California produces the vast majority of commercially grown apricots in the United States, with the industry now centered in the San Joaquin Valley near the town of Patterson. Other states grow apricots on a much smaller scale, and home gardeners can coax fruit from apricot trees across a surprisingly wide range of climates, but the commercial map is overwhelmingly Californian. The reasons behind that concentration, and the challenges facing growers who try to expand beyond it, tell a story about climate, soil, frost timing, and a fruit that is pickier than most people realize.
California’s Dominance in Commercial Production
When Americans buy fresh or dried apricots at the grocery store, the fruit almost certainly came from California. The state’s apricot acreage peaked at roughly 100,000 acres back in 1926, when orchards stretched through mild coastal valleys from south of San Francisco Bay down through San Benito County. Since then, production has shrunk steadily to around 10,000 acres, and the geographic center has shifted inland. Today, the bulk of the commercial crop comes from the San Joaquin Valley, with Patterson, California serving as the unofficial apricot capital of the country. Harvested volume has averaged just over 54,000 tons per year in recent reporting periods.1Advances in Plants & Agriculture Research. Evaluating apricots in riverside, California: identifying productive cultivars for a low-chill environment
That decline from 100,000 to 10,000 acres was not because Americans stopped eating apricots. Urbanization consumed many of the old orchards in the Santa Clara Valley (now better known as Silicon Valley) and other coastal areas near San Francisco. Rising land values pushed growers out, and cheap imports from Turkey, Iran, and other major producers made it harder for domestic operations to compete on price, especially for dried apricots. What remains is a concentrated industry that benefits from the San Joaquin Valley’s reliable heat, low humidity during harvest, and the infrastructure that comes with being surrounded by other stone fruit operations.
Other States That Grow Apricots
California’s dominance does not mean the rest of the country is barren of apricot trees. Washington State grows a modest commercial crop, mostly in the Yakima Valley and surrounding irrigated areas east of the Cascades. Utah has a long history with apricots and still produces them on a small scale, particularly along the Wasatch Front where the lake-moderated microclimate helps buffer spring frosts. Colorado’s Western Slope, especially around the Grand Valley near Palisade, supports small orchards that sell locally and at farmers’ markets.
Beyond those three, you can find scattered apricot production in parts of Oregon, Idaho, and even the warmer microclimates of New Mexico and Arizona. But none of these states come close to California’s output. Most produce apricots for local or regional sale rather than national distribution. The limiting factor is rarely summer heat, since apricots love warm, dry summers. The problem is almost always what happens in winter and early spring.
Why Apricots Are So Climate-Sensitive
Apricots are among the earliest stone fruits to bloom in spring, and that eagerness is their Achilles’ heel. The trees need a period of winter cold to break dormancy and set flowers properly. This chilling requirement varies by cultivar: some varieties bred for temperate climates need weeks of sustained cold, while others developed in warmer regions get by with much less.2PubMed. Differential expression of dehydrin in flower buds of two Japanese apricot cultivars requiring different chilling requirements for bud break Once that chilling requirement is satisfied, the trees are ready to bloom at the first hint of warmth. In California’s San Joaquin Valley, that works out beautifully because winter provides enough chill, spring arrives gradually, and late frosts are rare. In much of the rest of the country, the same trait becomes a liability.
A classic problem in the Midwest, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic states is the “false spring.” A stretch of warm February or early March weather convinces an apricot tree that winter is over. The buds swell and open, sometimes producing gorgeous blossoms. Then a cold snap rolls through. Temperatures that dip even a few degrees below freezing during bloom can destroy the entire year’s crop. Research on Turkish apricot cultivars has shown that flower buds at different developmental stages, from first white to full bloom, vary in their ability to withstand frost, with damage occurring at temperatures between about minus two and minus nine degrees Celsius depending on the stage and duration of exposure.3HortScience. Frost Hardiness of some Turkish Apricot Cultivars during the Bloom Period Once the buds have opened, they become far more vulnerable. An apricot tree in full bloom that gets hit by even a light frost may produce zero fruit that year.
This is why gardeners in places like Virginia, Ohio, or Missouri often report that their apricot trees grow vigorously but rarely bear fruit. The tree survives fine; the flowers do not. You can go years between good crops. In California’s Central Valley, by contrast, late killing frosts are uncommon enough that commercial growers can count on a harvest most years.
The Role of Humidity and Rain
Spring frost is not the only climate factor that limits where apricots thrive commercially. Humidity and rainfall during the growing season create a cascade of problems that dry-climate growers rarely face. Apricots are unusually susceptible to fungal diseases, particularly brown rot, which thrives in warm, damp conditions. In the humid Southeast, where summer thunderstorms are routine, keeping fungal pressure under control requires intensive spraying that can make commercial production uneconomical.
Rain near harvest time also causes physical damage to the fruit. Environmental factors like temperature swings, high humidity, and sudden moisture exposure all influence susceptibility to fruit cracking, where the skin splits and the flesh is exposed.4PubMed Central. Factors influencing fruit cracking: an environmental and agronomic perspective Cracked apricots are essentially unsellable as fresh fruit. California’s San Joaquin Valley gets almost no rain from May through September, which is one reason the fruit harvested there looks so clean and intact. States where summer rain is common, which describes most of the country east of the Rockies, face a steep disadvantage on this front.
Soil matters too, though less dramatically. Apricots prefer well-drained, sandy or loamy soils and do not tolerate standing water around their roots. Heavy clay soils common in parts of the Midwest and South can lead to root rot. The alluvial soils of California’s Central Valley are close to ideal, as are the volcanic and river-deposited soils of parts of Washington’s fruit-growing regions.
Growing Apricots in Your Backyard
The commercial map is one thing; the home garden map is considerably wider. Apricot trees can grow and even produce fruit across USDA Hardiness Zones 5 through 9, which covers a huge swath of the country. The key distinction is reliability. In Zone 5 or 6 (think the northern Midwest or the mid-Atlantic), you might get a bumper crop one year in three or four when spring cooperates. In Zone 7 or 8 with low humidity, you can expect fruit most years.
Variety selection makes an enormous difference for home growers. Some cultivars commonly available at nurseries were developed specifically for areas with fewer chill hours or for regions where late frost is a concern. “Goldcot” and “Harglow” are popular choices in colder regions for their relative hardiness and slightly later bloom time. “Blenheim” (also sold as “Royal”) is the classic California variety prized for flavor, but it blooms early and is a poor match for frost-prone areas. If you live east of the Rockies and want to try apricots, choosing a late-blooming cultivar is probably the single most important decision you can make.
Site selection within your yard also matters more for apricots than for most fruit trees. Planting on a north-facing slope can delay bloom by a few days because the soil stays cooler longer in spring. Avoiding low spots where cold air pools on frosty nights protects blossoms. And keeping the tree sheltered from winter winds that desiccate buds can improve its odds. None of these tricks guarantee a crop in a marginal climate, but they collectively shift the odds in your favor.
Historical Shift of Production Regions
The geography of American apricots has changed dramatically over the past century, and not just because of urbanization. Early California production was spread across a range of microclimates, including the coastal valleys south of San Francisco and the warmer interior regions. When sprawling development consumed the Santa Clara Valley orchards in the mid-twentieth century, production consolidated in the San Joaquin Valley, which had cheaper land and equally favorable growing conditions.1Advances in Plants & Agriculture Research. Evaluating apricots in riverside, California: identifying productive cultivars for a low-chill environment
Outside California, small commercial apricot regions have come and gone. Parts of the Intermountain West, including Utah and Colorado, had more significant production in the early twentieth century. Some of that decline mirrors California’s story: competition from imports and low margins. But freeze damage also played a role. In a region where one bad frost year wipes out the entire crop, growers eventually shift to less risky options like cherries or apples, which bloom later and tolerate spring cold better.
Washington’s production has been relatively stable, benefiting from the same arid conditions east of the Cascades that support its much larger apple and cherry industries. But even there, apricots remain a niche crop compared to the state’s dominant tree fruits.
Climate Change and the Future of US Apricots
Climate change adds a layer of uncertainty to apricot growing that researchers are still working to understand. The most direct concern is winter chill. Apricot trees need a certain number of cold hours to properly break dormancy and produce flowers. As winters warm, particularly in traditionally mild areas, those chill hours may not accumulate reliably. Modeling work has projected that warm growing regions are likely to see severe reductions in available winter chill, potentially threatening fruit and nut production in those areas, while temperate regions may remain relatively stable and colder regions could even see a slight increase in chill accumulation.5PubMed Central. Climate change affects winter chill for temperate fruit and nut trees
For California, the implications cut two ways. The San Joaquin Valley is classified as a warm growing region, and projections suggest it could lose meaningful winter chill under higher-emission scenarios. If that happens, the cultivars currently grown commercially may struggle to bloom and set fruit properly. One response already underway is the evaluation of low-chill apricot cultivars that can produce in warmer conditions. Researchers in Riverside, California, for instance, have been testing apricot varieties that need fewer cold hours than traditional types, looking for cultivars that remain productive even as winters become milder.1Advances in Plants & Agriculture Research. Evaluating apricots in riverside, California: identifying productive cultivars for a low-chill environment
On the other hand, warming could theoretically open up new growing areas in colder parts of the country where apricots were previously marginal. If winters in parts of the upper Midwest or northern Plains become milder while still providing sufficient chill, and if spring frosts become less frequent or less severe, some areas that currently cannot support apricots commercially might become viable. That is a slow and speculative shift, though, and it depends on frost patterns as much as average temperatures. A region that gets warmer overall but still experiences occasional hard late frosts would remain hostile to apricots.
Breeding for Tougher Trees
The vulnerability of apricot blossoms to frost has been a target for breeders for decades. Breeding programs around the world, including work in Central Asia where wild apricot relatives still grow, have focused on developing cultivars that bloom later, tolerate cold snaps better, or need fewer chill hours. Research in Uzbekistan, where apricots face extreme winter and spring temperature swings, has explored local and imported varieties to identify those with the strongest resistance to cold stress at different growth stages.
In the US, breeding efforts have produced varieties like “Harlayne” and “Harcot,” which came out of Canadian breeding programs and were selected partly for their ability to withstand colder winters. These are popular with home growers in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, though they still cannot guarantee a crop every year in places with unpredictable spring weather. More recently, some breeders have worked on interspecific hybrids, crossing apricots with plums or other Prunus species to combine apricot flavor with the tougher bloom habits of relatives that flower later. The results have been mixed but occasionally promising, producing fruit that tastes apricot-like but comes from trees better adapted to less forgiving climates.
For commercial production, the bigger breeding emphasis in California has been on flavor, shelf life, and appearance rather than cold hardiness, since the climate where the crop is actually grown does not demand frost resistance. But as winter chill patterns shift, breeding priorities may follow. Low-chill cultivars that maintain good fruit quality could become increasingly valuable if the San Joaquin Valley’s winters continue to warm.
Dried Apricots and the Import Picture
Understanding where apricots grow in the US also means understanding what Americans are actually eating. The majority of apricots consumed in the US are dried, and the majority of dried apricots are imported, primarily from Turkey, which produces far more apricots than any other country. Turkish dried apricots dominate supermarket shelves because they are significantly cheaper than domestic fruit and because Turkey’s Malatya region produces enormous volumes under ideal growing conditions.
California dried apricots do exist and are considered a premium product, with a tangier, more intensely flavored profile than the sweeter Turkish variety. The “Blenheim” or “Royal” cultivar that once filled the coastal California valleys is especially prized for drying. Small producers in the San Joaquin Valley and a handful of surviving orchards closer to the coast sell dried Blenheims at farmers’ markets and specialty stores, often at prices several times higher than imported dried apricots. For fans of the fruit, the flavor difference is significant enough to justify the cost, but for the broader market, imports have taken over.
Fresh apricots are a different story. Because fresh fruit is perishable, domestic production serves most of the fresh market during California’s June-through-August harvest window. You may also find fresh apricots from Washington and, occasionally, from smaller growers in other western states during their local seasons. Outside that window, fresh apricots in US stores typically come from Chile, New Zealand, or other Southern Hemisphere producers shipping during their growing season.
Why Apricots Remain a Niche Crop
Compared to peaches, cherries, or plums, apricots occupy a tiny corner of American fruit production. This is not because Americans dislike the flavor. Fresh apricots are delicate, bruise easily, and have a short shelf life, which makes them expensive to ship and hard to sell through conventional supermarket chains that prioritize durability. A peach can sit on a store shelf for days; a ripe apricot starts declining within a day or two. That fragility discourages growers from scaling up and discourages retailers from stocking the fruit prominently.
The climate constraints compound the economic ones. A crop that can be wiped out by a single late frost is a risky investment. Growers who can plant the same land with almonds, which are closely related to apricots but far less frost-sensitive at bloom, often make the switch. In California’s Central Valley, the explosive growth of almond acreage over the past few decades has come partly at the expense of stone fruits like apricots. Almonds offer more reliable yields and higher returns per acre, which has contributed to the steady contraction of California’s apricot footprint from those 100,000 acres a century ago to the roughly 10,000 that remain today.