Its name sounds like an exotic bird. And “White Robin,” a
newly released
peach variety, could become a sign of spring in south
Georgia, said a University of Georgia
scientist.

It may be three or four years before you see White Robin
peaches at your favorite
market, though. Krewer said it takes that long for the new
trees to begin bearing fruit in
large quantities.

Anyone who wants the new trees for commercial or home
orchards should order soon.
“The Tennessee nurseries that bud and raise the trees don’t
have spare trees,”
Krewer said. “They bud for the orders they have. So it’s
important to order
ahead.”

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Krewer said White Robin is a white- fleshed, semifreestone peach with good size (about 2 3/8 inches diameter) and a nice red skin. “This peach has a sweet flavor that’s a little different from yellow peaches,” he said. “It’s hard to describe its exact flavor, but it’s very tasty.” Two of White Robin’s best features are its relatively low chilling requirement and its firmness. Krewer said those features make it an ideal variety for south Georgia and north Florida home or commercial orchards.

“White Robin needs only 500 chilling hours (below 45
degrees) to produce a good
crop,” he said. “Some of our midstate-grown varieties need
800 or more hours. We
often don’t get that many chill hours in south Georgia.”

Its firmness is a plus for commercial growers, making
White Robin a good shipping
peach. Krewer said growers can ship White Robin with little
bruising before it gets to
mid-Atlantic Coast destinations.

Another plus is its early-season ripeness — usually
sometime in May. Krewer said this
gets Georgia peaches to markets before other white peaches
grown farther north. That helps
Georgia farmers capture the best prices for their fruit.

Tom Beckman, a USDA fruit researcher in Byron, Ga., said
White Robin fills a niche in
the peach season. “This peach comes in at a time when no
other white-fleshed peaches
are available,” he said. “It’s really a specialty peach.”

Beckman hopes to see growers keep the fruit close to
home. Like many other fruits,
White Robin is best when tree-ripened. But long shipping
distances force growers to pick
before the fruit is really ripe.

“If growers keep the fruit close, say their local
farmers’ market or specialty
grocery store, they can leave it on the tree longer,” he
said. “That results in
riper, and sweeter, peaches.”

White Robin peaches were developed mainly for fresh
markets. “They’ve got a
different flavor than yellow-flesh peaches,” Beckman
said. “Krewer and I have
tried to describe them, but you just have to taste them to
understand.”