing so far. The source I am using carries grapes but none of the 3 that TAMU suggests. The supplier is only about an hour and a half drive from here so I would *think* they would grow varieties that do well here. I am big on tree provenence, so I don't want to buy trees grown far away from North Texas.

Any thoughts on any of the above selections? I will need to narrow the list a bit more before I place the order.

Thanks!

I have been reading a lot about rootstock. North Texas, as a general rule, has heavy clay,alkaline soil.

I would compare "Wonderful's" cold hardiness with other varieties. Here's TAMU's write up on pomegranates. You might try to find a protected area or create a micro-climate for the pomegranates
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/citrus/pomegranate.htm

About almonds: Their chill hour requirements are low. They would come out of dormancy very early, much earlier than the last day of frost. So you would encounter freeze problems with the blooms and/or fruit.

Both varieties of D. kaki persimmon and the American persimmon are astringent varieties. I would add a non-astringent variety, such as Jiro or Suruga, both bear very high quality fruit.

Apple-cedar rust problems:
http://plantclinic.tamu.edu/helpful-factsheets/cedar-apple-rust/

Apples:
You might want to add Granny Smiths apple as it is heat loving. I believe that Fuji can handle the heat too. Many apples do not like it at all.

Pear:
Check pears for fireblight resistance. You should add Asian Pears as they are starting to take some of the market from the American Pear. Frankly, they taste much better too. Shinko is very disease resistant.
Also check to see if they have a pollintor.

Asian Persimmons:
Most people dont know how to cook with the astringent varieties and they often go to waste since they are so soft when finally edible. Get non-astringent varieties such as Jiro, Fuyu or Chocolate.
Do not buy any on Lotus rootstock. American rootstock only if you are on clay. You will end up getting rid of the trees if they are on Lotus in clay.

Cherry:
They dislike heat and require pollinators. Be warned.

Apricots:
Here is a list of Apricots that are late bloomers so you wont have crop loss.
http://www.oakcreekorchard.com/id71.html

Grapes:
If you are on clay soil, Champanel and Black Spanish will do fine. Champanel grows like a weed in heavy clay. They are wine grapes and not fresh eating.

I notice that you dont have these fruits listed and I will recommend them.

Jujube:
These fruits have been grown in Texas since the 1800's. The U.S. government selectively bred them for Texas and Oklahoma in the early 1900's. They produce large crops with no disease problems. They are extremely drought tolerant. I recommend Li, Sugar Cane, So (contorted). These trees will naturalize in Texas and need no supplimental water after 2-3 years. This is literally the best fruit for Texas. New and improved varieties are coming out all the time.

www.burntridgenursery.com


Pineapple Guava/Feijoa:
These are grown all over Texas but only wild seedlings with small fruit. They are hardy below 10F and can really take the heat. They have edible flowers that are like cinnamon candy and the fruit is like a Pineapple mixed with mint Strawberries. Here are sources for named varieties that will produce larger fruit.

onegreenworld.com
or
http://cgi.ebay.com/Feijoa-selloviana-COOLIDGE-PINEAPPLE-GUAVA-Tree-1gallon-/390251842197?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5adcd28a95

The second one is a bit expensive for a one gallon.


Che:
This tree is bound to start showing up everywhere. It has quarter sized pink fruits that taste like figs/mulberries mixed or sometimes melons. They are available at most of the online nurseries and are very cold hardy and hard to kill. I get mine from.......

Hidden Springs Nursery
http://www.hiddenspringsnursery.com/plants.html#Melon_Tree

Very affordable price.
Just order females.

Wow! Thank you so much for all the information!!!

I misunderstood on the almonds. They come out of dormancy in February (like most apricots) and then when we have our last crazy spring freeze in early March, it kills the buds. That was why I had planned on nixing them. I also think I want to go with self-pollinators as much as possible. I am selling these trees in my shop as well, and my customer base is mainly in city neighborhoods. So to require two trees to be planted might impact my sales negatively.

Thanks again! I'll look into those other fruits you mentioned.

Just saw this thread. alot of great info. For what it's worth I think the most under used trees in this category are Jujube and American Persimmon. If you get an American persimmon, get a named variety. American Persimmons vary wildly in fruit quality. I find in North Texas the cultivar "Osage" does well.

I have researched, and found references to outstanding American Persimmon cultivars that were developed in Texas many years ago. But unfortunately I haven't been able to locate any of them. A good American Persimmon is much better than an Asian Persimmon.

Yeah, given that it's a college and should have some academic purpose, not necessarily imediate utility... It would be very cool to include some of the older named varieties. Possibly not the most productive in a modern farm/factory setting, but possibly quite suitable in this setting.

Meader, Mohler and Early American Persimmons. They are mixed in with the Asian on this site.

http://www.onegreenworld.com//index.php?cPath=1_49

I have a 'Meador', it's a good one. 'Morris Burton' is one that is consistently mentioned as best tasting. But the Morris Burton I had died before it ever bore fruit.

A really fun book on fruit trees;
Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden by Lee Reich

Informative indeed!

I would agree that the college trees could be used for educational purposes, but their order is just tagging onto my overall order. I have to consider retail sales since the remainder will be held in inventory in my shop.

I cannot believe how hard it was to source a late blooming apricot. Only ONE of my Texas wholesalers carried any at all, and they only have one of the nine listed varieties on that website.

I also find it so strange that jujubes do so well in Texas, but nobody seems to grow them here (wholesale growers). I'm on the lookout though.

I am fine tuning, but will post the final order just "FYI" when I'm done. :)

Thanks y'all, this was fun AND educational!

Everyone gets their wholesale Jujube from LE Cooke. They are already completely sold out. Minimum order is 700-800 bucks but they have such a huge selection of all fruiting trees that it isnt hard to fill that order. I can personally testify that you are getting very large healthy trees when you order from them. They will be shipping out second week of January to Texas so you still have time.

These are bareroot trees so you either need to pot them, which is sometimes hard to do because bareroot trees have huge root systems or setup a sandbed to sell them to customers. Many local shops in Austin do that and it is very popular because you can look at the root system before you buy.

We are growing pluots, but brown rot, which I had never seen before, wiped out this year's harvest. We will start the recommended spraying before bloom this year and hope to harvest fruit.

Can the Che trees be kept small? Can one tree bear or do I need at least 2 trees. The site says I need male and female? I want a couple of small and hardy fruit trees for the front yard but the space is limited. Hoping for cold hardy and disease free (relatively). Any suggestions?
Cheryl

Che can be pruned small. It usually grafted on Osage Orange which isnt a huge tree to begin with.
Everyone that I know that has just a female has fruit. You probably dont get as much.
They are hardy below zero and have no disease problems.

ok so I'm late putting in my two cents but here is a link to a good grower
he is very knowledgeable on the fruit trees and such in Texas
I have a granny smith, Jonathon and Asian pear from him

http://www.bobwellsnursery.com/

You may already know about Forest Hill, LA if you can buy wholesale...but if you don't, I'm posting a link to the nurseries.

I go to the Louisiana RU each spring, dragging DH along... Last year we all met at Forest Hill, LA the day before the RU to hit some nurseries. I was overwhelmed with the selections and the prices. . The first one we went to was Doug Young's. Our truck was full of plants for the RU swap so I asked one of the clerks if we could park under a tree for shade while we shopped. She looked at me kinda funny and told me we'd need our truck...there were 200 acres of plants at their nursery... and 150 were open to the public. Then she gave us a map, an inventory list, and a form to write down everything we picked up, and told us to just go shop and come back when we finished and they'd ring us up! (Among other things, I bought a 3 gal Pineapple Guava for $7 and a 3 gal.Rosy-Glo Barberry for $5.). Most of the nurseries are wholesale only, but Doug Young's sells to the public, and at a discount if you're a Master Gardener. DH drove thru the nursery and I would jump out and run thru the greenhouses like a kid in a candy store!

DH is not a plant person, and even he was impressed with the miles...and miles of nurseries along that one highway. I didn't have a list of things to buy because I didn't know what to expect...and I knew I'd be carrying home a bunch of plants from the RU. This year, however, I'm going with a list!!! There's also a Festival in March of the nurseries in Forest Hill area.

Just click on the first letter of the botanical name of a plant you're looking for and a listing of all those that sell that plant will come up. Since it's winter, some might not show as available just yet. You can always check back, or e-mail them.

http://www.growit.com/Bin/AssnPL.exe?myquery=a&mytype=PltsSN&mystart=1&myassn=LAN

I went to Forest Hill 2 years ago and was overwhelmed ,I had no idea it even existed but a nephew lives near there the one we shopped at had golf carts for you to ride in ..Never saw that many Knock out roses before ,Forest hill holds a festival for that sometime in Febuary ..I can get the exact date if anyone is interested ..Think that might be a good time to go visit the kinfolks down in CenLa.