If it were possible to give a rating higher than "positive" for this cultivar, I would give it. Reliance was the first peach advertised ...Read Moreto grow in my beastly NE Wisconsin climate (we are considered Zone 5, but that might be because of our extended fall growing season due to the proximity of Lake Michigan). Our winter temperatures typically "bottom out" at 20 to 25 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit), and Reliance peach comes right through with flying colors.
Just how hardy is this peach? One year we had a cold snap in May and the low temperature hit 28 degrees (F) three nights in a row, right down the middle of the bloom -- and the tree bore a fine crop of peaches.
The peaches were advertised as "medium" in size, but I would call them "small." The summer before last, we had a drought, and that year they were no larger than apricots; but the flavor was good.
There are now newer peach varieties that are said to have the same hardiness as Reliance, and better flavor. Perhaps so; but this was the first one I found, and the one I have, and it's wonderful.
If you live in a cold region and like fruit trees, but have never had a peach tree, try this one or another hardy variety. There is no comparison in the flavor between a peach ripened on the tree and a store-bought one that was, of necessity, picked green. The tree-ripened peach is so sweet it makes me think of biting into candy, while the store-bought peach makes me think of chewing on cardboard. In the old days we in the cold zones had to live with cardboard peaches. Reliance changed all that!
I have a Reliance peach here at 7,300 ft. I planted all of my fruit trees at about the same time and it is the best growing of all and ...Read Morebegan bearing earliest. It is attractive and provides nice sweet peaches when I can beat the birds to them.
Oklahoma City, OK (Zone 7a) | January 2005 | neutral
Developed in New Hampshire, this is a very cold hardy cultivar. Fruit is medium to large sized and ripens in early August. This cultiva...Read Morer can be grafted onto dwarf, semi-dwarf and standard rootstocks.
If it were possible to give a rating higher than "positive" for this cultivar, I would give it. Reliance was the first peach advertised ...Read More
I have a Reliance peach here at 7,300 ft. I planted all of my fruit trees at about the same time and it is the best growing of all and ...Read More
Developed in New Hampshire, this is a very cold hardy cultivar. Fruit is medium to large sized and ripens in early August. This cultiva...Read More