Found near Allentown, PA, these peaches are exceptional for having adapted well enough to local conditions to establish a long-standing, self-seeding feral population.
While peaches are an extremely popular orchard crop in New Jersey, they don’t normally fare well enough on their own to grow in the wild. Feral peaches are relatively uncommon. For some reason, these peaches have what it takes. Healthy peach trees of all different ages are growing and reproducing in an unmaintained woods and drainage ditch.
This Catasauqua peach population includes 2 phenotypes: trees that produce large fruits suitable for fresh eating, and trees that produce small, green, undesirable fruit.
The Small Fruit types make up the majority of the population, growing vigorously and re-seeding prolifically, indicating they have serious potential for use as rootstock or possibly for breeding. The seedlings produced from those fruit are offered here and recommended for anyone with aspirations to create a super vigorous new peach for the mid-atlantic.
Seedlings grown from the more desirable Large Fruit are also available, though in much more limited numbers.
Note that all the peach trees offered here are seedlings, meaning that their individual traits could vary significantly.