Description
Prunus spp. ‘Siberian C Peach’
USDA Zone 3
Edible Fruit (Smaller than a grocery store peach)
Flowering
Self-Pollinating
Seedlings
Siberian C Peach Seedlings
I first heard about Siberian C peaches through a discussion in the Hardy Fruit and Nut Trees of Alberta Facebook Group and knew that I needed to get a hold of some. With some legwork, I was able to get a hold of some seeds and plant them out.
Siberian C reportedly originates from the Gobi desert region of China and Mongolia. The Gobi has an extreme environment and can experience 45C in the summer and -40C in the winter – making the Siberian C peach a good candidate for a cold Canadian climate.
“Siberian C peaches produce the richest of all peach juices. The seeds are valuable as seed for nursery rootstocks or orchard planting. These are cold-hardy trees that… [breed] true to variety from seed. They are productive, require no thinning, are suitable for mechanical harvesting, and require little pruning. They are early-ripening with low to no pesticide requirements. They have enough genetic variability to allow for further selection and development. If grown in place from seed, they grow a strong water-sourcing taproot.” – OkanaganOkanagan.com
While growing Siberian C in Edmonton is still an experiment, it has the potential to pay off for anyone looking to try something different.