Mericrest Nectarine (Spring 2027)

This is our first year growing Mericrest, so everything below is secondhand until we get more long-term data from our own mother trees.

Overview

Mericrest is a cold-country nectarine from New Hampshire. It's red-skinned with yellow, freestone flesh and a sweet, tangy flavor, and it's one of the hardier nectarines around.

Origin and History

It was bred by Elwyn Meader at the University of New Hampshire. The Victory Horticultural Library dates it to 1971. UNH Extension still lists it as their hardy nectarine choice for New Hampshire.

Fruit and Uses

Medium sized, red over yellow, with yellow freestone flesh. Dave Wilson Nursery calls the flavor "rich tangy," and Whiffletree in Ontario says "rich and sweet, yet tangy." In Cornell's trials at Geneva, New York in the 1980s it was noted as "one of the best in its season," with flesh that doesn't brown. It ripens mid to late August in the Northeast and the Intermountain West.

Growth Habit and Spacing

Ours are on two semi-dwarf plum rootstocks. Native plum tends to make a semi-dwarf tree in our dry, alkaline soils, but since it's grown from seed the size varies a bit. The rootstock itself is hardy to -45F, possibly -50F, which makes it about the hardiest rootstock you can put under a nectarine (the nectarine on top is much less hardy than that). Prairie Red is more uniform and tends to top out around 15 feet. Plan on 12 to 15 feet between trees on either. Several sources report good disease resistance for a nectarine, particularly to brown rot and bacterial leaf spot.

Pollination

Mericrest is self-fertile, so one tree will set fruit.

Cold Hardiness

UNH Extension says "Reliance and Mericrest may be hardy to -25°F," compared with -10 to -15F for most peaches and nectarines. Keep in mind that's about the tree. Cornell's freezing tests rated Mericrest's blossom buds only medium, about like Elberta and less hardy than Redhaven, so a hard winter can still cost you the crop. We've listed it at zone 5, which is on the safe side for the tree.

Photo credit: USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System, National Clonal Germplasm Repository, Davis, California, accession PI 673745. Public domain (U.S. government work).

About the photo: this isn’t Mericrest itself. Photos of Mericrest are either under copyright or simply unavailable, so we picked the open-source image that looks closest to the fruit. Photo: “Nectarines” by Michelle Kassorla (profshelly1), via Flickr, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0. Other photo: “Mericrest, PI 673745, bloom (GRIN image FR7T44, 2016-02-26)” by USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System, National Clonal Germplasm Repository, Davis, California, via USDA GRIN, public domain.