Hi Greg, …thought I’d let someone else take a positive stab at your question. I’ve waited long enough…

If you’ve got potential cold damage, you’ve an additional problem beyond the three I had with peaches. It took my peach trees on average 4 years to look like that, as I went through 5 of them... Never damaged by cold, though we had some 5 and 6 degree days back then, their multitude of other susceptibilities finally did them in. And sure enough, they’d usually end up with one limb! -- Before I dug them out.

Yes – under the best of conditions latent buds could push from the trunk and with a strong season of growth re-generate the lost limbs. Personally, I wouldn’t bother. But then I’ve given up on peaches. Here were my solutions: my peach trees were replaced with; a wonderfully consistent King apple; my largest, oldest, thus best producing Desert King fig; an Italian prune – since replaced with another clump of Desert King fig; what’s now a Braeburn (with another failure in between) apple; and my oldest, largest and most productive persimmon tree!

We’ve discussed peach tree problems many times around here, in great detail; but I’ve given up on them. Sad thing, my Great-Grandfather grew a Red Heaven peach tree out here that only ‘he’ knew how to care for. It died shortly after him. And with all the modern varieties and technology - I’m apparently not the Orchardist he was.

So that’s my two cents ~

Hey Greg; again, peaches were a goal I soon gave up on … if only because they were first on my list of trees to plant!

As I drove to Salem yesterday I passed an active peach orchard. Both our experience’s came to mind as I noticed fine looking young trees, graduating to slightly older and poorer looking ‘middle aged’ trees; right on to a pitiful assortment of ‘one-limbed’ old-timers. An Uncle of mine once farmed peaches on Sauvies Island, near Portland. With topsoil likely 20 feet deep, all the water they’d want and heat units greater than Portland – it took near constant applications of expensive ‘spray’ to keep them alive…

I’ve also picked Organic Peaches from orchards like I described above; and anymore, that’s where I’ll find ‘my peaches.’ Problem is, around here I’ve ‘homegrown’ fruit competing with those peaches-by-the-pound – and though I eat fewer peaches, I’m likely gorging on Figs! …But with your cold weather, I wouldn’t recommend figs either~ Just keep your eyes peeled for U-Pick Peaches when the time comes … or trek down to the Willamette Valley if necessary! And you're not really giving up, just move on " title="Wink" />