Fertile de Septembre

Peach ‘Fertile de Septembre’ is a Belgian selection of Prunus persica developed from seedlings of a local peach from Sombreffe. C. Populer selected it at Gembloux for fertility, tolerance of peach leaf curl and low susceptibility to brown rot. It was named and distributed in 1987.

The fruit is medium-sized and round to slightly elliptical. Its thick fuzzy skin is cream-yellow and becomes heavily washed with dark pink-red on the sunny side. The cream-white flesh develops red veining around the stone. It is very juicy, slightly fibrous and typically a little more tangy than sweet.

Harvest is centred around mid-September and extends over several pickings. Fruit quality is best when the peaches are picked just before full maturity and allowed to finish ripening for a few days in a cool place. If left too long on the tree, the fruit tends to drop and can become mealy. It is suitable both for fresh eating and for compotes, jam and other cooked uses.

The tree grows very strongly when young before settling to moderate vigour and is extremely fertile. Flowering is very early, as is typical of peaches in northern Europe, so a sheltered site is important where spring frost is common. The foliage is only slightly to moderately susceptible to peach leaf curl, the fruit is little to very little affected by brown rot and the branches show low susceptibility to gummosis. It is regarded as one of the hardier peaches for Belgian conditions.