...is it possible?
I live in Shiner, zone 8 and would love to grow an almond tree!
Almond Tree in Texas...
Almond trees have very low chill hour requirements and so are one of the first fruit trees to bloom (In San Jose, CA my trees bloomed in early to mid February.). That's still mid winter here in Texas and you'd lose all blooms or fruit to freezing weather. I don't think microclimates would help in this instance. The trees would survive, but no fruit.
Oh!! that is a shame, the trees are so pretty and the almonds so good and good for you too.
Bummer. I may have to experiment anyway. I need something new to kill! LOL
If you do decide to try it anyway. Be sure to establish a spray program against Bacteria leaf spot which will cause premature leaf drop.
Will do, Bettydee. Any recommendations on product?
I never had that problem on my almond trees back in San Jose. California must have that problem or it's very uncommon. UC Davis, Calfornia's AG Extension Service, has lots of information on all aspects of backyard orcharding of almonds, but doesn't have any things on bacterial leaf spot. I did find this PDF file on the bacterium that causes the problem and apparently there is no cure. You will have to prevent the problem from occurring.
http://www.eppo.org/QUARANTINE/bacteria/Xanthomonas_pruni/XANTPR_ds.pdf
http://info.ucr.edu/gwss/
Another bit of bad news: The glassy-winged sharpshooter, the insect that spreads Pierce's Disease among grapes, is found all over Texas. The bacterium that causes Pierce's Disease will cause bacterial leaf scorch in almonds. The second link above mentions it. There is also no cure and death is certain for the infected plant.
Thanks! Great information
Here's a page that might help if you decide to try it. Scroll all the way to the bottom for this:
"Almonds are eaten as a nut, but the required cultural practices and tree appearance are essentially the same as peaches. Almonds are generally poorly adapted to Texas because they bloom too early in the spring and encounter freeze problems. No varieties are highly recommended because of general failure to set crops. Two relatively late blooming varieties include Halls Hardy and Star."
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/stone/stone.html
I don't know anything about "Star" almonds, but Halls Hardy almonds have a slightly bitter tang.
We tried Hall's almond trees and they all 3 finally died. Took them a long time though. We did get a few almonds off of them though. I remember them being very buttery tasting, very rich. But maybe they weren't all Hall's. I'll ask DH tomorrow.