With summer in full swing and the abundance of the garden all around, it is only fitting to enjoy some of the luscious things nature has to offer.

Among the top choices to taste are tree ripened fruits of many different kinds. Peaches, nectarines, plums, pluots, apriums, plumcots, (early pears are still yet to come), etc. are some of the most flavorful of what can be sampled.

The key detail here is they must be tree ripened to fully enjoy their flavors to the fullest. Store-bought fruit is not often full flavored for the simple reason those fruits must be picked firmer and while they are still green so they make it through the commercial packing process for shipment to market.

Fully ripe fruit, which has matured on the tree, is too tender to go through that process without being hopelessly damaged. Peach season now is coming into early midseason and there are a great many varieties which are simply too delicious for words to describe.

You must sample them at their peak ripeness to fully enjoy them. That means growing your own or being lucky enough to find ripe fruit at local farmers markets.

A healthy donut
My first peach to ripen (has not been sold at the nursery) is the flat donut shaped peach called, “Stark Saturn, peen tau,” or simply, “donut.” It is a white peach variety and becomes sweeter and more flavorful the longer you leave it on the tree. It can be picked firm ripe, but softer more mature fruits have better flavors.

Juice runs down your face and hands while you eat this one. The shape is unique in that it is not rounded like most peaches, but flattened into a doughnut disc-like shape. The flesh is white, blushed red. I know there are earlier ones that are simply wonderful, but those are sold out for this year for me, and I will have to wait a couple years for the young saplings to mature enough to bear their first harvest since I am sold out and have to start all over again.

Plums, pluots, apriums, plumcots are all beginning to mature now. Some early varieties have fruited already if they are early season. Their fruits are delectable; very tasty and juicy. The less juicy ones (some older plum varieties) are very good for processing into jams, preserves, plum sauce, etc.

Pruning your trees
These two groups of fruit trees are very vigorous growers and need the most pruning to keep the crop low enough to manage easily without ladders. They can grow up to 10 feet each year with long sappy growth. When pruning, try to conserve those shorter branches (spur wood) since much of the crop is borne upon those twigs.

In poor soils, they will appreciate some additional nitrogen, or all-purpose fertilizer. Fertilizer can still be applied now, until the beginning of fall, when you should taper off.

Numerous varieties of all these fruits are available to try. Many of the older varieties are being improved by newer varieties. The season for bearing is also lengthened, there are superior varieties that mature very early, and much later to extend the fruit harvest season.

 When shopping, don’t forget to consider some of these to add to your home orchard.

Clean up of fallen fruits, diseased/insect damaged fruits is necessary to maintain on a regular basis to help keep your trees healthy and pest and disease free. Removing fallen fruits, etc. removes a hiding place for those pests.
 
Nice summer ornamentals
Abutilons are almost nonstop performers. There has been hybridizing work done on these and the variety to be had has been expanded. Broader floral form, color range, size of flowers, etc. are all to be had.

Modern hybrids are also more compact in many cases and their flowering is more profuse. Yellow, orange, red, pinks, and whites are in abundance and their maple-like leaves are attractive. Water and fertilize well to keep up a heavy floral display.

Indigofera incarnata (I. decora) in both pink and white forms are unusual, quality specimens of small stature used in any garden setting. Here you find a miniature shrub with wisteria-like elegance, blooming summer to frost.

Small conifers offer the garden a feeling of permanence and great variety. Foliage colors and textures, plant forms are almost endless in variety. All shades of greens, yellows, blues, and grays are to be found and there are many more.

Genera cover many types of plants from tree-like to miniature rock garden jewels and there is everything in between, including fluffy foliage, threadlike foliage, soft foliage and prickly foliages. Many have a piney fragrance when brushed and some even smell like lemons! (Cupressus macrocarpa cvs.)

Just make sure you keep everything well-watered and that will keep plants growing strong and steadily. Good care now will promote healthy plants for later in fall and winter.

Erik Hagiwara-Nagata is the owner of Garden Delights Nursery on 3525 Stony Point Road in Santa Rosa. He can be reached at  585-9010  or www.hanascape.com.