Apricot Varieties for Northern Climates

Apricot Varieties for Northern Climates

​Apricots, like plums and peaches, belong to the Prunus genus; however, they are a different species, Prunus armeniaca. If you are interested in plum-apricot crosses that are more plum-like, please see my post on Plums for Northern Climates. Here, I will list apricots only as Apriums®, which are plum-apricot crosses that are more apricot-like and are better suited to warm climates, usually zone 7 and higher. Apricots are native to China (near the Russian border) and were cultivated there for thousands of years. Apricots likely arrived in the United States via the East and West coasts, and they are now mostly cultivated commercially in California. There are a few varieties that are hardy to zones 3 and 4, but most grow best in zones 5-9.

We have not had the best luck growing apricots in Central Wisconsin (zone 4), perhaps partly because Apricots do not like wet feet or humid conditions, and are prone to fungal diseases, and most of our land is wet, consisting of two ponds and a marsh. We have tried two varieties, Goldcot and Moorpark, and neither survived more than a year. We also struggled to establish peach trees, but now have three different varieties that have survived two years or more and have even harvested a few peaches. To be fair to the apricots, one was purchased from a company that did not ship at the correct time, and in general, I found their other trees to be weak and unlikely to thrive. I do plan to try new varieties of Apricots to see if we have better luck and also plan to plant them on the only hill we have on our land, which should provide better drainage.

Variety	Zones	Pollination	Best Usage	Fruit Ripens	Diseases	Notes
AC Harojoy, Harojoy, or HW 446	4-8	Self-pollinating, but another variety will increase fruit production	Fresh eating, baking, canning, jam, and freezing	Mid-late July	Resistant to bacterial spot, perennial canker, and brown rot	Freestone; stores less than 1 month; Harlayne crossed with Harcot
AC Harostar, Harostar, or HW 436	4/5-8	Self-pollinating, but another variety will increase fruit production	Fresh eating, jam, baking, freezing, processing, but not canning	Late July-early August	Good disease resistance; resistant to bacterial spot, perennial canker, and brown rot	Freestone; stores less than 1 month
Blenheim, Blenheim Royal, or Shipley s Blenheim	5-8/10	Self-pollinating, but another variety, such as Flavor Giant, Giant Tilton, or Wilson Delicious, will increase fruit production	Fresh eating, canning, drying, juicing, and preserves	Late June-Early July		Stores for a few weeks; ripens from the inside out, usually has a green shoulder when ripe; freestone
Chinese, Chinese Sweet Pit, Chinese Golden, Mormon, Chinese Mormon, or Large Early Montgamet	4-7	Self-pollinating, but another late-blooming variety, such as Goldcot, Giant Tilton, Wenatchee Moorpark, or Harglow, will increase fruit production	Fresh eating, canning, drying, and baking	Early July-August; ripens over a long time		Partially clingstone pit is edible and tastes like almonds; blooms late and ripens early, good for northern climates
Flavor Giant	5-8	Self-pollinating but another variety such as Blenheime, Giant Tilton, Moorpark, or Wilson Delicious will increase fruit production	Fresh eating and drying	July		Freestone
Giant Tilton	5-8	Self-pollinating, but Flavor Giant, Moorpark, Goldcot, or Puget Gold will increase fruit production	Fresh eating, desserts, processing, canning, freezing, and drying	July		Freestone
Goldcot	4-7	Self-pollinating, but another variety, such as Flavor Giant, Giant Tilton, Moorpark, or Puget Gold, will increase fruit production	Fresh eating, freezing, and canning	Early July		Freestone
Harcot	5-10	Self-pollinating	Fresh eating, canning, and preserves	Early	Resistant to brown rot and perennial canker	Stores a few weeks
Harglow	5-8	Self-pollinating but a late-blooming apricot, such as Chinese, Giant Tilton, or Wenatchee Moorpark will increase fruit production	Fresh eating, cooking, and preserving	July-August	Some resistance to brown rot and bacterial canker	Freestone
Harlayne	4	Requires a second late-blooming variety, such as Harogem as a pollinator	Fesh eating, canning, and drying	Mid-August	Resistant to brown rot and bacterial spot	Freestone
Harogem	4/5-8	Self-pollinating, but another variety, such as Harlayne and Hargrand will increase fruit production	Fresh eating, jam, baking, canning, and freezing	Late July-Early August	Resistant to brown rot and perennial canker; may be somewhat resistant to bacterial spot	Freestone; stores 2-3 weeks
Moorpark	4-8/10	Self-pollinating, but another variety, such as Flavor Giant, Goldcot, Giant Tilton, or Puget Gold will increase fruit production	Fresh eating, canning, drying, and preserves	Mid-July-August; ripens over a long period of time		Stores for a few weeks
Morden 604	3	Self-pollinating	Fresh eating	Mid-late summer		Clingstone
Puget Gold	5-9	Self-pollinating but Flavor Giant, Goldcot, Giant Tilton, or Moorpark will increase fruit production	Fresh eating, canning, or preserves	Early August	Disease and pest-resistant	Freestone; does well in the Northwest US
Stark SweeHeart	5-8	Self-pollinating but another variety such as Flavor Giant, Harglow, or Wenatchee Moorpark, will increase fruit production	Fresh eating	Mid-July		Almond-like pits are edible
Tilton	4-9	Self-pollinating but will set more fruit when planted with another variety	Fesh eating, canning, preserves, and drying	Late		Stores for a few weeks
Tomcot	5	Chinese Sweet Pit, Harglow, and Puget Gold are good pollinators	Fresh eating or drying	July
Wenatchee Moorpark	5-9	Self-pollinating, but another variety, such as Flavor Giant, Harglow, or Giant Tilton will increase fruit production; also a good pollinator for other late-blooming apricots	Fresh eating, canning, or drying	July-late August		Freestone; does well in climates with wet springs, such as the Northwest US
Westcot	3		Fresh eating	Late July-early August		Freestone; large pits
Westley	4-9	Self-pollinating	Fresh eating and drying	August; fruit ripens all at once		Freestone
Wilson Delicious	5-8	Self-pollinating, but another variety, such as Blenheim, Flavor Giant, or Giant Tilton will increase fruit production	Fresh eating, canning, drying, or freezing	Early July		Freestone

 

References and Resources

1. Cummins Nursery. Cold-Hardy Apricot Trees. https://www.cumminsnursery.com/buy-trees/index.php?type=tree&year=2026&category=apricot&subcategory=Cold-Hardy
2. Fedco Seeds. Apricots. https://fedcoseeds.com/fruits/apricots
3. Jung Seed. Apricot. https://www.jungseed.com/category/634
4. Raintree Nursery. Apricot Trees. https://raintreenursery.com/collections/apricot-trees
5. Stark Bro’s. Apricot Trees. https://www.starkbros.com/products/fruit-trees/apricot-trees
6. Trees of Antiquity. Apricot Trees. https://www.treesofantiquity.com/collections/apricot-trees