Malus spp. Fall. Very large round-conic apple, faintly red-striped or blushed orange-red. Firm slightly tart juicy flesh, best known for cooking but also good fresh eating. Z3.
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Malus spp. Winter. Medium-small fresh-eating apple of unparalleled quality. Intense, aromatic, sharp & sweet. Good keeper. Scab-resistant. Z4.
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Malus spp. Winter. Famous European cooking apple. Big blocky fruit patched with green and russet. Cooks and bakes beautifully. Keeps well. Z4.
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Malus spp. Winter. Uniquely dark fruit with well-balanced flavor. Excellent pies and cider. Maine heirloom. Best eating late Dec. to March. Great keeper. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall-Winter. Medium to very large apple has a good balance of sweet and tart with hints of pear. All-purpose. Keeps until midwinter. Z4.
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Malus domestica Late Summer. Borowinka seedlings are standard-sized, vigorous, disease resistant and cold hardy. Grow these trees for their own fruit, or as rootstock for grafting. Early to midseason blooms. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall-Winter. Very large fruit with fine-grained aromatic flesh. Sweet and crisp. Excellent for sauce. Good keeper. Vigorous tree. Blooms midseason. Z4.
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Malus spp. Summer-Fall. Very hardy high-quality cooking apple. Large and glossy purplish-red roundish fruit. Firm juicy flesh. Good for fresh cider. Stores 2 months. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall. Auvergne, France, 1670. Soft juicy coarse-grained flesh is fantastic cooked and great for fresh eating. Sweet and aromatic with hints of strawberry. Keeps 1-2 months. Blooms midseason. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. Juicy, distinctly tart, full-flavored fresh eating apple. Very popular at our Common Ground Country Fair taste tests! Keeps about a month. Z4.
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Malus spp. Early Fall. Firm, crisp, juicy dessert crab excellent for fresh eating, pickles and sauce. Stores a month. Beautiful mid-late blooms. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall. Ancient French dessert apple with a strong fruity sweet-tart flavor. Cold hardy, productive and resistant to scab. Blooms late, so good for avoiding spring frosts. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. A popular modern release with very firm, crunchy fruit. Tart, spicy and complex flavor wonderful for fresh eating. Keeps six months in storage. Z4.
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Malus spp. Late Summer. From Russia, well before 1800. Known in New England as one of the very best pie apples! Extremely hardy. Scab resistant. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall-Winter. Crisp, firm, juicy with a rich spicy flavor. Stores 6 months or more. Annual bearing, scab immune, resistant to powdery mildew, cider-apple rust and fireblight. Blooms late-season. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall-Winter. Medium-large, slightly tart, crisp and juicy. Thomas Jefferson’s favorite. Good acid source for cider. All-purpose. Good keeper. Z4.
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Malus spp. Early Fall. Also called Snow. Ruby-red fruit with tender white flesh. Excellent fresh eating, sauce and fresh cider. Keeps until late December. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall-Winter. The most distinctive, complex, unusually flavored apple you'll ever try! Hardy, productive, reliable. A staff favorite. Z3.
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Malus spp. Late Summer-Early Fall. Small to medium-sized deep red apple with prominent white dots. Tender, juicy, rich, aromatic dessert fruit. Z4-6.
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Malus spp. Winter. Medium-sized russet apple. The champagne of cider apples, and excellent for eating. Keeps well into spring. Scab-resistant. Z4.
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Malus spp. Winter. Medium-to-large dessert apple is hard, very crisp, juicy, tart. Keeps till May. Highly disease-resistant. Blooms midseason to late. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. Iconic green tart fruit famous for apple pies. Develops a pink blush when grown in colder climates. Extremely durable and sweetens in storage. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall-Winter. Medium size, firm white juicy mildly tart flesh. Delicious distinct pear flavor. Keeps all winter. Annual bearer. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. Medium-sized tart citrusy crisp dense firm fruit. Excellent for dessert and cooking. All-purpose. Good keeper. Annual bearer. Z4.
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Malus spp. Winter. A nearly perfect all-purpose apple for northernmost areas. Bright red fruit with white firm crisp juicy flesh. Very versatile. Keeps until March. Z3.
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Malus spp. Late Summer. Discovered in an old logging camp near Jackman, ME. Early ripening fruit is tart and sweet, with crisp but tender flesh. Extremely hardy tree. Blooms early-midseason. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall. Crisp flesh has a balanced sweet-tart flavor for good fresh eating and great dried apples. Stores into the winter. A high-quality apple that needs little care. Blooms midseason. Z4.
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Malus spp. Late Summer. These culinary crabapples are a tasty snack fresh off the tree, better after storage. Especially good for brandying. Keeps well. Z2/3.
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Malus spp. Late Summer-Fall. Medium size, crisp white flesh. All-purpose. Keeps till late fall. Scab-immune. Annual bearer, begins at early age. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. Large citrusy tart sour juicy dense rough-skinned russet. Very good late fall dessert quality. Good cooking. Could be an excellent cider apple. No scab. Blooms midseason. Z4.
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Malus spp. Summer. High-quality apple for fresh eating and sauce. Yellow fruit with dark red streaks and blotches. Fine-grained juicy tender aromatic creamy white flesh. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall. The most important apple in the Northeast. Delicious and aromatic. All-purpose. Annual bearer. Very susceptible to scab. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall-Winter. High-quality large fruit for fresh eating and cooking keeps till March. Flavorful yellowish-white flesh has notes of honey. Large vigorous tree is an annual bearer. Midseason blooms. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. Considered to be the original source for nearly all red-fleshed and pink-flowered apples. 2" fruit is too tart for fresh eating but recommended for cider, pies and sauce. Blooms early. Z4.
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Malus spp. Winter. Famous heirloom apple. Very large, juicy, tender. Makes a great single-variety pie! All-purpose. Good keeper. Scab-resistant. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall-Winter. Yellow flesh is crisp, firm, juicy, tender and subacid. Recommended for pies and sauce. Very long-lived, healthy and hardy. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall. Modern apple bred for disease resistance, shelf life and flavor. Great fresh eating. Flesh stays white when sliced. Easy-to-grow annual producer. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. An offspring of Frostbite and Chestnut apples. This russeted dessert apple is small, but packs a lot flavor. We eat them raw or baked whole rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. A tried and true disease-resistant variety. Excellent eating, good cider. Keeps a couple of months. Scab immune. Bears annually. Z4.
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Malus spp. Summer. Modern PRI-bred variety. Mildly tart, spicy and rich flavored. Great fresh eating quality. Disease-resistant, scab immune. Blooms mid-late season. Z4.
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Malus spp. Summer. The standard Maine summer cooking apple, especially pies. Medium-sized dark red fruit. Juicy subacid white flesh tinged with red. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall. Medium-large red-fleshed apple. Use for sauce, pies. Very sharp and bitter in cider. Two-toned flowers, bronze-red foliage. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall-Winter. Medium-large, sharp, crisp, rich, aromatic dessert apple. Also good in cider. Great fresh eating till January. Blooms midseason. Z4.
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Malus spp. Winter. Medium-large, rich, spicy and juicy. A great late-winter dessert apple; good cooking. Stores until summer. Scab resistant. Z4.
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Malus spp. Winter. A very tart dessert apple and a supremely wonderful midwinter pie apple. Will keep all winter in the root cellar, with peak flavor in Feb. Blooms early-midseason. Z3.
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Malus spp. Late Fall. Exquisite dessert fruit is fine-grained juicy and snappy. Clean fruity finish with superior aromatics. Blooms mid-late season. Keeps until March. Likely hardy to Z3.
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Malus spp. Be the proud keeper of a sister tree to one of many rare varieties planted at the Maine Heritage Orchard. $30 from the sale supports the project.
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Malus spp. Fall. Medium-sized apple. Sweet, nutty and spicy flavors. Fine-textured crisp flesh. Keeps till midwinter. Some resistance to scab. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall-Early Winter. One of the first American varieties. Unforgettably peculiar sweet flavor. Very low acidity. Truly all-purpose. Z4.
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Malus spp. Summer. Size and shape of an egg. Crisp, crunchy with spicy sweet flavor. Exceptional fresh-eating! Precocious, annually productive. Z2/3.
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Malus spp. 20x30' Late Summer. White single flowers on large somewhat weeping tree. Red-blushed roundish 1½-2" fruit good for cooking and cider. Blooms midseason. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. Medium-sized. Perfect texture and complex flavor. Famous all-purpose variety. Especially good pies. Small-med size tree. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall. Small but flavorful. Crisp, juicy, tart, tangy, spicy. Good in hard cider. Keeps until January. Bears young, heavily, annually. Z4.
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Malus spp. Summer. Medium-sized fruit with almost solid beet red flesh: a real eye popper! Very good and extremely tart. Good addition to cider and sauce. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall-Winter. Famous American heirloom apple. Large brilliant shiny yellow with a bright red blush. Best for fresh eating: aromatic, slightly crisp, juicy, mild. Good sauce. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. Famous old-time apple. Huge fruit with firm but tender flesh. Aromatic tart flavor. Excellent cooking and drying. Scab-resistant. Z3.
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Malus spp. Winter. Large firm crisp fine-grained juicy aromatic all-purpose apple does everything well, including keeping all winter. Blooms early-midseason. Z4.
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Malus spp. Winter. Excellent fresh eating. Very large russeted fruit with firm white fine-grained flesh and nutty sweet-sharp flavor. Good keeper. Z4.
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Malus spp. Late Summer. Medium-sized, highly-flavored fruit. Good balance of acid/sweet. Crisp and juicy fresh-eating. Stores up to seven weeks. Z3.
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Malus spp. Fall. Bittersweet cider apple. Exceedingly rare English heirloom. Tender sweet astringent juicy flesh. Proven to be hardy in central Maine. Blooms midseason. Z4.
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Malus spp. Late Fall. Medium-sized, medium-bittersweet cider apple. One of the most popular cider varieties. Not for eating fresh. Annual bearer. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. High-quality bittersweet variety recommended for blending with other fall varieties. Soft astringent tannins. Narrow upright tree form. Becoming popular commercially in New England. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. Medium-sized bittersharp cider apple high in tannin and acidity. Makes a full-bodied vintage cider with nice blend of acid, tannins and sugar. Decent fresh-eating. Z4.
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Malus spp. Late Fall. Medium-bittersweet cider apple. Somerset, England 1842. Cream-colored flesh with streaks of red bleeding from the skin is sweet with soft tannins. Suitable for a single varietal cider. Z4.
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Malus spp. Late Fall. Full bittersweet cider apple. Lots of tannin. Light yellow fruit mostly covered with tan russet. Combine with other late varieties. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. Sweet cider apple. Complex and honey-sweet with a bit of vanilla or honeysuckle. Low acid. Strong low-maintenance trees with no disease pressure observed. Blooms midseason. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. Bittersharp ancient English cider apple discovered around 1600 in the Forest of Dean. The flesh has a peculiar flavor combo of sharp, astringent and sweet. Blooms midseason. Z4.
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Malus spp. Fall. Bittersharp cider apple. Among the best red-fleshed varieties. Prized for its size, vigor, disease resistance and deep red juice high in anthocyanins and antioxidants. Z4.
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Malus spp. Late Fall. Bittersharp cider apple with lots of sugar, bitterness and acidity. Good candidate for a single varietal. Highly disease resistant, immune to scab and mildew. Long midseason bloom time. Z4.
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Malus spp. Early Fall. Sharp cider apple. Surprising orange flesh is tart with sharp bright acidity, but also packs a lot of sugar. Naturally disease-resistant, a great tree for breeders. Midseason bloom. Z4.
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Malus spp. Late Fall. Bittersharp cider apple. Sharp juice with some astringency. Consistent heavy cropper. Very scab resistant, also called Neverblight! Blooms late season. Z4.
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Malus spp. Ornamental flowering crabapple with beautiful rose-like blossoms and bitter green fruit. Very high in tannin. Great for cidermakers! Blooms late. Z4.
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Malus spp. Classic culinary crab. Still found in old Maine dooryards. Apricot-pink buds, large fragrant pure white single flowers. Great for canning, pickling, delicious sauce and flavorful ruby-red jelly. Z2.
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Malus spp. 15x15' Usually the last crab to bloom each spring. Highly double flowers that look and smell like roses. Small open tree suited to small spaces. No fruit. Virtually disease-free. Z4.
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Malus spp. 12-15' x 15-20' Magnificent, fully weeping, dense and finely branched. Yellow-green foliage, pink buds and single faint pink blossoms. Small red fruit is popular with birds. Z4.
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Malus Also called Bud 118 or B118. Semi-dwarf apple rootstock, similar in size to M111 (about 85-90% of standard). Space trees 20-25' apart. Z3.
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Fall. Very large round-conic apple, faintly red-striped or blushed orange-red. Firm slightly tart juicy flesh, best known for cooking but also good fresh eating. Z3.
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Late Fall. European heirloom. Crisp fine-grained flesh with bold citrusy pineapple flavor. Good for dessert, cooking and pressing. Stores well. Z4.
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Winter. One of the most famous of all 19th c. apples. Large, beautiful, red striped and blushed. Dry white flesh for eating, cooking and cider. Good keeper. Z4.
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Winter. Uniquely dark fruit with well-balanced flavor. Excellent pies and cider. Maine heirloom. Best eating late Dec. to March. Great keeper. Z4.
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Fall. A popular historic variety from the South. Great for fresh eating, cider and cooking. Reaches peak flavor in storage. Natural resistance to many pests and diseases. Z4.
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Fall-Winter. Very large fruit with fine-grained aromatic flesh. Sweet and crisp. Excellent for sauce. Good keeper. Vigorous tree. Blooms midseason. Z4.
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Fall-Winter. Small to medium-sized high-flavored russet apple. Excellent dessert quality. Tender, rich, crisp, flavorful. Also makes good cider. Stores till January. Z4.
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Summer-Fall. Very hardy high-quality cooking apple. Large and glossy purplish-red roundish fruit. Firm juicy flesh. Good for fresh cider. Stores 2 months. Z3.
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Fall. Juicy, distinctly tart, full-flavored fresh eating apple. Very popular at our Common Ground Country Fair taste tests! Keeps about a month. Z4.
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Fall. Full bittersweet cider apple. Very bitter yellow fruit with spots of pink and orange when fully ripe in mid-October. Intense tannins. Some specimens measured 21 brix. Heavy annual crops. Z4.
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Late Summer. Small fresh-eating crab about the size of a small plum. Tender crisp juicy flesh. Not sweet. Good in sauce. Highly scab resistant. Z2.
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Fall-Winter. All-purpose conic pink-striped apple. Rather tart with a hint of sweetness. Great for fresh eating, cooking & pies. Stores well. Z4.
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Early Fall. Medium bittersweet cider apple. Sweet, crisp and juicy. Soft, astringent, tannin. Useful for its early ripening. Midseason bloomer. Z4.
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Fall-Winter. Medium-large, slightly tart, crisp and juicy. Thomas Jefferson’s favorite. Good acid source for cider. All-purpose. Good keeper. Z4.
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Early Fall. Also called Snow. Ruby-red fruit with tender white flesh. Excellent fresh eating, sauce and fresh cider. Keeps until late December. Z3.
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Early Fall. Medium solid green fruit is refreshing, mild, incredibly juicy and very crisp. Texture reminiscent of an Asian pear or water chestnut. Keeps until Dec. No scab. Blooms midseason. Z4.
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Early Fall. Very high-quality and highly disease-resistant all-purpose apple. Juicy, firm, spicy flesh. Ripens early October, keeps until New Year. Productive and annually bearing. Z4.
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Late Summer. Golden Delicious seedling with classic Delicious shape. Juicy crisp flesh is a bit sharper, but still quite sweet for an early apple. Great for salads. Z4.
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Winter. Medium-to-large dessert apple is hard, very crisp, juicy, tart. Keeps till May. Highly disease-resistant. Blooms midseason to late. Z4.
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Late Fall. Newburgh, ME. Bittersharp cider apple. Large blocky fruit often must be cut to fit in grinder before pressing! Keeps well. Bitterness increases in storage. Z4.
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Fall-Winter. Likely a Mid-Atlantic heirloom. Juicy tart coarse hard flesh. Long storage capability. Used as acidic component in cider blends. Z4.
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Winter. A nearly perfect all-purpose apple for northernmost areas. Bright red fruit with white firm crisp juicy flesh. Very versatile. Keeps until March. Z3.
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Winter. A Golden Delicious for the north. Large golden-yellow bronze-blushed aromatic fruit has crisp and juicy yellow flavorful flesh. Keeps all winter. Z3.
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Late Fall. A very good fall dessert and cooking variety. Smallish red striped apple with dotted blush. Fine, tender, crisp, very juicy, aromatic, mildly subacid. Z4.
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Fall. Possible Red Delicious seedling with a similar shape but a superior eating experience! Crisp flesh and balanced sweet-tart flavor. Good fresh, great dried. Stores into winter. Z4.
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Fall-Winter. A very high-quality all-purpose apple. Medium-sized red fruit is firm, juicy, crisp, tender, aromatic and mildly tart. Stores all winter. Z4.
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Fall. Large, distinctive “cathead” shape. Mild, moderately crisp, moderately tart and subtle. All-purpose; excellent for cooking, especially sauce. Z4.
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Summer. One of the best varieties for summer fresh eating and cooking. Stays crisp long enough to use the crop. Disease and pest resistant. Very hardy. Z3.
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Summer. Bred from Yellow Transparent. Attractive, smooth skinned light green apple that appears to glow on the tree when ripe in mid summer. Very tart fresh eating. Great for sauce, summer pies. Z3.
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Summer. High-quality apple for fresh eating and sauce. Yellow fruit with dark red streaks and blotches. Fine-grained juicy tender aromatic creamy white flesh. Z3.
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Late Fall. Full bittersweet cider apple. Lots of tannin. Light yellow fruit mostly covered with tan russet. Combine with other late varieties. Z4.
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Fall-Winter. Exceptionally flavored juicy tart dessert apple! Vigorous large productive trees bear young & annually. Blooms mid-late season. Z4.
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Fall. Medium-large fruit is very juicy and sweet with a balsamic aroma. Potential for commercial popularity. Keeps into January. Blooms mid-late season. Z4.
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Fall-Winter. High-quality fruit for fresh eating and cooking. Mildly subacid and very flavorful. Great keeper. Large vigorous annually bearing tree. Z4.
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Fall. Fragrant white flowers. Small bright orange-scarlet fruit is surprisingly good for fresh eating. Feeds wildlife, too! Highly disease resistant. Z4.
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Fall-Winter. Excellent tart eating right off the tree in October and remaining excellent well into winter. Tender and juicy. Heavy blue bloom, like Blue Pearmain. Z4.
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Fall. Supremely flavorful dessert apple. Large brilliant deep red fruit. Crisp, sweet, tart and juicy. Best eaten fresh, but also considered a good cooking apple. Good keeper. Z4.
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Fall. Bittersharp cider apple. Among the best red-fleshed varieties. Prized for its size, vigor, disease resistance and deep red juice high in anthocyanins and antioxidants. Z4.
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Fall. Originally thought to be Calville Blanc but DNA profiling revealed it is unique. Good tart fresh eating and cooking apple. Name aptly describes unusual distinct ribbed shape. Z4.
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Fall. An offspring of Frostbite and Chestnut apples. This russeted dessert apple is small, but packs a lot flavor. We eat them raw or baked whole rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Z4.
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Late Summer. Extremely hardy large cooking and dessert apple. Large hollow core sometimes fills with delicious juice. Uniquely shaped, beautiful and rare. Z3.
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Fall. Medium-small russet fruit with a longtime reputation as one of the very best dessert apples. Superb fresh eating. Keeps fairly well, still crunchy in January. Z3.
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Summer. Modern PRI-bred variety. Mildly tart, spicy and rich flavored. Great fresh eating quality. Disease-resistant, scab immune. Blooms mid-late season. Z4.
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Summer. The standard Maine summer cooking apple, especially pies. Medium-sized dark red fruit. Juicy subacid white flesh tinged with red. Z3.
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Fall-Winter. Medium-large, sharp, crisp, rich, aromatic dessert apple. Also good in cider. Great fresh eating till January. Blooms midseason. Z4.
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Early Fall. Medium-sized fruit is firm, sweet, mild. Excellent fresh eating and cooking. Similar to Mac. Keeps through the fall. Blooms midseason. Z3/Z4.
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Mid-Late Fall. All-purpose fruit for fresh eating, cooking and cider. Rich juice with high sugar makes an excellent base for blending. Keeps until late winter. Z5.
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Fall. Intro by N.E. Hansen, USDA plant explorer who searched the world for cold hardy plant material. Juicy tart flesh is good fresh and cooked into sauce. Z3.
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Late Fall-Winter. Relatively unknown dessert apple. Yellow fruit blushed with light scarlet red is crisp, firm, juicy and sweet. Decent keeper. Z4.
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Early Fall. High-quality flavorful dessert apple is light yellowish-tan. Crisp fine-textured creamy-white-yellowish juicy aromatic flesh has pear-like flavor. Z4.
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Summer-Fall-Winter. Seedling of Northern Spy. Sweet apple with no acidity; a good sweet component to hard cider. Can be eaten August to March, though best in October. Keeps extremely well. Z4.
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Summer. Super hardy Russian heirloom used as a parent in breeding projects for new cold hardy varieties. Mostly used for summer cooking. Blooms early. Z3.
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Summer. Early season eating and cooking apple. Ripens in August. Round-conic shape reminiscent of Red Delicious. Sweet flavor has hints of plum and pear. Blooms midseason. Z4.
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20x30' White single flowers on large somewhat weeping tree. Red-blushed roundish 1½-2" fruit good for cooking and cider ripens late summer. Z4.
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Summer. Medium-sized fruit with almost solid beet red flesh: a real eye popper! Very good and extremely tart. Good addition to cider and sauce. Z3.
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Fall-Winter. Famous American heirloom apple. Large brilliant shiny yellow with a bright red blush. Best for fresh eating: aromatic, slightly crisp, juicy, mild. Good sauce. Z4.
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Winter. Large firm crisp fine-grained juicy aromatic all-purpose apple does everything well, including keeping all winter. Blooms early-midseason. Z4.
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25x30'. Classic culinary crab. Apricot-pink buds, large fragrant pure white single flowers. Beautiful fruit makes flavorful ruby-red jelly. Z2.
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Apples
Choosing the Right Apple
Not sure where to start? Check out our Apple Chart!
Choosing a variety: Not every variety may be right for you.
All-purpose apples are just that—they’re good for
a bunch of jobs. If you're planting just one tree, perhaps start there.
However, if you’re a history buff, consider the historical varieties
and maybe plant one that originated nearby. If you don’t eat many
apples but love pies, go for the pie apples. If you’re a dessert
connoisseur, skip all the others and go for the highly flavored dessert
varieties. Some are strictly for cider. Some are great to put out at the
camp for summer use. Some are perfect for those who want fall fruit but
don’t have a root cellar. Others keep all winter and into the
following summer.
Summer apples ripen in summer, are generally crisp
only for a short period, do not store well, and are often best for
cooking.
Fall apples store longer and are useful for a wide
variety of purposes.
Winter apples ripen mid to late fall, store well, and
reach their best flavor after weeks, or even months, of storage.
Dessert apples are delicious eaten raw.
Crabapples are less than 2" in diameter. Some
crabs bear edible or culinary or cider-making fruit. Some have
persistent wildlife fruit that hangs on the tree for weeks or even
months. Others have hardly any fruit at all. Some are beautiful
ornamentals.
Cider apples are especially suited to making
fermented “hard” cider. Some cider apples are also good
dessert fruit, but most are not.
Subacid means tart!
Russet or russeting is a skin
texture (fairly common on apple varieties and on a few pears and
potatoes) which looks and feels somewhat like suede.
Bloom is a naturally occurring dust-like yeast film
on the skin of some varieties of apples, plums, grapes and blueberries.
Cider Apples
Each year we offer a different assortment of the best
European and American
cider varieties, including new wild apple introductions from local fruit
explorers and cidermakers. Many of these are NOT for fresh eating. They do
however possess qualities that make them very desirable for fermented cider
production.
Seedling Apples
These trees were grown from seeds, rather than grafted onto rootstock like the other apple varieties we offer. These standard-sized trees will grow to 20–30'.
Flowering and Culinary Crabapples
A crabapple is any apple with fruit smaller than 2" in
diameter. All
crabs bear edible fruit, some more favorable for culinary use than others.
Some fruits are persistent, hanging on the branch through winter and
providing forage for robins, jays and waxwings in the early spring. The
flowers, tree form and even the shape of the leaves can vary subtly or
profoundly. Most are magnificent in bloom and ornamental year round,
especially in winter when the leaves drop and the trees show off their
interesting forms.
Growing Apples
Soil: Adaptable, but prefers well-drained fertile
soil.
Sun: Full.
Pollination: Requires a second variety for
pollination.
Any apple or crabapple blooming within a quarter mile will probably
do.
For trees on Antonovka and Bud 118 rootstock, 20–25'
apart.
M111 semi-dwarf, 15–20' apart.
G890 semi-dwarf, 10–15' apart.
Bud 9 dwarf, 5–10' apart.
Choosing A Rootstock
Rootstock determines the size, longevity, hardiness and
growth habits of a tree. After enthusiastic response from customers, we
continue to offer an assortment of dwarf and semi-dwarf rootstocks in
addition to the standard.
Standard rootstock: Most of the apples we offer are on
standard full-sized Antonovka rootstock (and occasionally another
full-sized rootstock). Standard trees have deep, substantial—and
therefore hardier—root systems. By selecting the varieties appropriate
to your district, grafted on standard rootstock, you may well be
planting a tree that will be picked by your grandchildren’s
grandchildren. Standard trees will grow to be large, but you can manage
the size with pruning. The largest trees in our orchards are now about
30 years old, yet the tallest are well under 20' due to careful pruning.
Although standard-sized apple trees may be planted as close as
10–15' apart, they were typically planted 30' apart in 19th-c.
orchards. We generally plant standard trees 20–25' apart with good
results. (Trees on standard stock are shipped at 3-6'.)
Semi-dwarf and dwarf rootstocks: We offer an assortment
of semi-dwarf and dwarf apple trees on Bud 118, M111 and Bud 9
rootstocks. Each has great advantages for some growers, but these
size-controlling rootstocks also have their limitations. Please read on
and decide if they are what you want. If you are uncertain, stick with
the good old standards, which are extremely rugged, hardier, more
tolerant of drought and poor soils, very long-lived, and more capable of
thriving under a regime of benign neglect.
Bud 118 semi-dwarfing rootstock produces a tree
about 85–90% of standard size or even larger.
Sometimes Bud 118 trees are called semi-standards or even standards.
Considered to be more precocious (fruiting at a young age) than
standards, and probably more productive. Very hardy, though not as
hardy as Antonovka. Plant about 20–25' apart.
M111 semi-dwarfing rootstock produces a tree about
65–80% of standard size. Sometimes M111 trees
are
called semi-standards. M111 may not be more precocious than
standard-sized trees. However they will likely be more productive.
M111 has a relatively shallow spreading root system, does well in
light soils, and is relatively drought tolerant. Prone to suckering;
not as long-lived or hardy as Antonovka. You can plant them closer
together than standards, about 15–20' apart.
G890 semi-dwarfing rootstock produces a tree about
55–65% of standard size. Adaptable to
different climates and soil types, deeply rooted and hardy. Highly
resistant to fireblight—the varieties we offer on G890 are ones
we’ve found to be susceptible to fireblight in some locations.
Plant trees 10–15' apart.
Bud 9 dwarfing rootstock produces a small dwarf
tree, 25–55% of standard size. This makes it
easy to spray, prune and pick. It requires less space in your yard
and will fruit at an early age. Trees should be staked or trellised
for support. These trees are hardy, though not as hardy as
Antonovka, and they won’t live as long. You can plant trees
5–10' apart.
