Description
Capilano Apricot Seedlings
- Hardiness: USDA Zone 3b
- Size at Maturity: 20 Feet tall and wide
- Edible, Flowering
- Self-Fertile
- Locally Sourced Seedlings
Prunus mandshurica var capilano
The Capilano Apricots are three heritage fruit-producing trees growing to a height of twenty feet tall and wide. The trees produce white and pink flowers in early spring before leaves appear and freestone fruit with yellow skin and flesh ripening in August. The fruit is good for eating fresh, baking, preserving, or wine. Locals refer to the three trees as Capilano one, two, and three from South to North.
It is now believed that the Capilano Apricots’ genetics originate from seeds sent to Alberta from Harpin, China in the 1930s and that the trees were guerrilla gardened by researches from Alberta government’s Crop Diversification Centre in Brooks.
True to Seed and Self-Fertile
Seedlings from the original Capilano apricot trees some true to type and provide good quality fruit. Though the Capilano apricots would benefit from a pollinator, they are reportedly self-fertile for three reasons; each parent tree has slightly different flowing times, the isolated Capilano One is a heavy producer, and seedlings planted in isolation produce fruit.
