Puget Gold Apricot

Puget Gold was discovered in 1978 by the Copeland family, found growing as a seedling near the Anacortes, Washington ferry landing. Apricots are genuinely difficult to grow in the Pacific Northwest's cool, wet climate — they bloom early, are highly frost-sensitive at bloom time, and are susceptible to diseases like brown rot and Coryneum (shot hole) blight that thrive in damp conditions, meaning a healthy tree may still only produce a good crop about one year in three under normal circumstances. Puget Gold proved to be a real, documented exception: the Copelands found it reliably productive even through the region's characteristically cool, wet springs, and it went on to become specifically recommended by Washington State University Extension as one of the very few apricot varieties genuinely worth attempting west of the Cascades. It is self-fruitful, with real, documented tolerance for both brown rot and Coryneum blight, ripening in late July to early August. The fruit is medium-sized, oval, with light red-orange blush over a clear yellow background and firm, sweet, deep orange-yellow freestone flesh.