Apricot, Cherry, Peach, Pear, & Plum Trees

'Evans Bali' Cherry is the ideal size for backyard orchards sporting showy white flowers in spring followed by loads of bright red cherries in mid- summer. Although this is a sour cherry, it is considered to be the sweetest of the sour cherries and is delightful for fresh eating as well as in pies and jams! 'Bali' is bathed in stunning clusters of fragrant white flowers along the branches in mid spring before the leaves. It has dark green foliage throughout the season. The pointy leaves turn an outstanding orange in the fall. The fruits are showy cherry red drupes carried in abundance in mid-summer. This extremely hardy cherry is a self-pollinating variety, so it doesn’t require a second plant nearby to set fruit. The smooth dark red bark adds an interesting dimension to the landscape. It's shapely oval form complements its average texture to blend well into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition. It has no significant negative characteristics.

'Montmorency' is one of the most popular dessert cherries in North America. Boasting large, bright red fruit and excellent cold-hardiness, 'Montmorency' is self-fertile and will produce even more fruit when paired with another cherry variety for pollination. It's sour cherries are firm and juicy and delicious eaten fresh but most especially in pies, preserves, and juiced. There are many health benefits from cherries and their juice. The flavor is tart and tangy. Montmorency is very cold hardy and disease resistant. Ripens in late June. Self-fertile. (As a side note, this is one of Simply Sunshine's favorite cherry varieties for making pie filling.)

'Bosc' fruit both looks and tastes beautiful with a naturally occurring russet, radiating a gorgeous golden appearance. The juicy, firm flesh is sweetly-spicy and is absolutely delicious with it's crunchy texture! 'Bosc' pears remain firm and keep their classic shape during cooking. It is a high-quality, vigorous, and productiver pear that matures mid-season about 20 days after Bartlett. 'Bosc' trees are large with upright growth. The fruit is large and narrow shaped with a long neck; skin color is dark yellow with russet. Pear is juicy, sweet and tender. Good for canning, and fresh eating and does not need to be peeled before eating. European pears are late blooming, tolerant of heavy wet soils, and a good choice for many areas. Plant at least two varieties for best results. Harvest 3rd year.

Very good for colder areas, 'Summercrisp' is an early maturing pear introduced by the University of Minnesota for use in colder climates, where most other pear varieties survive poorly and often do not produce fruit. 'Summercrisp' Pear bears stunning clusters of white flowers with purple anthers along the branches in mid-spring, followed by showy chartreuse fruit marked with a red blush. An abundant crop can be expected in late summer with unique fruit that is best consumed without having been ripened fully. 'Summercrisp' pears naturally taste best while the flesh is firm and crisp. The low canopy of this tree typically clears the ground around 4 feet high and is suitable for planting near power lines. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 70 years or more.

The large, sweet, oblong, purple freestone fruit of the Early Italian Plum is perfect for fresh eating or preserving in a multitude of ways, including canning and drying. European plums are the best plum varieties in cold climates, and this hardy and vigorous mid season plum ripens 14 days earlier than traditional Italian Plums. The delicious yellow-green flesh turns to a beautiful rich red wine color when cooked. This is a self-fertile tree also great for commercial production. It is considered an easy tree to get established and can begin bearing fruit from between three to six years. Considered self-fertile, but will have greater production when cross-pollinated with another European plum variety.

Considered by many to be the best all-around plum for consistent crops, fruit quality and yield in tougher climate regions. Heirloom blue, European type that ripens in early to mid-Septmeber, Mount Royal Plum has dark green foliage throughout the season with leaves that turn yellow in fall. An advantage of this cultivar is that it is self- pollinating with white, showy, fragrant blooms that emerge in the spring. Blue drupes are ripe in August and are sweet and tender. They can be eaten fresh, dried, or in baked goods. This tree would fit perfectly as part of an edible landscape, orchard, under power lines, and would even make an ideal stand-alone specimen tree due to a wide opening canopy. It is extremely cold hardy.