Apple Varieties
Anna
A Golden Delicious-style apple, it was selected for its ability to set with very little chill. The sweet, crisp, juicy flavor of an Anna Apple was able to compete with most of the Northern grown varieties. This red-blushed over green skinned fruit crops so heavy that thinning is required to keep get good size and to keep the limbs from breaking. Self-fruitful or better crops with a pollinator like Dorsett Golden. A great keeper, use for all your favorite bake goods or enjoy fresh off the tree.
Arkansas Black
An heirloom apple variety from Arkansas that produces a distinct, outstanding flavor after an extended time in storage. The medium-sized fruit is very dark red and becomes nearly black during storage. This is an excellent cooking apple and also makes delicious cider.
Red Fuji
Ripens about 1–2 weeks later than Fuji
Yellowish/green in color with a red stripe. Similar to the Fuji, it is extremely sweet and has good storage capability. It will stand up to the summer heat and requires about 350–400 chilling hours.
Braeburn
Introduced from New Zealand in 1952, the Braeburn became a popular commercial apple readily available in the grocery stores as early as the 1970s. But the truth is this apple is better than any you have had from the grocery store.
Cox Orange Pippin
This striking, orange-red apple, with the orange undertone hence the name, has a complex flavor as well. Hints of Melon, Citrus, Berry and Cherry are often described. The Cox is a great choice for fresh eating and is also a popular selection in making cider Self-fruitful in some climates but always sets better with a pollinating variety near by. USDA zone 5 – 9 but has been reported successful in zones 4 and 10 in the right location.
Cripps Pink
Cripps Pink apples (also known as Pink Lady apples) has become one of the most popular varieties world wide. Showing off the striking reddish-pink over a yellow background. The bright white flesh is very dense and resists browning. The distinct flavor is tart with an effervescent finish. A late season ripening apple, the Cripps Pink likes lots of heat in the late summer early fall and will tolerate hot, dry inland climates. This is a divine dessert apple!
Dorsett Golden
Here’s an apple that loves a Mediterranean climate! The Dorsett Golden requires less than 100 chill hours to bring you good sized, yellow and green-yellow apples in late Summer to early Fall. Similar to the Golden Delicious apple, the firm flesh is great for fresh eating or cooking.
Granny Smith
Ripens late August–early September
A long time favorite among consumers. It is good for eating, cooking and for sauce. It has a large, firm fruit with a juicy, slightly tart flavor. It packs well and resists bruising. Has excellent storage capability.
Empire
Empire is a sweet apple with a crisp texture and bright white flesh. Although Empire can be stored for a short period, it is best when eaten straight from the tree. It has the characteristic and unusual McIntosh flavor, often described in apple textbooks as “vinous”. Perhaps the best way to describe it is like a hint of melon or pineapple or elderflower.
Golden Delicious
Golden Delicious apples are pale green to golden yellow in color and speckled with small lenticels (spots). They are small to medium in size, and tend to be conical or oblong in shape. Golden Delicious apples are firm, crisp, and white-fleshed. These apples have a balanced sweet-tart aromatic flavor, which has been described as honeyed. The flavor varies depending on where these apples are grown; in a cool climate, the amount of acid increases, actually creating a sweeter flavor. When grown in warmer areas, the acid content is lower, creating a milder flavor.
Gravenstein
The Gravenstein Apple is a prized heirloom variety from Denmark which has been a favorite since its introduction by Russian settlers moving into the US in the 1820’s. The fruit is red over green with firm, crisp white flesh is fine grained and is unequaled for use in sauces and baking. and almost any cooking. The Gravenstein also makes the best apple juice and is popular in ciders. It is also a fine fresh eating apple right off the tree
Honeycrisp (PP#7,197)
Ripens about 2 weeks earlier than Red Delicious
A cross between Macoun and Honeygold. It is a firm and moderately vigorous apple, with an exceptional storage life and very winter hardy. It has an excellent color at harvest and for best results, should be planted with a pollenator. The chilling requirement is 800 hours.
Hudson’s Golden Gem
Hudson’s Golden Gem, Malus domestica ‘Hudson’s Golden Gem’ is by far one of the finest flavored apples of all. This is a big apple as russet skinned varieties go and with its light golden skin and crisp juicy flavor the Hudson’s Golden Gem has become a first choice for fresh eating and for cider or juicing.
Jonathan
First described in 1826, the Jonathan with its perfectly round shape and medium to dark red color was an immediate hit and has remained popular for almost 200 years. Thin but tough skin and fine juicy flavor with a bit of tartness make it a treat right off the tree, for baking that great apple pie or for candied apples.
King David
This a complex cross of some of the finest apple varieties. Believe to be a cross of Jonathan X Winesap x Arkansas Black the result is the best of all these great varieties. The fine eating qualities of the Winesap and Arkansas Black without the long wait for the Arkansas Black to soften. Then the great cooking qualities of the Jonathan with the extra benefit of a rich flavor that is sure to make you popular with your first pie or when you blend up your first batch of cider.
Mutsu
A cross between Golden Delicious and Indo varieties, Mutsu is a very large greenish yellow to yellow apple with a conical shape and a sharp, tart flavor. This variety is also known as Crispin. Excellent for fresh eating, sauces, pies, and baking.
Pink Pearl
The Pink Pearl is a medium sized Tannish green skinned apple with light to dark pink and cream marbled flesh. The wonderful bright and crisp taste of the fully ripe Pink Pearl is quite unique with a typical rich apple flavor and sprightly berry overtones. The tree is also quite ornamental with profuse pink blooms that show off in spring. The Pink Pearl ripens in late July to August. hardy to zone 4. and requires a pollinator.
Red Delicious
Classic shape With rounded top at stem, tapering down and narrowing to 4 points at the bottom of the fruit. This is the original Red Delicious, large dark red skin with a tender fine grained white flesh. Sweet and unlike many found in the grocery store, this Red Delicious hold its crispiness an flavor into storage. A classic apple known world wide.
Red McIntosh
By the beginning of the 20th century, the McIntosh Apple was the #1 variety planted in Canada and throughout the upper Midwest and East Coast in the United States. What has become the classic snap of the tart skin and the sweet aromatic smooth flavor of the white flesh, has carried the popularity of the McIntosh apple for over 130 years. McIntosh Apple trees produces heavy crops of small to medium-sized apples that ripen and are ready for harvest around mid-September. McIntosh Apple crops will often persist into early winter, as this tree is hardy and can easily withstand colder temperatures.
Rome Beauty
Rome Beauty is of the few heirloom US varieties that is now widely-grown outside the USA – it can be found in many of the warmer apple-growing regions. Unlike most apple varieties, it has a very low chilling requirement which means it can be grown in areas which do not have cold winters.
Scarlet Gala®
Ripens July 1–July 20
A good-sized fruit with a conical shape. Its color is a bright scarlet over a yellow/orange background. It has an excellent firmness compared to the other Gala strains. Pollinators include Fuji, Granny Smith and others. It stores extremely well.
Winesap
Medium to large red over green, this heirloom apple as the same rich tart wine like flavor of the parent along with much better disease resistance. Great for baking which brings out the spicy flavor of the Stayman Winesap. Also popular in ciders and for sauces. The tree produces at an early age and remains very productive. Blooms late so is great in areas of late freezes. Requires a pollinator, ripens in September but will hang into October most years.
Yellow Newton Pippen
Medium size and somewhat flat in appearance, what this apple lacks in looks it makes up for in flavor. Rich and aromatic, with a somewhat creamy yellow flesh. A crisp texture with a vary foxy tartness. This is a very high flavored apple and popular in the grocery stores for baking.
Imperial Gala
Ripens mid–late July
An early Gala, with a red stripe over a yellow-orange background. The flesh is crispy and white in color and the taste is very sweet. This medium-sized apple is good to eat right off the tree!
Ripening dates shown are approximate for Fresno and will vary with season and location.