loquat? i'm not sure of spelling.

[rockriver]

a friend in so. ga. has several trees that look sort of like a magnolia tree. well.. the leaves remind me of magnolia trees.
in 2012.. all i saw was trees and no fruit.
in 2013 these yellow fruits are appearing. if you make an oval with your thumb in middle finger, that is about the size of the fruit. very tasty. maybe 1 big seed or a couple of smaller seeds. fruit texture similar to a peach, but not as sweet

why they are producing like crazy in 2013 and nothing in 2012 i don't know. but to have a fruit that produces on april 1 is unusual in so ga.
i think it needs so. georgia or warmer growing season.
a few of you guys live down south.
if your bol is down south, may i suggest you consider what i believe is a loquat tree.

[qrprat77]

Yep, I love me the loquats, they are easy to grow (this far south they grow almost like weeds) and they make good jelly and eating fruit. The tree tends to ripen in stages, bottom to top and it's best if they get a lil' cool snap right before they get all the way ripe. Eat them when they are all the way yellow, about to turn orange, save the really orange ones for jelly. They go bad quick when they turn orange, so if you got a tree or three, get ready to process some fruit. I've had one seed, up to six in a fruit, and the trees are very easy to grow from seed. My growing zone is 9b and they are about like weeds, but in zone 8b (where my parents live) I only see them growing in microclimates, close to the house, on the south side where it can get heat and sunshine, and stay safe from the freeze. The fruit gets ripe in the winter, seems like this year has been a late crop, usually I see the biggest bunch of it in January. This year it all came in about mid March, the biggest bunch at least. I think that's because the tree does need some chill time, and it didn't get any chill time until January this year. I know in Jax as a kid, we'd eat them in January at the bus stop about two weeks after school let back in from Christmas break. The wood is weak, soft and breaks easy, and the tree tends to stay small, 20 foot is a TALL one.