Peach of Montreal

Peach of Montreal was named and introduced in Canada in the late 19th century but its origins are uncertain. The consensus appears to be that it was imported from France by Franics des Riveres, although it may have originated in Canada or even Russia.

We've never read an explanation of the name, but to us it has the perfect name: it looks like a peach with its roundish oval form, soft yellow skin and delicate orange blush. It ripens in central Maine at about the end of August-just before the real peaches. The flesh is white with just enough acid to make a good dessert fruit and an excellent cooker. It turns in to sauce in a jiffy. Although it is a little bit softer than our twenty-first century palettes have come to expect, if you don’t need “snap” when you bite in, it has excellent flavor for fresh eating. (And it won’t break your teeth.)

The scionwood for our tree came to us through the generosity of Josh Karp and Maria Schumann of Cate Hill Orchard in northern Vermont.