Philadelphia Orchard Project

Late May Orchard Updates!

1. It’s fruit thinning season! May and June are the time to pluck off some of your young fruitlets to ensure a quality harvest and selectively remove pest and disease impacts. This is a before photo of densely packed apricots.
2. Apricots after thinning to 3-5” apart. Plums are also 3-5” and peaches typically 6-8”.
3. Apples, European and Asian pears are typically thinned to 5” apart.
4. Leave the biggest, healthiest fruitlets and remove ones impacted by pest and disease, like the plum curculio damage shown here.
5. Fire blight is already showing up on pears and apples! Prune out this aggressive bacterial disease to at least 12” below any signs. And don’t forgot to disinfect your tools!
6. Harvest season is also kicking off with these ripening Goumi berries!
7. You might also start to see some ripe Juneberries as soon as next week!
8. Guess who decided to finally sprout after the heat this week? Maypop vines!

The orchard flower show continues! Currently blooming at a community orchard near you:

1. Pink flowers of peach
2. White flowers of Asian pear
3. Yellowish flowers of goumis
4. White flowers of juneberry/serviceberry

We are grateful that the mild freezes this week have mostly left these blooms undamaged in Philadelphia, although orchards in the region may see some crop impacts.

Check POP’s orchard program page on our website for a list and map of publicly accessible orchards if you want to see the trees in bloom this weekend!

Open Orchards are back to welcome the Spring! Come out and explore the POP Learning Orchard at the beautiful and historic Woodlands Cemetery in West Philly.

April's open orchard hours are on Saturday 4/25 from 11am to 2pm, in conjunction with the at . A guided tour of the orchard, nursery, and high tunnels will be offered at 1pm. Rain date: Sunday 4/26.

This is a free event but donations to support POP’s ongoing programs are appreciated.

ALSO — we still have a few volunteer spots open for Thursday 4/16 at St. Raymonds House in Germantown, as well as Tuesday 4/21 at the POP Learning Orchard at the Woodlands. Sign up on our website!

🔗 Check our EVENTS link in bio for details, and visit www.westcraftfest.com.

The Orchard Flower Show is underway at a community orchard near you!

After a long winter, our earliest bloomers are a welcome sight:

1. Apricot flowers with red buds and white petals.
2. The yellow flowers of Cornelian Cherry often bloom in early March, but delayed this year by extended cold.
3. Prolific white flowers of the Nanking cherries.

Here’s hoping the forecast holds up and the mild freezes this weekend won’t be enough to damage the flowers or impact fruit set.

Stay tuned for Japanese plums and hardy almonds flowering soon!