Growing apricots and plums in Santa Monica, CA?

Hello

Could you tell me which variety of apricot and plum trees will grow (and produce fruits) in Santa Monica, California, Zip:90405. Many thanks for your help!

Growing apricots and plums in Santa Monica, CA?
Santa Monica is zone 10. Looking it up in a reference book, a Japanese plum will grow in zone 10. European plums go thru zone 9, so if you are a couple miles out from the ocean, toward culver city, and you put it in the least sheltered location you have (NOT under the eaves of the house, NOT on the south side of the house) maybe it will bear fruit, in my opinion (looking for a colder microclimate here). Low lying land would be colder (cold air runs downhill). Apricots will not grow in zone 10, and do best in as warm as zone 8. Oh, wait, In the Sunset Western Garden Book (I thought this book was SUPER when I lived out there) it says Floragold will grow even in the coastal part of Santa Monica. There are several varietie will grow a couple miles inland - Aprigold, Autumn Royal, Early Gold, Golden Amber, King (needs pollinator) Newcastle, Redsweet (needs pollinator) Royal/Blenheim, Royalty, Snowball, and the Floragold is a semidwarf, a good thing where you are! I remember learning at a landscape arboretum in LA that for lilacs you can withhold water to simulate winter. Maybe for plums you can do that, to simulate the chilling requirement. For tricks like this, you need to contact a nursery or better, arboretum. Since your climate is so unique, I'd hit a local nursery if I were you, and skip Home Depot who sells out of zone plants all the time. Seed catalogs lie sometimes too, like they will say something is hardy in zone 3, but in reality the flowers get nipped off by frost and you never get any fruit, and you have an ugly scraggly tree.



(I moved to MN zone 3, so now I am at the OTHER range, trying to find plants that are hardy enough!)



Good luck! It is so nice to grow your own stuff. I have like 12 apple trees and some cherries and grapes and all that now that I'm rural. It's very rewarding!
Reply:Apricots need lots of heat and some cold. Katy apricot is a good all purpose apricot that requires much less cold, usually 300 hours chilling requirement ( below 45 degrees during the time the tree is dormant. Flora Gold is is another remarkable apricot that preforms better where other apricots don't. Royal ( Blemhein) Apricot is what many people , it is the kind more close to what you buy in the market but however where you live it does not get cold nor warm enough for this variety to produce consistantly. iIf you were to have an apricot then use katy or Flora Gold.

A plum on the other hand such as the luther Burbank introduction and self fruitful variety known as Santa Rosa will do much bettter than an apricot.