Dream Atemoya, a variety that fruits in FL ! Introduced by Wayne Clifton

[cmichael258]

Drove down to Bradenton this afternoon to see Wayne and all I can say is "WOW", what an experience. Wayne is a super nice
guy and a wealth of knowledge. His yard is filled with beautiful trees and I could spend a full day walking around with him and
seeing what he has done.

He showed me a group of 3 and 7 Gal Dreams and said 2 people will be coming later to make purchases. I saw a 7 Gal that I liked
and planned to buy it when we walked over directly behind his house where he had a large group of trees sitting in pots. As we were
walking through them, he remembered another group of Dreams in the middle and found one 7 Gal that he had stripped the leaves back in
the Spring and was producing flowers. He seemed very partial to that one so needless to say, that was the one I purchased.

If you're in the Bradenton area, I would highly recommend contacting Wayne as he has a fantastic collection. I was able to take photos of
the mother and "baby" Dreams.

Adam..... Wayne spoke very highly of you and said to tell you "Hello".

Michael

Mother


Baby

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Nice report !!!!  Thanks!!!

The tree looks different than most atemoyas I've seen...but I'm convinced it just an atmemoya...with lots of vigor and cold tolerance.

Were there any fruits on his trees??

[johnb51]

It looks different than a cherimoya, for sure.

[cmichael258]

Nice report !!!!  Thanks!!!

The tree looks different than most atemoyas I've seen...but I'm convinced it just an atmemoya...with lots of vigor and cold tolerance.

Were there any fruits on his trees??

Yes there were a number of fruit on the tree. Wayne said he is waiting for some to ripen to take down to Steve at Fruitscapes.

[JF]

Drove down to Bradenton this afternoon to see Wayne and all I can say is "WOW", what an experience. Wayne is a super nice
guy and a wealth of knowledge. His yard is filled with beautiful trees and I could spend a full day walking around with him and
seeing what he has done.

He showed me a group of 3 and 7 Gal Dreams and said 2 people will be coming later to make purchases. I saw a 7 Gal that I liked
and planned to buy it when we walked over directly behind his house where he had a large group of trees sitting in pots. As we were
walking through them, he remembered another group of Dreams in the middle and found one 7 Gal that he had stripped the leaves back in
the Spring and was producing flowers. He seemed very partial to that one so needless to say, that was the one I purchased.

If you're in the Bradenton area, I would highly recommend contacting Wayne as he has a fantastic collection. I was able to take photos of
the mother and "baby" Dreams.

Adam..... Wayne spoke very highly of you and said to tell you "Hello".

Michael

Mother


Baby

Beautiful atemoya! It looks like my multi-grafted Super African Pride

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Harvested my first Dream today (well, first decent sized fruit, but still small)

here it is next to the first PPC of the season....looks like i will have annona fruits during the winter...this season is very late for me.



 

[cmichael258]

Harvested my first Dream today (well, first decent sized fruit, but still small)

here it is next to the first PPC of the season....looks like i will have annona fruits during the winter...this season is very late for me.

Looking forward to your assessment of the taste.

[merce3]

any updates? i am heading down to bradenton in a bit so i'm already committed but it would be nice to have a taste report.

[merce3]

picked my plant up a few hours ago. wayne's a stand up guy and the tree i got was very nicely grafted (saddled) with awesome structure. definitely going to plan a future trip.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

picked my plant up a few hours ago. wayne's a stand up guy and the tree i got was very nicely grafted (saddled) with awesome structure. definitely going to plan a future trip.

i was tempted to cut the fruit a bit early..it's almost ready...I will cut it tomorrow...
glad to hear u got a tree, i love the saddle grafted ones especially.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

impatience got the best of me...
I just ate the dream fruit.

it reminded me of PPC, in terms of texture...but taste was something like Lisa...this is definitely one of my favorite atemoyas....being productive like Geffner, but having less seeds, better texture, and taste.

I'm happy to report it's not just hype, this is a great fruit.

[cmichael258]

impatience got the best of me...
I just ate the dream fruit.

it reminded me of PPC, in terms of texture...but taste was something like Lisa...this is definitely one of my favorite atemoyas....being productive like Geffner, but having less seeds, better texture, and taste.

I'm happy to report it's not just hype, this is a great fruit.

Thanks for the photos and the taste report Adam. That's good news.

Thanks also Merce3. I agree that Wayne is a nice and knowledgeable guy.

[BENDERSGROVE]

Thanks for the tree Adam, can't wait to put it in ground, gonna let it get a little bigger so the dogs don't trample it.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Thanks for the tree Adam, can't wait to put it in ground, gonna let it get a little bigger so the dogs don't trample it.

Mike,

glad u got that little tree, it was the last one I have until the next batch.

I think you will be impressed by how vigorous the tree is.

Heat/drought resistant for sure...this is one of the only atemoyas/sugar apples that didn't get leaf burn this summer.

[cmichael258]

Here's the one I purchased from Wayne last weekend. I later asked him how old the plant is and he said to dig around the edges of
the pot and look for a tag. I didn't find one but will check again when i move it up to a larger pot.

The plant is 38" and in great condition. Wayne said he cut it back about 1 1/2 months ago and it is already flowering. Nice to hear that it's
so sturdy Adam.

Michael

[davidgarcia899]

It definitely looks like a cherimoya when you cut it open. Idk whats wrong with my tree, it hasnt been vigorous at all. Its died back to only one stem.

[johnb51]

It definitely looks like a cherimoya when you cut it open. Idk whats wrong with my tree, it hasnt been vigorous at all. Its died back to only one stem.

Mine is doing good, David.  But I had to stake it--the limbs were almost touching the ground.
 
Adam, thanks for tasting the fruit for us!

[Tim]

Does anyone remember an older post on gardenweb forum by (Felipe/Philippe?) showing several different types of atemoyas?  One of which was a really big & beautiful golden yellow atemoya that sort of looks like a massive sugar apple?

Found it!!!
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tropicalfruits/msg051040244223.html?5




Any of our Aussie members recognize or know of this?

[davidgarcia899]

thats beautiful!!! I want one of those!

[Tetsu0]

Wayne Clifton is a really cool guy. One of the nicest people I've ever met. He does a lot of things that I wish I could be doing, and I'm a little bit jealous.

I got to visit him last Sunday for a short time. He has a very nice collection of trees, and good varieties of fruit. His two dream cherimoya trees are impressive, and I got the impression that they are vigorous and productive fruiters.

Among all of Wayne's generosities that day, I was happiest to receive a dream cherimoya from his tree. I drove home with a big grin on my face.



I'll make sure to report back here on how it tastes once it ripens. I'll be excited to know what kind of fruit I could expect from my tree.

[Bob407]

The Dream atemoya is interesting in how smooth the skin is. I had a chance to taste one and found it had a pineapple, honey and something else I can't describe going on with the flavor. But taste is subjective. I am looking forward to your description.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

NICE!!

that's a proper fruit! 

I bet it will make your eyes roll back into your head like linda blair...and make your head spin..it's that good. 

[gunnar429]

Made the trek to bradenton this past week to get my Dream tree.  Wayne was very gracious to show me around the property, see the 2 trees he has, and even let me sample an entire fruit!!

I haven't had many annonas, so I am no good at comparing the flavors.  However, I will try to describe it.

First, the tree was maintained at about 20-25 ft, and had lush green leaves with no blemishes on them.  It was loaded with fruit, at different stages, and Wayne said it fruits from October to March/April!!  A very beautiful yard tree.

The fruit was greenish yellow and about softball size.  The skin was smooth.  When sliced open, the texture was firm, yet creamy.  Kind of like jackfruit.  It had approx. 10-12 seeds.  The taste was VERY GOOD!  It was kind of like custard apple (but not as "custardy"), and the end flavor notes for me were strawberry and watermelon.  Regardless, it is a great tasting fruit, a beautiful, precocious, productive tree, and it fruits in the off-season, with a long harvest period.

If interested in Wayne's info, PM me.

[Tetsu0]

Sorry just getting to reporting this now.

So I've never had a cherimoya before. I have had a few atemoyas and sugar apples to compare it to.

Also, I might have waited a little too long to eat the dream fruit. Like others might have said, you wait till it just gets a little softer. It's still pretty firm when it's ready. Mine started to form some little black spots and I noticed it actually started to crack in one place. I'm guessing that's too long.

The taste is very sweet, and packed with great flavor. The flavor reminded me of pineapple and mango. The texture to me is like biting in to a nice pineapple slice. It kinda has a crunch or crispness to it while still being soft and somewhat custard like. It is firmer than sugar apples or the atemoyas I've had, and I do prefer softer melting textures. It's no wonder that my favorite fruits are genip and mangosteen and I prefer the softer custardy sugar apples. I even find rollinia pleasant. Despite me wishing it was more custardy it's excellent flavor more than makes up for that. I haven't compared them side by side yet, but I imagine even my nice red sugar apples and lisa atemoyas will taste flat in comparison.

[cmichael258]

Thanks gunnar and TetsuO.

I really looking forward to the day mine bears fruit.