Apricot trees, which are mostly of the species Prunus armeniaca, have history here. Vast apricot orchards formerly inhabited the Santa Clara Valley. Many remain as a significant industry of the San Joaquin Valley. Apricot trees are both famously reliable and famously productive here. If they can not inhabit orchards, they can be as happy in home gardens.

Home garden apricot trees are not quite the same as orchard trees. Most are grafted onto dwarfing rootstock to stay more compact than orchard trees. More cultivars are popular in home gardens than in orchards. Regardless, even relatively compact home garden trees need dormant pruning in winter. Otherwise, they provide more fruit than they can support.

Apricot trees change with the seasons. They are strikingly bare while dormant for winter. Their profuse white bloom is spectacular for early spring. Their rich green foliage mostly obscures their fruit as it ripens through early summer. It then turns cheery yellow before it defoliates in autumn. Home garden trees should be about ten feet tall with good pruning. Fruit is difficult to reach in overgrown trees.