A: Apricots, like peaches, require a certain number of “chill” hours before they will produce fruit. At this point the University of Florida is still working on a subtropical, low-chill variety from Thailand and I am not sure they are available for retail sale. After checking with several local nurseries throughout this area I was unable to find any nurseries selling apricots trees, although a few Georgia nurseries have them available. Apricot trees can be found occasionally in local garden centers but these are better grown in zones 4 – 7. Remember, we are zones 8b (Westside of Nassau County) and 9a (Eastside of Nassau County). That means this plant would possibly be under some undue stress in our region. Placing a plant outside its normal growing zone increases its chance for insect and disease infestation. What may happen with this plant is the first couple of years it may do well but produce very little fruit then in subsequent years it may decline as borers or disease attack it. Now that I have told you the “bad” news, you might consider trying one or two trees because there are always exceptions and micro-climates where trees and plants surprise us by thriving very well. Good luck and keep me posted on your progress.

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