Bonanza Peach

My front yard is peach factory.

The first dwarf tree I set in place was up by the walk on the way to the front door. My sister and brother-in-law bought this slip of a tree as a housewarming gift. For the last thirty years it has cranked out the peaches. It stands just 7 feet tall. I work it similar to a bonsai tree. Its branches are carefully pruned in the Summer and the Fall to maintain its shape and still allow the house numbers to be identified through it. I thinned it very carefully this year. It produced big big peaches. The ripe peach size that will fill up your hand and still leave more room. Usually I need to find a piece of wood to support its limbs with the fruit as it matures. This year it wasn't necessary. One year I was a little lax about this chore and the entire center broke from the weight of the peaches of the tree. This was not a problem for the long time survival of this tree. I pruned off the broken trunk and allowed the rest of the tree to grow around it. This tree produced 13 quarts of peaches this year. I also have a bag or two in the freezer of its chopped up fruit love to trot this fruit out as a special tree with whipped cream in the winter or fall when no stone fruit is available.
This tree is a patented variety of dwarf peaches called Bonanza. It was one of the first dwarf varieties out there. It is the first peach tree that is ripe in the Summer. It is ready for tree ripe harvest in the third week of June most of the years. This year it was a little late, as are most of the stone fruit in my yard. When it first came out there were warnings against propogation of these trees. They are still available in nurseries and I think that the patent is nearly expired.