Redhaven (sometimes known as Red Haven) is a yellow-fleshed peach, ripening early to mid-season , so around the end of July - or a week or so before Victoria plums start to ripen.
Redhaven has a very good, strong, peach flavour, and juicy flesh. It is best picked and eaten straight from the tree.
It is popular partly because of its good flavour, but also because it has some resistance to peach-leaf curl, a common disease of peach trees in north western Europe.
Redhaven is a freestone peach - the flesh comes away fairly cleanly from the stone.
Next deliveries: December 2024 - February 2025
Peach leaf curl is one of the most serious fungal diseases of peaches and nectarines. As the name suggests, infected leaves become distorted and eventually drop off, weakening the tree and reducing cropping severely. Redhaven has some resistance to this infection, but it is still important to take additional precautions. The simplest method is cover the tree with a horticultural fleece during the winter, as this blocks fungal spores (which are spread in rain drops and splashes).
Redhaven does best in a dry climate but relatively well adapted to the maritime climates of north western Europe and has good vigour and cold hardiness. However like all peaches it needs to be planted in a sheltered position in full sun to ensure it ripens and develops its true flavour.
Redhaven was developed by Stanley Johnston at the Michigan State Experiment Station in South Haven, Michigan USA, in the 1940s. It may be descended from an English variety, Hale's Early.
It is sometimes known, incorrectly, as Red Haven peach.
Peaches are a luxurious fruit originating in the Far East and now grown throughout warm temperate regions. Peach trees prefer a continental climate - warm summers and cold winters.
Peach trees can be grown in northern Europe but for best results grow them as fans on a south-facing wall, or in a patio container which can be moved indoors (to an unheated room or conservatory) during winter, or - ideally - under permanent cover in a greenhouse or polytunnel.
All peaches are self-fertile - but that doesn't mean they don't need pollinating, it just means you don't need another peach tree nearby to cross-pollinate with. Pollen must still be taken from one flower to the other and since peaches flower very early in the season you can't always rely on pollinating insects to be out and about.
Whilst it is generally advisable to keep pruning of all stone fruit to a minimum, regular pruning is quite important with peaches. The main objective is to remove older wood and leave younger shoots - this is because peaches (and nectarines) fruit primarily on 1-year shoots (i.e. the shoots which grew the previous summer). The best time to prune is in spring.
If your peach tree sets a good crop in the spring then it is important to thin the fruitlets, otherwise you will end up with lots of small peaches with little flavour. It is worth being ruthless with the thinning because the flavour of home-grown peaches eaten straight from the tree is worth a bit of work!
This variety description was researched and written by Orange Pippin staff. Last checked: 2024.