Luke was completely taken aback when he tried this wild, presumably manchurian apricot seedling that has been thriving in Missoula for at least 75 years. This is the best tasting manchurian apricot seedling we have tried. Introduced to us by our friend Doug Hawes-Davis back in 2020, we have had setback after setback in so grafting these for no fault other than our own. We will have the true parent in the Spring of 2026, but for now these seedlings should be worth growing. Apricots tend to produce relatively close to the mother when grown from seed (“true to type”).

As for the flavor of the mother trees, when Luke bit into it for the first time several years back, the first thought that came to his mind was Mango. It has a great sweet, tart flavor with intense notes of mango when it is ripe. The color is also reminiscent of a Mango as well with the yellow and orangish-red blush.

These apricots are at least hardy to -35F, and may even be hardier. Most Manchurians are hardier than this but because the mother tree is in fairly protected spot, it’s hard to say how hardy this is. It was around for the sub -30F temps in the 1980’s so we feel comfortable saying it is at least hardy to -35F.

A Note on the Genetics of These: Apricots have much less genetic variability than say apples (partly because the pistil within the mother tree’s flowers can accept pollen from flowers on the same tree in order to fertilize the ovary). As such, these seedlings will have a decent chance that the fruit will be comparable to that of its mother. However, there are Manchurian apricots as well as some apricots from the European genetic line in the vicinity. The former being very hardy and having more acid while the latter has more sweetness and tends to be less hardy. It is anyone’s guess whether the mother Montana Mango crossed with this or not.

These seedlings are 1-2 ft tall