Apple

Malus sp.

Like the peaches and plums, apples are deciduous trees. They require 200-400 chill hours, according to variety, to go completely dormant, and then the flowers emerge in the late part of the winter as the weather begins to warm. The plants are highly ornamental as they begin to break bud, having large, showy pink and white flowers.

Available now: Anna 7gal

Photo Credit: Lee Cooke Nursery

Apricot

Prunus armeniaca sp.

Apricot is a stone fruit, closely related to peaches, almonds, plums, and cherries. The fruit is also widely made into jam and is often used to flavour liqueurs. Apricots are a good source of vitamin A and are high in natural-sugar content.

Available now: Gold Kist 5gal

Photo Credit: Lee Cooke Nursery

Cherry (sweet)

Prunus avium

Cherries belong to the Rosaceae family, along with other stone fruit crops such as almond, apricot, peach and plum. Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet Prunus avium and the sour Prunus cerasus.

Available in Feb 2022

Photo Credit: Lee Cooke Nursery

Fig

Ficus carica

With a history that dates back to 5,000 B.C. the edible fig is one of the most widely recognized and distributed fruits in the world. They were first introduced to the New World through Mexico in 1560, and then to California in 1769. It is one of the few fruits that can be grown in all fifty states, and there are a multitude of varieties suitable to each growing region. The Black Mission and especially the Brown Turkey variety are the two best figs for tropical and subtropical climates. 

Available now: Violetta 15gal

Image: © Champa Nursery

Jujube (Chinese Date)

Ziziphus jujuba

Jujube, also called Chinese date, red date, or Tsao, is native to China. It originated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, and has been cultivated in China for more than 4,000 years. Botanically, it is derived from its wild relative sour jujube or wild jujube. In ancient times, people selected and cultivated sour jujubes with bigger fruit, and it gradually became the cultivated modern jujube species.
The jujube can be easily confused with the Indian jujube (Z. mauritiana Lam), which is a tropical plant of the same genus, whereas the Chinese jujube is a cold-hardy deciduous plant. 

Available in Feb 2022

Photo Credit: Lee Cooke Nursery

Mulberry

Morus nigra

Mulberries taste similar to blackberries, and just like blackberries, they will stain your hands and lips. They are excellent eaten right out of hand, but they are often used in preserves, jellies and jams. The leaves of the mulberry are cultivated in many parts of the world as food for silk worms.

Available in Feb 2022

Image: © Champa Nursery

Nectarine

Prunus persica var nucipersica

Nectarine is a variety of smooth-skinned peach. It grows in the peach Prunus Persica var. nucipersica, or apple of Persia. It is distinguished from the peach by its smooth and shiny skin that has an orange color that turns towards the red. Its pulp can be yellow. It has a very marked and slightly acidic sweet flavor. The pulp can also be white, and in this case the fruit has a more subtle flavor. It is used fresh, juiced or preserved. 

Available in Feb 2022

Photo Credit: Lee Cooke Nursery

Peach

Prunus persica sp.

Peaches are drupes or fleshy stone fruits of which there are thousands of varieties. Belonging to the botanical family of the Rosaceae, as the pear, the apple, the almond or the plum, the peach is a stone fruit, sweet and juicy. It is a climateric fruit, that is, unlike apricot, it continues to ripen after harvesting. The peach has a velvety and hairy skin that can be yellow, orange or pink, depending on the variety. Its pulp can be white, yellow, orange or even red for so-called blood peaches

Available now: Babcock 5gal, Donut 5gal, Saturn 15gal

Photo Credit: Lee Cooke Nursery

Pear (Asian)

Pyrus pyrifolia sp.

Asian pear is originated in China and Japan and have been grown in these countries for at least 3000 years. The fruits are very firm, crisp, juicy and sweet. The crisp and juicy texture and apple-like flavors of Asian pears have lead many people to refer to this fruit as the apple-pear.

Available now: Shinseiki 5gal

Photo Credit: Lee Cooke Nursery

Persimmon

Diospyros Kaki

Persimmons are deciduous trees that lose their leaves each winter and enter a dormant state. New leaves are then followed by flowers in the spring. The fruit are classified as being astringent or non-astringent. The Fuyu variety is non-astringent, while the Triumph is astringent until fully ripe. Both are sweet when ripe and well suited for Florida. They are most commonly eaten fresh out of hand, but they are also common in salads and gelatin desserts.

Available in Feb 2022

Photo Credit: Lee Cooke Nursery

Plum

Prunus sp.

Plums are spherical and fleshy drupes of medium size, between 2 to 7 cm in diameter, of yellow, green or purple color, with a core containing an almond. 
The most recent variety in our market is the Japanese plum which has a bigger caliber than the previous ones. The pulp is firm, juicy and of ranges from sweet to tart. The skin is smooth, with a natural waxy facade that adheres to the pulp. This fruit can be consumed fresh or used for jams, plum juice (that can also be fermented into plum wine) and salted dried plums as a snack. 

Available now in 5gal: Burgundy, Santa Rosa, Satsuma

Photo Credit: Lee Cooke Nursery

Pomegranate

Punica granatum

The pomegranate is known as “the hardest working fruit” in the world. The juice contains the highest concentration of naturally occurring antioxidants of any fruit. They are typically baseball to softball size, and are filled with transparent sacs that contain a seed and a flavorful pulp. They can be eaten out of hand or juiced for a drink.

Available now: Vietnamese Red

Image: © Champa Nursery