I live in southern Az. and am interested in getting a couple of wild peach trees, but don;t much about them, how big do they get? and will they grow down here?
Peach is not a native North American wild plant (see history below from Wikipedia). If you have wild peaches growing locally, they are remnants or escapees of orchards, and should behave pretty much like any peach, although if they are from peach pits, the tree is a hybrid of unknown qualities. You would be better off acquiring a known peach cultivar known to be suited to your area. Not as romantic sounding as "wild peach", but likely to be more successful! Particularly as much of lowland AZ does not generally have the cold winter weather peaches need to grow and fruit successfully. Here is a link to peach growing in Arizona: http://www.phoenixtropicals.com/peaches.html They advise the varieties Earli Grande and Florida Prince. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- History of Peaches Although its botanical name, Prunus persica, suggests the peach is native to Persia, it actually originated in China where it has been cultivated since the early days of Chinese culture. Peaches were mentioned in Chinese writings as far back as the tenth century B.C and were a favored fruit of emperors. Its English name derives from the Latin plural of persicum malum, meaning Persian apple. In Middle English, it melded into peche, much closer to what we call it today. The Persians brought the peach from China and passed it on to the Romans. The peach was brought to America by Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century and eventually made it to England and France in the seventeenth century, where it was a popular albeit rare treat. In Queen Victoria's day, no meal was complete without a fresh peach presented in a fancy cotton napkin. Various American Indian tribes are credited with migrating the peach tree across the United States, taking seeds along with them and planting as they roved the country. Although Thomas Jefferson had peach trees at Monticello, United States farmers did not begin commercial production until the nineteenth century in Maryland, Delaware, Georgia and finally Virginia. Although the Southern states lead in commercial production of peaches, they are also produced in California, Michigan, and Colorado. Today, peaches are the second largest commercial fruit crop in the States, second only to apples. Italy, China and Greece are major producers of peaches outside of the United States.
