Prunus armeniaca 'Puget Gold' (Apricot)

Puget Gold is WSU Mount Vernon release specifically bred for the maritime Puget Sound climate, mild sweet golden-orange freestone fruit with classic apricot flavor. Prunus armeniaca is the cultivated apricot, originating in Central Asia, northern China and grown for centuries for its fruit. It is not native to North America.

Bloom and harvest in the PNW. Bloom is late spring (late April), one of the latest-blooming apricots, with fruit ripening late August in Oregon and Washington orchards. Site in full sun with good air drainage to reduce disease pressure.

Pollination. Puget Gold is self-fertile: a single tree will set fruit. Compatible partners (self-fertile (will pollinate other late-blooming apricots)) increase yields.

PNW disease and care. Puget Gold is the apricot for west of the Cascades. Late bloom dodges PNW spring frost, requires roughly 600 chill hours, and self-fertile. Often paired with Wenatchee Moorpark for higher yields. The species-level disease pressures to plan for are brown rot, bacterial canker, and shothole. Apricots bloom very early so spring frost can wipe out a crop; choose late-blooming PNW cultivars (Puget Gold, Wenatchee Moorpark, Moorpark) for west of the Cascades.

Native fruiting alternatives: If you also want to support PNW birds and pollinators with regionally native fruit, consider Amelanchier alnifolia (Saskatoon serviceberry), Vaccinium ovatum (evergreen huckleberry), Malus fusca (Pacific crabapple), or Prunus virginiana (chokecherry). These provide bird food, pollinator support, and Indigenous food heritage in your landscape alongside your orchard fruit.