I’ve had a dwarf ornamental peach tree in my back yard for three or four years. It’s absolutely beautiful in the spring because it’s covered with flowers. Then it has deep purple leaves all summer. In the fall it’s covered with tiny, fuzzy peaches… that taste horrible. Yeah, it was called “ornamental”, but I had to taste them anyway.
In one of my garden catalogs, I read about a dwarf peach tree that grows actual edible peaches. It’s called a Garden Gold peach tree. I ordered it almost as soon as I read about it. I will miss the purple leaves of my old tree, but to have actual tree-ripened peaches in the summer way outweighs purple leaves.
The new tree came on Wednesday. It was bare root (instead of being in a pot), so I had to get it planted quickly. But I didn’t have time to plant it Wednesday night, so all yesterday I was thinking about it. A kid would ask in class, “Can I sharpen my peachtree?” And I’d say, “What?” And the kid would say, “Can I sharpen my pencil?”
After school I went home pretty quickly. The hardest part was digging out the old tree. My co-worker Debbie said she would put it in her yard, so I was trying to get as many roots as I could. Yikes, was it hard to get out! But the new tree is in. I don’t expect any peaches this year, but next summer I should have some sweet Garden Gold. Mmmm…
OLD
NEW
I’m glad your hand is visible in that second pic…otherwise I may have thought you lost them…
Is that your jacket or your Mister Rogers playtime sweater?
“Can I sharpen my peachtree?” – you funny.
I also meant to say – it really looks like spring there! You have actual flowers and blossoms!
Have I ever mentioned how smart it is of you to have a garden and not a yard?
My most recent development in that area is the killing of a section of my front yard to plant a thyme lawn. If it’s successful, I’ll kill the rest of the lawn and NEVER MOW AGAIN! Ah-ha-ha-ha!
Oh! OH! can it grow pretty and green in the shade??? When will you you invite us to meet it?
Thyme is usually a full sun plant. But there are lawn substitues for shade too.
It won’t look good this summer at all, but we should get together some time anyway.
Is you tie tucked into your pants? When did you turn into Fred Mertz?
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/graphics/screenshots/120207.jpg
(I Love Lucy fans will know what I mean)
Hehe… It got my tie out of the way while I was in the garden that day. The picture is from the day before I dug, but I was still pulling weeds.