California Gardens - The Year Round Gardening Site

Panamint Nectarine

The Panamint Nectarine is a great tree for the low chill fruit orchard. Nectarines and peaches require decent drainage. Our trees typically bloom with pink flowers in late February or early March and ripen in June or the first part of July. Thinning the flowers will yield larger nectarines and reduce the risk of broken branches. The Panamint Nectarine requires 100-200 hours of chill to set fruit. A chill hour is one where the temperature is below 40 degrees. One of my primary goals in my own garden is to provide fresh fruit continuously for as much of the season as possible. The Panamint nectarine is a staple for the early fruit season in my garden. I have had success with the Panamint nectarine in coastal gardens, but it is really at its best for gardens with some inland heat and cold winter nights. Nectarines struggle with seasonally soggy soils. I keep the Panamint Nectarine trees relatively small with hard winter pruning, this encourages lots of new growth.

Panamint Nectarine

Ripening fruit of the Panamint Nectarine. High resolution photos are part of our garden image collection.