Contender Peach

Prunus persica 'Contender'

fruit

Contender is a cold-hardy freestone peach introduced by North Carolina State University in 1989 and prized in the north for cropping where other peaches fail. Its secret is a high chill requirement that delays bloom: by flowering late it dodges the spring frosts that wipe out earlier-blooming peaches, making it a dependable producer to about USDA zone 4. The medium-to-large fruit has mostly red skin over firm, sweet, juicy, aromatic yellow flesh that does not brown when cut, and the stone comes away cleanly. It is self-fruitful, so a single tree will bear a full crop. An award-winning, all-purpose peach for fresh eating, canning, and freezing.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Garlic: Planted around the trunk, its aroma is a traditional deterrent to peach borers and some other pests
• Nasturtium: A living mulch and trap/repellent plant that helps draw aphids away from the tree
• Comfrey: Deep-rooted accumulator whose cut leaves mulch and feed the root zone of the hungry tree

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts. Tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Peach leaf curl →

  Causes puckered red distorted leaves - apply a dormant copper or lime-sulfur spray in late winter before buds swell; Contender has only moderate resistance, so the spray is the key control

• Peachtree borers →

  Larvae tunnel at the base of the trunk - keep the trunk healthy and unmulched right at the base, watch for gummy frass, and use trunk wraps or beneficial nematodes

• Brown rot →

  Rotting fruit on the tree - prune for airflow, remove mummified fruit, and apply fungicide at bloom and before harvest in wet seasons

• Plum curculio →

  A weevil that scars and drops young fruit - clean up dropped fruit and use timed sprays or kaolin clay at petal fall

🌾 Harvest & storage

Contender ripens in late July to August. Pick when the ground color under the red blush turns from green to gold or cream and the fruit gives slightly to a gentle press near the stem, releasing its peachy aroma; a ripe peach pulls free with a gentle twist. The fruit ripens over a week or two, so harvest in several passes. Tree-ripened peaches are far superior to store fruit but bruise easily, so handle gently and use, can, or freeze within a few days; slightly firm fruit will finish ripening on the counter.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Peaches are a good source of vitamins A and C, potassium, and fiber, and the non-browning yellow flesh of Contender is sweet, juicy, and aromatic for fresh eating, canning, freezing, and baking. As a freestone the flesh separates cleanly from the pit, making it easy to slice and preserve. Its real value is reliability: by blooming late it brings tree-ripe peaches to cold regions that usually lose the crop to spring frost.

⚠️ Toxicity & safety

Eat the flesh, not the pit. The kernel inside the pit contains amygdalin, a cyanide-releasing compound - discard the pits and never eat or crush the seeds inside.