Montrose Apricot

Does anyone have experience with these trees?
Its a cold hardy  prunus with a sweet, edible pit.
I think it could be a very good crop tree for zone 6, Ohio.
I'm imagining "almond butter" and apricot jam from a single tree!

I haven't heard of Montrose variety, and don't know any apricot varieties except what grows here in Ladakh. There are two locally named and grafted varieties here, that have edible kernel and good fruit. One is the tastiest fruit, especially when dried, needs no extra sugar in jam, and has a distinctively wrinkled top. The other has a white seed shell (the only one locally with that), sticky sweet fruit, and a distinctively blocky shape and slightly pale color.

The winter is cold here at 10,500 feet, but just a little higher up in this region apricots no longer ripen properly. Even at my altitude, they don't get as big or as sweet as down at balmy 9000 feet, lower down the Indus River in our region. My understanding is that apricots like summers with intense sun and dry air and dry weather (we irrigate at ground level here). That might be more of a problem than the winter minimum temperature.

I'm sorry, that won't help you with your search for Montrose.

Thank you Rebecca!
We have wet summers, along with wet springs, autumn, and winters, so that could be an issue.
Still, it might be workout, I see plant thriving outside their prescribed niche all the time.
I'm not a huge fan of apricots because of the super sweetness, but that also makes them likely candidates for making fruit molasses, which I do like.

If the local permie nursery has them this year, I might get a couple.

Rebecca Norman wrote:... My understanding is that apricots like summers with intense sun and dry air and dry weather (we irrigate at ground level here). That might be more of a problem than the winter minimum temperature.

I'm sorry, that won't help you with your search for Montrose.

This is nice to read.  I have been researching and had settled on a Chinese/Mormon apricot as the best choice for a fruit tree in my area but was still a bit concerned.  Your statement sounds like the apricots may like my 6,000 ft altitude location in the high plains of the US.

The Chinese/Mormon is another of the sweet pit apricots and one that has been selected for later flowering then most varieties so I would have less chance of it losing flowers in a late snow or freeze but looking into the Montrose you asked about  that may also be a good solution for me...   but you may also want to look into the Mormon which needs fewer chill hours.   As you can tell I haven't gotten a tree yet.

William Bronson wrote:
I'm not a huge fan of apricots because of the super sweetness, but that also makes them likely candidates for making fruit molasses, which I do like.

I think many varieties of apricot are more tart and flavorful than super sweet, especially seedling varieties.

Hi,
I live in the Midwest and just bought a Montrose Apricot tree. This will be the first apricot tree I've ever planted. I was told it's very cold hardy by the nursery I purchased it from. There are even these type of trees planted near the Canadian border in Idaho from what I've found out. I hope to have a crop on it this summer since fruit is ready to eat in mid-july. The standard variety grows 15-25 feet tall. I will have to let you know how the fruit tastes and the pit tastes after my first crop production. Hope some of this info helps.

I lived right near Montrose, CO for years.  I never once heard of anyone growing this varietal commercially.  I have grown it, the flavor is mediocre.  It is typical but not exceptional for cold and drought hardiness.  It's just a pretty standard apricot.  I honestly think the varietal is a bit of a gimmick.  

I would go with Goldrich for fruit.  It's a superior varietal for Zone 5/6/7.  

FWIW, I've had lots of apricots with sweet pits over the years.  I don't think it's either as rare or as stable of a trait as books might seem to suggest.  

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, bitter apricot pit is called Xing Ren, and is a commonly used medicinal herb.  It's bitter, and used in medicinal-size quantities.  I ate a few with some white chocolate the other night and it's a nice combo.  

Traditional Chinese Medicine also does not have any concept of a sweet pit apricot (never seen it mentioned in any TCM nutritional text), so that's a bit of a head scratcher on origins of the 'Chinese' named cultivar and its association with being 'sweet pit'.

Hope that helps-

Hi Sherry,

Welcome to Permies.