Avocado - Noel - Cold and wind tolerant - Spring/summer/early autumn ripening

Noel is a fantastic New Zealand developed variety, that is similar to Hass in almost every way, with the exception that the tree is more cold and wind tolerant. The fruiting season is long and ripens alongside Hass, generally from mid spring through summer, into March.

The fruit is almost indistinguishable from Hass, having a creamy, nutty, relatively fibre free flesh. The skin turns black upon ripening.

The tree has slightly different shaped leaves from the other avocado varieties we offer, and has proven to be more wind resistant and cold tolerant than Hass.  Noel is a fantastic choice of variety for those who love the common Hass fruit, but live in a borderline climate or near the coast.

The story of Noel:

The Noel avocado started as a seed (likely Hass) planted in Hamilton, New Zealand. For several winters in a row, heavy frosts killed the young shoots of the seedling, but each spring, it kept re sprouting back from the same seed. After a few years of this, the owner gave up on it. Years later, the tree was rediscovered by the owners son, Noel, thriving and producing beautiful fruit. It seems one of those later shoots finally made it through, becoming the mother tree of the Noel variety. The tree is vigorous and slightly more “wild” in nature, with large, thick leaves that point to good resilience against wind, frost, and tough conditions. 

Noel is an A flowering type, and although avocado trees in our climate are self-fertile, they do produce more fruit if 2 are planted near each other with opposing flower types. In this case, best planted near a B variety, like Fujikawa, Bacon, Hashimoto, Zutano or Edranol.

Avocado trees are generally easy to care for, but here are a few tips to help ensure your tree thrives:

1. Plant your tree in well-draining soil in a sunny location. Protect from wind and frost when young.

2. Water your tree regularly, but be careful not to over-water. Avocado trees prefer to be kept evenly moist, but not waterlogged. If planting in a clay soil, it is important to either create a mound, or build a raised planter box to plant your tree into. This helps keep the sensitive feeder roots out of the wet zone.

3. Fertilise your tree with a balanced fertiliser twice a year, once in the spring and once in the summer.

4. Prune your tree regularly to remove any dead or damaged branches, and to shape the tree to promote good fruit production.

5. Though Noel is cold and wind tolerant, the tree will still need protection from wind and frost while establishing. We recommend putting some wind cloth around the tree held up by stakes, and using frost cloth in winter for the first couple of seasons.