Everyone – and we do mean everyone – loves peaches, and nothing in this world beats the thrill of picking one straight from a tree in your garden. Bite into that sweet, aromatic flesh and let the gushing juice run down your arms. Wow! Life doesn’t get any better than that. If that is your definition of fun, then you should be growing one of the most delicious peaches around, and one perfectly suited for home growing. The fruit lasts well on the tree even after it ripens, so ‘pick and eat’ is easy. This is a ‘subacid’ variety, so it’s extra sweet and children adore it. The white flesh gives it a unique look, especially in contrast to the striking deep red skin, and the small freestone means lots of flesh on every large fruit. Peach trees are not so difficult to grow and you only need one – forget the complex need for suitable pollinator varieties that we have with trees like apples. In cooler zones consider growing a peach tree on a sunny wall for maximum yield and perfect ripening. The Snowbrite Peach is the perfect tree for every home garden – make it yours.

Growing the Snowbrite Peach Tree

Size and Appearance

The Snowbrite Peach Tree is a fruit tree that grows to perhaps 15 feet tall and wide, depending on the pruning and training system you might use. It is deciduous, with dark-green oval leaves, about 6½ inches long. It blooms in early March in warmer zones and a little later further north. The pink blossoms are scattered all along the bare branches, making a charming sight, and after the petals fall they disappear for a time among the new leaves. It won’t take long, though, before you see small green fruits developing. In states like Georgia you will see the first fruits ripening by the middle of June, but the exact time will depend on where you live and how you grow the tree. By this time the fruits will have swelled into 3-inch spheres with a slightly fuzzy skin, and skin with a whitish-yellow background color. When near to ripening most of the fruit turns a glowing deep red, looking very tempting.

The fruit is ripe when it feels just a little soft, and this variety holds its ripe fruit for a good week, without them falling and ruining. This means you can pick ripe fruit straight from the tree, without having to bring in the whole harvest at once. The flesh is white, sometimes flushed with some of the red pigments of the skin. The fruit has a pleasant tang, without the sharpness of more acidic varieties. It is very juicy, ripens evenly, and it’s incredibly sweet and ‘peachy’, with outstanding flavor. Just perfect to eat fresh or slice into a salad. Easy to work with too, because it is a freestone variety.

Using the Snowbrite Peach Tree in Your Garden

You can grow this tree on a lawn, or in a dedicated fruit area, depending on the size of your property. In zones 5 and 6 it can be grown to good effect against a sunny wall as an espalier, taking up almost no room and producing fruit of higher quality that will be sweeter and ripen much better.

Hardiness

This tree grows well in all zones from 5 to 9.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Full sun is needed for good blooming and also for fruit ripening, so plant your tree in a sunny, sheltered spot. It grows best in well-drained soil, and prefers lighter loam to sandy-loam soils. If you have heavier soil, with lots of clay, add plenty of organic material when planting, and if possible plant towards the top of sloping ground, or on a mound of raised earth – good drainage is important.

Maintenance and Pruning

Peach trees may develop some pests or diseases, but these are rarely serious enough to prevent you harvesting a good crop – for home eating fruit doesn’t need to be ‘grocery store perfect’. Prune your tree to develop an open, bowl-shaped form, with a radiating circle of branches and an open center. This lets the sun penetrate, giving many blooms and ripening the fruit. As you see the baby peaches developing, remove all but the best one from each cluster. It sounds like you are throwing away most of your harvest, but if you don’t do this your ‘big’ crop will be nothing but tiny peaches with very little flesh.

History and Origin of the Snowbrite Peach Tree

Peach trees, Prunus persica, originated in the hills of northwestern China, and it has been cherished and grown for thousands of years. Peach and nectarines are the same species, and they only differ in the hairiness of the skin. A lot of breeding, over many years, has gone into the development of the modern peach. The variety called ‘Snowbrite’ was created by Gary and Chris Zaiger, breeders at Zaiger Genetics in Modesto, California. They made complex crosses, using four different older varieties – ‘O’Henry’, ‘Giant Babcock’, ‘May Grand’, and ‘ Sam Houston’. They patented their new variety in 1993.

Buying the Snowbrite Peach Tree at the Tree Center

Clemson University does trials of fruit trees, and they tested the Snowbrite Peach Tree over a 5 year period. They declared it ‘excellent’ – an independent ‘stamp of approval’ you can rely on. Order this great tree now, because we only have limited numbers available, and get ready for a peachy good time.