Ripe Fruits in UK – Spring 2025

These are just a few of this year’s early ripening fruit. We have experienced virtually no sub-zero temperatures last winter 2024/25, also no snow at allow, but very wet. Spring turned into 2 months of drought with no rain, now we are experiencing +25 deg C. Some areas of the country are forecasting 32 deg C in 5 days time !!.

We will start with a lovely, luscious, juicy, sweet peach called Avalon Pride. It is self-fertile and should ripen outside in August. But as we get with peach leaf curl, we grow it as a potted tree, and it is in the greenhouse from October (leaf fall) until the fruit has been harvested in early June. Then, it goes into the garden.

This is our first cherry variety grown in a tub, to ripen in mid-June. It is, however, kept in the greenhouse from when the fruits begin to turn colour until they are harvested. Then outside into the garden. This variety is called Sylvia, and it is a very compact grower, with fruits that tend to be ‘black’. But as the fruits are more covered by the leaves, they tend to be dark red. Flavour is very good, sweet and juicy.

This next one is a black mulberry (Morus nigra) called Shelly. We have grown this for a few years, and we have always lost the ripening fruit to the blackbirds. As with everything else going on, we forget to cover the branches. This year we beat the birds by covering early and have had a good crop. When we get to a stage of eating enough for ourselves, we will uncover to allow the blackbirds to clear the rest. We have to look after our wildlife.

A new variety to us is a cherry named Felicita that is growing in the ground outside. It is the first year of fruiting, and we are a little disappointed, maybe as it matures, its characteristics will change. As its fruit is supposed to be jet black and very large, we have red fruit, not even dark red, and medium-sized fruit. However, the fruit was quite nice tasting but a little firm and fleshy. Surprisingly, some early ripening fruit started splitting, which is unusual for modern breed varieties. Still have to cover the fruit from the blackbirds for a few weeks whilst they are ripening, with us harvesting in mid-June.