This almond has been 5 years in the making. This however is not long relative to research breeding operations. Disclaimer: This is still in trial and we make no guarantees. That said, read on if you are interested in our cold climate almond breeding efforts.

We started with 800 seeds, and through a specific “anti-freeze protein selection” process that Luke has come up with (see below), 40 of those made it. After two years, we culled 32 and so SnowCzar comes from these 8 that made it. Last winter, the first field trial from customers, they saw -25F at one of our test plots in Salmon, Idaho without any winter damage.

These seedlings have been bred for cold hardiness through Luke’s “Antifreeze Protein Selection” of selecting for cold hardiness whereby we deliberately freeze and thaw seeds during cold stratification (800 seeds in this case), plant out what survives (40), and the next year before winter selects for anti-freeze protein secretion in plants by not protecting the trees (while in pots) from freezing and thawing, something all of the native trees we grow, i.e. chokecherry, serviceberry, etc., have resistance to. After culling everything at the seed and 1 year juvenile state, these almonds, have been the strongest survivors.

In terms of SnowCzar’s ancestry, SnowCzar comes from NC1, a seedling selection of Titan almond made by Doug Collins in Ontario, Canada. NC1 has average sized nuts in well-sealed shells. It is self-fertile and apparently has good disease resistance and dependability.

We think these are hardy to -25F, and possibly even -30F (or more!) considering there wasn’t even tip dieback at -25F.

These are grafted onto Krymsk 86, which is hardier than the almond, as it can withstand temps well into the -30F and possibly even -40F. They come in two sizes, 3-5 ft., and 5-6 ft.