Juicy, refreshing and hydrating during hot weather, summer time is the time to enjoy fresh fruit. Southern Californians have always been lucky in the fact that the wide variety of summer fruits that we enjoy eating can actually be grown in our own backyards. Stone fruits, citrus, apples, guava, figs and many other types of fruit trees are available from local nurseries. While it is possible to grow nearly any type of fruit in Long Beach, our mild climate is not ideal for many varieties of certain fruits. On the other hand, there are many tropical fruits can be grown here that can’t be grown in cold winter regions. Many deciduous fruit varieties need what is known as ‘chill hours’ or hours of temperatures under 45°F during their dormant period in order to flower and produce fruit. There are many ‘low chill’ varieties of fruits and while this limits the options for fruit tree varieties, it also assures a productive crop and a healthy tree. There are also many dwarf or semi-dwarf varieties of fruit trees available that are more manageable for a home garden. I’ve highlighted here just a few of my favorite fruit trees for our region.
Strawberry Guava: This tough but pretty little tree has thick, shiny leaves and develops an attractive peeling trunk with age. The apricot sized fruit has a mildly sweet flavor and strawberry-like texture with several seeds within. Not my absolute favorite fruit for eating, but enjoyable enough and I love that this tree is evergreen, fairly drought tolerant and a lovely addition to any garden.
Red Baron Peach – Requiring only 250-300 chill hours, this is a perfect peach variety for Long Beach. The fruit is large, firm and tasty and the double petal dark pink blossoms put on a gorgeous display in springtime. ‘Tropic Snow’, ‘Saturn’ and ‘May Pride’ are also good low-chill varieties.
Fuji Apple – I’m so happy that my favorite store bought apple is also the one that be grown in our climate zone! This Japanese variety tree produces perfectly sweet, crisp apples and is self-pollinating.
Owari Satsuma Mandarin – While most citrus varieties do better inland where the intense sun makes for sweeter fruit, this mandarin does grows in Long Beach and produces delicious little, easy peeling fruit. The regular variety can grow to 12’ but a dwarf variety is available that grows to around 5-6’ in height.
Spice Zee Necta-Plum – This hybrid of a nectarine and a plum is not only a really nice looking tree with reddish leaves and dark pink-red blossoms, it also produces a very flavorful fruit.
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