Frost Peach

In rainy-spring climates - the Pacific Northwest, Britain, coastal anywhere - peach leaf curl kills the peach dream annually. Frost is the answer: bred in Washington State with genuine curl resistance, it grows clean where standard varieties defoliate, and after a few establishment years it needs no fungicide at all. The fruit is proper old-fashioned peach - medium, red-blushed yellow freestone with a tangy-sweet bite.

Fruit & flavor

Medium, yellow with red blush; yellow freestone flesh with real tang under the sweetness - a classic-flavored peach, not a sugar bomb. Eats, cans and bakes equally well.

Tree size & rootstocks

Normal peach: 3-3.5 m open vase, standard stocks, precocious. Showy deep-pink bloom is a bonus.

Pollination

Self-fertile.

Climate & hardiness

Zones 5-9, built for maritime wet springs; young trees show some curl the first 2-3 years, then the resistance matures and they stay clean sprayless - the whole point of the variety.

Site & soil

Sun and drainage as always; in wet regions favor a spot with morning-drying airflow, and drainage becomes doubly critical.

Pruning & care

Standard hard renewal pruning and thinning. Skip the copper spray schedule after establishment - the sole peach where that sentence is safe in a wet climate.

Harvest & storage

August; usual ground-color and shoulder-give tests, usual eat-it-this-week urgency.

Problems

Young-tree curl (transient), brown rot in wet Augusts, borers - but subtracting leaf curl from the peach equation transforms the workload where it matters.

FAQ

Is 'curl-resistant' marketing or real?

Real, in the experience of Pacific Northwest growers, for Frost (and kin like Avalon Pride); just tolerate light curl on juvenile trees while resistance builds.

My climate is dry - is Frost still worth it?

It's a good peach anywhere, but in dry-spring regions the resistance is moot - pick Redhaven or Elberta on pure fruit merit there.