Nowadays we sell 5 varieties of apricot and most of them from the Cot series including Delicot, Goldcot, Flavorcot, and Tomcot. All are hardy and available as fan trained and bush trees to grow freestanding or on a wall or fence.
But what are the difference and which one should you choose?
The Cot series of apricot trees have taken the commercial fruit and gardening world by storm in the last 10 or so years, bringing exceptional crop yields and fruit.
Delicot was bred in Canada. It has a more pleasing filigree branching habit than most and some say the best flavour.
Tomcot’ is and American apricot and one of the best for the UK climate, suited to our colder climates, where we get less accumulated sunshine. One of the key reasons it works well over here is it is late flowering, so avoids the late frosts that can afflict other apricots. Yet, it catches up and still yields heavy crops of juicy, deepest orange fruits in the UK – perfect eaten when warmed by the sun straight off the tree, or for cooking and jam making.
Goldcot is also an American variety and again is well suited to the UK. The tree is very hardy, vigorous and resistant to leaf spot. The fruit are medium to large, golden yellow with quite a thick skin, making them ideal for storage in the fridge for some weeks. Also good for freezing and bottling. Freestone.
Flavorcot is also American that has been bred for the UK cooler climate with fruits that are very large and juicy with a red blush and succulent, sweet orange flesh. Superb aromatic flavour.
As you can see there are only subtle differences when it comes to fruit taste so dont worry about the variety so much just try growing an apricot either against a wall or free standing and you’ll love how wonderful it is to grow your own apricots.
The Cot Series of Apricots
