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INSTRUCTIONS: The varieties available through our online catalog are conveniently sorted into categories. You can navigate through them by using the list in the left frame of this page. Please make your selection by clicking on a category and the right frame will scroll to reveal your choice. After reviewing our list of varieties, proceed to the ordering information page for instructions on placing your order. FRUIT GARDEN PACKAGES:
APPLES ADAMS PEARMAIN - An old English variety brought to the notice of the London Horticultural Society in 1826 by a gentleman named Adams, whence the name, but originally from Herefordshire where it was called "Hanging Pearmain." Of true pearmain shape,yellow streaked with lively red on the sunny side and covered with a delicate brown russet. Flesh rich and sugary with what Hogg called"an agreeable and pleasantly perfumed flavor." This apple is excellent for a small tree, bearing regularly, early and profusely on slender shoots and most amenable to pruning. It's an excellent dessert apple. It ripens in September - October. AKANE - Introduced in l970 by the Tohoku Agricultural Experiment Station in Japan. A Jonathan type apple with bright cherry red color and crisp, white juicy flesh with a good flavor. It is a cross of Jonathan and Worcester Pearmain and will bear well in low chill areas (warmer climate zones). Ripens in September. ÅKERÖ - Probably the best Swedish dessert apple, commanding the highest prices in the Swedish markets. Tile red over yellow, roundish, cone-shaped, crisp, juicy, raspberry tang. A winter apple in Sweden, it ripens here over a two-week period late in August and into September. It is the best summer apple following Early Joe, but larger in size and of excellent keeping quality for a summer apple. ALMATA - One of our first solid red fleshed apples. Of Russian and Canadian parentage, it was bred by Dr. Neils Hansen, of South Dakota, famous for his horticultural explorations in Siberia and North China. A small to medium apple with solid pale red skin covered with a greyish bloom. The flesh is throughout a striking watermelon red. The flavor is tart. When fully ripe Almata is not unpleasant to eat out of hand. It makes a most beautiful and delicious cranberry red applesauce. A mix with sweeter apples makes it more palatable for the whole family. Ripens the end of August. ARKANSAS BLACK - Originated in Benton County, Arkansas about l870 and is speculated to be a seedling of Winesap. Medium in size, the color is a lively red deepening on the exposed side to a purplish red or nearly black. The yellowish flesh is very hard and crisp with an aromatic flavor. It is regularly round with smooth skin. The tree is moderately vigorous in growth with long slender branches. The bark is a dark reddish olive. Arkansas Black is pollen sterile and therefore a pollinator is required to set fruit. Varieties like Grimes Golden, Winter Banana, Ben Davis or a crabapple, all in our list, will do the job. It appears to be less subject to codling moth larvae damaga because of it thick tough skin and is resistant to cedar apple rust. Storage for a few months will soften the flesh and enhance the flavor. Ripens in October. ASHMEAD'S KERNEL - This one of the finest russets we know, and perhaps one of the finest flavored of all apples to be eaten at the table for dessert. A golden brown russet (sometimes in full sun with an orange or reddish bronze cheek), flattish round, sometimes slightly conical, medium in size with crisp yellowish flesh that is exquisitely sugary, juicy, and aromatic. In an article on "Hardy Fruits, Old and New, for the Private Garden, Dr. J. M. S. Potter, once longtime director of England's 3,000 worldwide variety collection listed Ashmead's Kernel, along with Mother, Ribston Pippin and Cox's Orange Pippin as his "special favorites." And at a "blindfold test" taste session, held by the Royal Horticultural Society, London, England, Ashmead' s Kernel was ranked first in quality. As grown in Michigan, Ashmead's Kernel is a regular cropper and its flavor here fully merits the recognition bestowed upon it abroad. An ancient English variety about 300 years old, it was raised by a Dr. Ashmead, an eminent physician of Gloucester. It ripens in late October and is an excellent keeper. BALDWIN - Throughout most of American history, one of the best known, highly esteemed, and extensively cultivated of all our native apples. Discovered around 1740 in Lowell, Massachusetts, now seldom found on any markets, we supply this variety for those with childhood memories of this large red winter apple with its hard, crisp, juicy flesh so long cherished for eating out of hand and apple pie. The tree is long lived and will grow large even on a semi-dwarf rootstock, like Belle de Boskoop. Baldwin stores well and ripens in October. BELLE DE BOSKOOP - This large Reinette originated as a seedling in the Ottolander family nursery at Boskoop, Holland. The "Schone van Boskoop" as the Dutch call this apple, it is still very popular not only in its homeland, but all over Europe and even internationally. The fruit is oblate and regular in shape and the greenish yellow skin is red blushed on the sunny side. The creamy white flesh is coarse, tender, juicy and crisp and has a subacid flavor. They are very good for eating out of hand, are good keepers tasting best after the New Year. It's the perfect apple for the kitchen and industrial processing. A triploid that requires a pollinator, it bears heavily but may be slow to begin to bear. Ripens late September BELMONT - An old l9th century Pennsylvania dessert and cooking apple once highly popular in Belmont County, Ohio, whence the name. Sometimes called Gate, because it was found beside the garden gate of a Mrs. Bean. Large, globular, clear bright yellow with a waxy skin, flesh yellowish, crisp, firm but tender, of excellent mild flavor. BEN DAVIS - For many years following the Civil War, the leading winter eating apple in the South Central States. Hedrick said, "there are few more beautiful apples." A large, handsome, red and red-striped apple with hard, coarse white flesh and an excellent keeper, lasting until June or July. Not for the connoisseur, but we have had many requests for this once famous old variety. Controversy still rages over this apple. Is it good? Poor? Worth growing today? (See various 1975 issues of the magazine Country Journal). In his revised edition (1860), Downing quotes a Kentucky fruit grower as saying that Ben Davis "is one of the finest apples he ever met with," and Downing describes it as "tender, juicy, with a mild sub-acid very pleasant flavor." Yet Ben Davis' quality is more often than not widely disparaged. our belief is that the difference in view depends upon where it is grown. In the warmer apple-growing states,such as Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, etc., it succeeds while it fails in New England and other colder climates. In 1905, Beach describes it as "unquestionably the leading commercial sort and most popular apple grown south of the Baldwin region. Bears early, annually, abundantly and colors beautifully in a sunny exposed setting where it is very hardy, healthy, and vigorous." In Beach's day, Michigan-grown Ben Davis apples were so valuable a crop they were called "mortgage lifters." They were packed in barrels and shipped by the carload to West Virginia where they were used in late winter and spring. Perhaps such northern specimens were not fully ripe when picked but, like Yellow Newtown, mellowed and sweetened in storage to taste better to the eater than to the grower. BENONI BLACK GILLIFLOWER - also known as Sheepnose. It's an old l8th century American apple of unusual shape, color and flavor. The fruit has a long conical shape with a dark red, almost purplish black color and a greenish white flesh of a peculiarly aromatic flavor pleasing to many. The fruit is particularly suitable for drying. Ripens very late - November but hangs long on the tree and must not be allowed to become over-ripe as the flesh soon becomes dry. We have had frequent requests for this unusual old American apple. BLACKTWIG (Paragon) - An apple of early 19th century Tennessee origin, once very popular in the South. It is yellow, washed and striped dark red. Yellowish flesh, juicy, breaking, aromatic. An excellent keeper it must be stored to reach peak flavor. Black Twig ripens in October. It's an old favorite apple. BLENHEIM ORANGE - It was found at Old Woodstock about 1740 near Blenheim, Oxfordshire, England and could be found in London nurseries in 1818. Oblate in shape and somewhat lopsided, the skin of this large, yellow and red fruit is smooth and the creamy white flesh is coarse and crisp with a sharp subacid and aromatic flavor, which resembles the Roxbury Russet taste. Very high vitamin C content. Beach in " Apples of New York" 1905, wrote: "Fruit large to very large, yellow, more or less washed and striped with red, attractive in appearance of excellent quality." It ripens in September. BLUE PEARMAIN - Another old American variety first noted in 1833, which was once widely planted in New England. It has what the pomologists called "the true pearmain flavor"--mild, aromatic, sweet. The apple is large and most beautiful--a well colored deep red and dark purplish red with large dots and covered with a most unusual dull bluish bloom-- whence its name. Ripens early October. BRAMLEY'S SEEDLING - A very large (4 x 3") greenish yellow apple with broken brown and red stripes. In England where much care and discernment is applied to the selection of cooking apples, Bramley's is considered without a peer. According to Taylor, "APPLES OF ENGLAND", Bramley's is rated richer in vitamin C content than any other English variety tested and Taylor labeled it "the greatest cooking apple of the century." A triploid that needs a pollinator, in England Grenadier and Howgate Wonder are used Grimes Golden, Winter Banana and Spartan are also appropriate. Bramley's is a heavy bearer, ripens first of October. CALVILLE BLANC D'HIVER or White Winter Calville is the classic dessert apple of France. Mentioned in 1627 by Le Lectiér, procurer for Louis XIII, who grew it in the King's gardens at Orleans, it is still served for dessert in the finest Paris restaurants. Its tender, spicy flesh with a delicate banana-like aroma belies its high Vitamin C content, in which characteristic it exceeds not only all other eating apples, but also even the orange. It is a large flattish round apple with uneven ribs extending the whole length of the fruit and terminating in prominent unequal ridges at the base. Pale green with light red dots on the sides exposed to the sun, it turns a beautiful yellow in storage as it reaches maturity. In France it is considered unsurpassed by any other variety for its excellence of quality as a dessert apple. In examining our Calville Blanc D'Hiver trees this year, it dawned on us that the fruit always seemed to be well-spaced on the branches, as if properly thinned, perhaps a factor in its good size. It requires a sunny location to ripen fully. It does not show its true perfection for its first year or two of cropping. Season - end of October and early November. With its high vitamin C content Calville is also our absolute favorite for pies, tarts, compôtes, and sauce as well as for dessert at the table with a knife and a good cheese like aged Gouda. CANADA RED - A beautiful bright red apple with conspicuous dots, of a delicious agreeable flavor which Hedrick called "aromatic richly flavored." Fine grained, white, crisp, juicy flesh. A very old New England variety known in 1822 as Nonsuch. Once widely grown in Michigan as Steele's Winter Red. Ripens October. CARPENTIN - Another old apple of German - French origin grown along the Rhine in 1798 and believed to have been lost to cultivation. Once grown in the United States under the name Carnation. A reinette covered with light cinnamon russet and washed with glossy red on the sunny side. The flesh is crisp, very juicy, with what Hogg called a "brisk, vinous, and peculiar aromatic flavor, slightly resembling anise" It ripens late September. CELESTIA - On rare occasions one of the great old American apples mentioned in the early literature is rediscovered. Such is the case with CELESTIA. This variety is also found on the "Featured Fruit Trees' page. Click here to go there for a detailed description. CENTENNIAL (as described by well-known pomologist and our consultant Robert A.Nitschke) - Having grown several hundred varieties at Southmeadow and having tasted several hundreds from elsewhere, it is seldom that I find a new apple that excites my enthusiasm, but such is the case with CENTENNIAL. A few years ago, visiting Dr. Robert A. Norton, then Director of the Northwestern Washington Research Center in Mount Vernon, Washington, I walked past a low spreading apple tree in his backyard which contained small red and red striped fruits that caught my eye from their singular, elongated barrel shape. I asked what it was. Dr. Norton said, "It is an unknown variety which has been here for many years - try it. I did and was hooked. I do not believe I know a sweeter, more delicious apple for
eating out of hand. Centennial is fully comparable to such classic
small apple sweetmeats as Pitmaston Pineapple and Kerry Pippin.
Dr. Norton had been unable to discover the origin or name of
the variety, although he did know that his predecessor; Dr. Martin
Carstens, had received the tree sometime around 1950, since it
was a sizable tree and full bearing when Dr. Norton arrived in
1962. Recently, Dr. Norton has ascertained that this tree is the variety Centennial that originated at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station Fruit Breeding Farm in Excelsior, Minnesota. It is a cross of Wealthy and Dolgo Crab, introduced in1957, apparently after Dr. Carstens had planted it at Mount Vernon, and was named CENTENNIAL in honor of the centennial of the State of Minnesota's admission to the Union in 1858. The fruit runs approximately two inches in length and about half as wide, sometimes with tapered ridges at the base. It is fully striped, bright and dark red, ripens late August at Mount Vernon. The flesh is yellow, tender, crisp, and juicy with a most luscious taste. No one knows why it has never become popular or, indeed, why it is today virtually unknown among lovers of fine fruit, but we are grateful to Dr. Norton for having led us to it. It is an ideal tree for the small backyard garden. CHAMPLAIN - An old green-yellow conic American apple of unknown origin rediscovered by the late Conrad Gemmer of New Jersey. At the time of his death Gemmer had a collection of 500 varieties, mostly American. He was a lifelong fruit explorer (Celestia, Doctor, Golden Pippin and Perry Russet were among his findings and are all in our list) Champlain once called Nyack, was grown in the 1850's for home use because of its fine, tender, juicy, sprightly flavor, beautiful round conic shape and pale yellow skin. Uniformly handsome of form which is satisfying both to eye and hand. It has excellent flavor for its early season. Ripens in August. CHENANGO STRAWBERRY - An old favorite from Chenango County, New York. A most beautiful long conical apple, greenish or yellowish white with red stripes and a bright pink blush on the sunny side The shine skin is almost translucent through which the gleams like porcelain. A fine flavored juicy, tender-fleshed apple with a singularly powerful aroma. A bowl of Chenangos fills the room with its scent. However, it must be picked at exactly the proper time, usually in Michigan about the first week in September, just as the skin begins to develop a milky appearance, otherwise the overripe flesh becomes dry and tasteless. CHERRY COX - A more or less solid red sport of Cox' s Orange Pippin from Denmark. Often shows dark red stripes and splashes on the solid red. Keeps in storage a month longer. CLAYGATE PEARMAIN - A fine old English winter apple found growing in a hedge in the hamlet Claygate in Surrey before 1820. Good sized, brown rousted with beautiful splash of crimson in the sun, with crisp, juicy, yellowish flesh of a rich sugary flavor like the Ribston Pippin. It's an excellent bearer and a good keeper. Ripens late in October. This variety each year seems to increase in stature. Bunyard put in his list of "best dozen dessert apples." COLE'S QUINCE - An old Maine apple - large, yellow, ribbed -- first described in Cole's American Fruit Book (1849), and his description is still valid. "Flesh when first ripe, firm, juicy, pleasant acid, and first-rate for cooking. When very mellow, remarkably tender of a mild, rich high quince flavor and aroma. When in perfection we have never seen its superior." Ripens in August. COLVIS SPICE - A remarkable new russet. Colvis Spice is a russet apple discovered as a mutation or sport suddenly growing on a branch of a Golden Delicious tree, but producing fruit in russet form which holds true when propagated. It has crisper flesh and an extraordinary delicious spicier flavor by comparison with the original. Colvis Spice is a good-sized apple and has a uniform fawn color. It is a family favorite of ours and we well remember the orchardist, Mr. Colvis, who shared his find with Soutmeadow. Ripens late September. COPPERTONE CORNISH GILLIFLOWER - "This is the best apple that is known, if high flavor, combined with a very rich subacid saccharine juice, be the qualities we most desire in fruit." So said John Lindley in his "Pomologia Britannica" in 1841,and we do not think he would be far from the mark today. Other English pomologists also gave it first place. Maund: The finest flavored apple known"; Knight: "without rival." The firm yellow flesh has a rich and aromatic flavor, which when cut, Lindley noted "gives out a pleasant perfume resembling the clove." (The name Gilliflower comes from the French "girofle" meaning clove.) But the fruit is an ugly duckling, usually a dull green with some dull brownish-red and webbed with a thin rough russet. Only in a rare year do a few specimens develop a clear dark red. The shape is unique, round conical, tapering at the base to a five-pointed nose. A tip bearer on long thin shoots, the fruit hangs on until overripe and must be watched carefully at picking time. Discovered in a cottage garden in Truro, Cornwall at the end of the l8th century. Ripens in October. COURT PENDU PLAT - An ancient apple known in the 16th century and possibly dating from the Roman days. Its more than one hundred synonyms testify to its merit and the breadth of its culture at one time throughout Europe. Its name "suspended short flat" describes a characteristic - a very flat apple with a barely perceptible stem causing it to lay tight against the branch like a peach. Its color and skin texture give it an antique appearance, much like Italian marble, bright yellow or orange flushed with rose over a fawn russet skin. The flesh is yellow, firm with a rich flavor that LeRoy, the great French pomologist, described as having an "aftertaste of musky anise deliciously perfuming the mouth. Often known in England as the "Wise Apple' because of its late budding and flowering (by far the latest in the Southmeadow collection) which enables it to escape late spring frosts. It ripens in October. COX'S ORANGE PIPPIN - One of the finest apples ever grown. In England, where the apple is king of fruits, Cox has long been regarded as the richest in flavor. A medium - sized English variety requiring special care to grow in England, it succeeds famously here in Michigan. Of red and yellow skin it is unsurpassed in the tender juiciness of its yellow textured flesh that lingers on the tongue like ice cream. Taylor, the modern English authority on apples, says in THE APPLES OF ENGLAND, "all characters so admirably blended and balanced as to please the palate and nose as no other apple can do . . . .the greatest apple of this age." Bears excellently trained as vertical or oblique cordon. Also makes a superb apple compote. Ripens end of September. With Cox's renowned quality it is not surprising that it has
been bred often to get superior progeny, many of these which
are in our list of apples, in alphabetical order with history
and descriptions; Cherry Cox, Ellison's Orange, Freyberg, Golden
Nugget, Holstein, Ingrid Marie, Karmijn de Sonnaville, Kent,
Kidd,s Orange Red, Laxton,s Fortune, Schweitzer (Swiss) Orange,
William Crump and the mother of Cox, Ribston Pippin, which before
Cox, was the classic dessert apple of the British landed gentry. DAVEY - A seedling of McIntosh discovered in 1928 by S. Lothrop
Davenport, Director of the Worcestershire County Horticultural
Society's orchard of old American apple varieties. Highly colored,
distinctively flavored, of Baldwin texture and keeping qualities.
Awarded a first-class certificate in l945 by the Massachusetts
Horticultural DOCTOR - A very old Germantown, Pennsylvania apple named in honor of a physician. Yellow marked with carmine splashes and crisp, mild, aromatic flesh. Believed to have been lost from cultivation but recently discovered by the late Conrad Gemmer of New Jersey (as were Celestia, Champlain, Golden Pippin, and Perry Russet) Ripens in October. Coxe, writing in l817, thought its flesh "remarkably breaking" and "among the most admired apples of the season as a table fruit." DR. MATTHEWS - An Indiana apple of unknown origin. Beginning in 1889 was for many years grown in the orchards of the Indiana State Agricultural Station and is still a favorite wherever known. Red and red-striped skin with fine crisp, creamy white flesh, it has a mild but sprightly aromatic flavor. It's an excellent keeper. Ripens in September. DUCHESS (OF OLDENBURG) - One of a group of four pioneer Russian apples brought to the United States in 1935 when the London Horticultural Society sent them to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Boston. (The other three were Emperor Alexander, Red Astrachan and Tetofsky) A round above-medium-sized apple with pale yellow skin almost entirely covered with irregular stripes and splashes of bright red. Yellowish flesh, crisp, tender, juicy, brisk and sprightly - suitable for eating when ripe, but excellent for cooking throughout August and September. (In England it was often used for tarts in early July.) An old pie apple still widely grown in Europe where it has always been valued for its exceptional tree hardiness, its early bearing and wide adaptability. Known as Borovitski or Charlamowsky in most European countries. EARLY HARVEST - An old American apple listed by McMahon in 1805. Downing thought it " the finest early apple" and said "the smallest collection of apples should comprise this and the Red Astrachan." Round medium in size, straw yellow when fully ripe, ripening irregularly throughout July. As with most early apples, care must be taken to pick at optimum time. Flesh white, crisp, and juicy with a sprightly flavor useful for pies and sauce becoming agreeable for dessert when fully ripe. EARLY JOE - This small round red-striped apple has crisp, juicy flesh with the rich pear-like flavor of many of the finest apples. T. T. LYON, the great Michigan pomologist of the l9th century, called Early Joe "the standard of excellence among early apples." Although susceptible to scab, this delicious tidbit is well worth the trouble to raise properly. Early Joe came from the same seedling orchard which produced Northern Spy and Melon - planted in l800 by Heman Chapin in East Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York. Ripens in early August. EARLY STRAWBERRY - An early American apple known in New York
City around 1800 and at one time very popular in New York markets.
Small, sprightly, aromatically flavored with solid rich dark
red skin and crisp yellowish flesh sometimes streaked with EDWARD VII - Regarded by some English connoisseurs as the finest winter and spring pie and sauce apple. Macer Wright called it the "immaculate cooking apple." It has the proper parentage, being a cross between Golden Noble and Blenheim Orange. Introduced in 1908. Described as large, plain shiny green or yellow with brown-red blush, flesh extremely firm, yellow, tart and juicy that Bunyard said cooked "dark red and transparent." Roy Genders regarded it as the finest of all late-keeping apples, keeping until Easter when it "possesses a rich, sweet flavor." We have imported this variety from England; it was grown in quarantine and we are proud to have it in our collection. Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit 1903; awarded 1st prize 1909 by Royal Horticultural Society for best new culinary variety. Picking time mid-October, Season December - April. EGREMONT RUSSET - One of the most delicious English russets for the home garden. It's a Golden brown russet, often with black spots or checks, round shape, with greenish-yellow flesh of distinctive rich flavor. Ripening in October. Noticed about 1880 but of unknown origin. ELLISON'S ORANGE - A cross of Cox's Orange Pippin and Calville Blanc d'Hiver raised by the Rev. Charles C. Ellison at his vicarage in Bracebridge, England, and introduced in 1911. Oblong, golden yellow apple with crimson stripes, a very juicy, aromatic dessert fruit, very popular in England as an earlier season Cox's Orange type. ELSTAR - Raised in the Netherlands by T.Visser at the Instituut
voor de Veredeling van Tuinbouwgewassen, Wageningen (IVT). (Ingrid
Marie X Golden Delicious) introduced in1972. Intensely flavored,
very honeyed, sweet, crisp, juicy flesh. Planted extensively
in Belgium, France, Germany and Holland. Also in Italy and Washington,
EMPEROR ALEXANDER - One of a group of four Russian apples brought to the United States in 1935 when the London Horticultural Society sent them to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Boston. (The other three were Duchess (of Oldenburg), Red Astrachan and Tetofsky.) Synonyms many. Large; 4 - 5 inches in diameter, beautiful, rosy red flush. Primarily for culinary use, but eaten fresh quite sweet, slightly scented, soft, juicy flesh. Cooks to juicy, lemon puree; sweet, pleasant. Renamed as compliment to Emperor Alexander I by growers around Riga on Baltic, who sent fruit every year to Russian Court. Formerly widely grown in North America; still esteemed by amateurs there and also in France and Sweden. Ripe mid-September. Season Sept - late-Oct EMPIRE - A recent McIntosh-type New York State Agricultural Experimental Station introduction (McIntosh X Red Delicious) of excellent eating quality - ripening with Delicious. Striking, bright red flush with waxy bloom. On Dr. R. D. Way's list of 20 favorite dessert apples. Crisp, clean taste of fruit; sweet, with hint of McIntosh flavor, quite scented; tough skin. Resists bruising, stores better than McIntosh. Pick early-mid-October. Season November - Jan.-March. ENGLISH BEAUTY - A widely grown apple in the South before l900, is listed most often in old southern nursery catalogs under the name Dominie. The tree had the reputation of being a rapid grower and a prodigious bearer. Fruit medium -large, thick skin; smooth, greenish yellow in the shade, but striped and splashed with red and russet streaks in the sun, some bloom; flesh white or tinged yellow, very firm, breaking, almost coarse, juicy, mild subacid, aromatic. Ripe October. ENGLISH GOLDEN RUSSET - A greenish-yellow russet of medium size or rather small, pretty uniform in size and one of the best keeping apples known. It is not so good for cooking, but has the reputation of making exceptionally good cider. It is acceptable for dessert following the season of Esopus Spitzenburg and Baldwin. Flesh yellowish-white, firm, rather crisp, fine-grained, not very juicy, rather mild subacid, good. Season January to May. ERWIN BAUR - A good sized open-pollinated seedling of Oldenburg discovered in 1928 in Muncheberg, Germany, near Berlin, and named after the founder of The Institute of Plant Breeding in that town. A late variety, lightly striped red over yellow, it has especially hard and crisp flesh with the high flavor of Cox' s Orange. We propagated this on the recommendation of H. Fred Janson of Toronto who regarded it as the best late winter apple out of a collection of over 500 principally foreign varieties. It has proven to be a fine addition to the Southmeadow collection. Pick early-Oct. Season Oct.-Jan. ESOPUS SPITZENBERG - In the fall of 1790, Thomas Jefferson returned to Monticello after serving three years as Minister Plenipotentiary to France. One of his first acts was to order twelve Esopus Spitzenberg apple trees from the famous William Prince Nursery at Flushing, Long Island. Even before the Revolutionary War, Americans knew about the apple and in 1824 when Michael Floy, an early pomologist, sent a group of American fruit trees to the London Horticultural Society, he described Spitzenberg " as the finest eating apple in the world when perfectly ripe." Even today its hard, crisp, juicy, yellowish flesh with a rich aromatic flavor makes it one of the best to eat out of hand. The skin is brilliant orange red with gray spots, a beautiful sight on the tree. "Spitz" is believed to be a parent of Jonathan, itself a choice dessert apple. Ripens late in October. This classic American apple would hardly seem a candidate for cooking. But one winter in March we found a half dozen out of sight in our fruit room. We decided to try them in a tarte tatin. They were as good as any apple we have ever used, sufficiently tart and retaining the special richness of the fresh fruit. FALL RUSSET - This small yellowish green and golden russet apple, often irregularly webbed with gray and dark green, was located in an old family orchard planted around 1875 in Franklin, Michigan. It was known only by the name "Fall Russet." Although its true identity remains uncertain, it is believed by some to be the Autumn Pomme Gris as described by Downing. Shortly after Mr. Robert A. Nitschke, owner and fruit explorer for Southmeadow Fruit Gardens, had cut scionwood in the winter of l956, the tree was cut down because the "drab" appearance of the fruit made it difficult to sell. But if only his customers had stopped to taste the delicious flesh under the rusty coat! This apple has at first an exceedingly high flavor, a combination of sweetness and tartness which later mellows into pear-like richness. The tree fruits heavily in clusters. Ripens middle of September. FALLAWATER - (Tulpehocken) many other synonyms. Large in size (fruit will grow to 6 inches in diameter) globular in form, it is usually green skinned turning a yellow green on ripening. Origin Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Hovey referred to it in 1856 as " having been known and cultivated for many years." It was described in 1842. Usually the skin is flushed a dull red to a bright red with russet dots and the white flesh is tinged green. Very mild in flavor, the flesh is coarse, crisp and tender with a slight sweetness. A triploid (needs pollinators), it is a regular bearer. The tree is a vigorous grower. Ripening takes place over a few weeks in August. FORTUNE - (Also known as Laxton's Fortune) This cross of Cox's Orange Pippin and Wealthy was raised in l904, by Laxton Bros. Ltd, of Bedford, England and introduced by them in 1931. Received Royal Horticultural Society, First Class Certificate in 1948. Compact tree of moderate vigor. At best, sweet, rich, lightly aromatic and juicy. Remains valued garden fruit, formerly grown commercially, but now confined to Farm Shops. The yellowish green skin is flushed and streaked red with some russeting and the creamy white flesh is tender, with a sweet rich flavor. Good. Ripens early September. Season Sept - Oct. FRANKLIN - A mild flavored, tender, crisp-fleshed delicious dessert apple introduced by the Ohio Experiment Station. It is a cross between Delicious and McIntosh. Well colored and resembling Delicious in shape but far superior in eating quality. Ripens late September. FREYBERG - A small, golden, reinette-type apple, Freyberg
is a cross between Cox's FUKUNISHIKI - A Ralls x Delicious seedling from the Aomori
Apple Experiment GOLDEN NOBLE - A large, round, clear bright yellow apple, sometimes with a few red spots, of great culinary value, cooking into a rich-flavored frothy puree of beautiful golden color and, as Hogg said, "baking into a clear amber." An English variety first noted in 1820 and recently discovered to exceed most other edible apples in Vitamin C. It still rates, as Bunyard said, as "one of the very best cooking apples for colour and flavour. "We would not want to be without this great apple. It ripens in September. GOLDEN NUGGET - This is one of the choicest dessert apples in the Southmeadow collection and is being here propagated commercially for the first time. A 1932 cross of Golden Russet and Cox's Orange Pippin made not for breeding purposes but for a pollination investigation. Luckily some were used in a subsequent breeding program, and in 1949 Dr. C selected this seedling. J. Bishop, of the Kentville, Nova Scotia Station of the Canadian Department of Agriculture. Small, broadly conical long-stemmed apple, predominantly yellow, streaked and splashed with bright orange; sometimes netted and spotted with russet. Sugary sweet, rich, luscious, of a most delicious mellow flavor. Short keeping life. Ripens just before Cox's Orange. GOLDEN PIPPIN - An old American early fall apple of beautiful shape and color - greenish turning to deep gold. Yellowish, tender, juicy, melting flesh valuable for cooking and dessert. Downing called it "one of our finest American fruits" with a "vinous aromatic flavor." September. Known as early as 1800 in Westchester County, New York. Rediscovered by a lifelong fruit explorer, the late Conrad Gemmer of Susquehanna. Pa. (Celestia, Doctor, and Perry Russet were among his findings and are all in our list) GOLDEN RUSSET - One of the most famous of the old American russet apples, Golden Russet, before the turn of the twentieth century, was always voted in the first rank among dessert and keeping apples. It was recommended as a part of all plantings by the Michigan Pomological Society commencing with its first report in 1870. A medium-sized apple, its russet skin varies from grey-green to a golden bronze with a bright coppery orange cheek. The flesh is fine-grained, yellowish, crisp, with an exceedingly sugary juice that sticks to one's fingers like candy. An excellent keeper; under proper moisture conditions in common storage it will keep in sound condition until spring. Often a tip bearer. Ripe very late October hanging on the tree even after the leaves have fallen. GOLDEN SWEET - A famous Connecticut apple with yellow skin known as early as 1832, and probably the best of the "sweet" apples, having a rich, sweet juiciness of flavor. One of those apples which it has taken us many years to locate. Ripens over a long period in August and September. GRANNY SMITH - The most popular Australian apple, used for both eating and cooking. The skin is a beautiful pure grass green, with a rugged shiny surface like peened metal, sometimes with a bright reddish blush and purple dots. Hard, crisp, juicy white flesh, sometimes with citron-like flavor, keeping right through the winter and refreshing eating in the spring. Ripens very late - November. Should be grown in warmer regions and not in a Northern State like Michigan where the Fall season can start early. Granny Smith arose with Mrs. Anne Smith, Ryde, New South Wales. Believed from pip of French Crab; fruiting by 1868. Mrs. Smith was born in England in 1800 and emigrated in 1838. In 1860 she found seedling tree growing in creek where she had tipped out last of some apples brought back from Sydney. She used its fruit for cooking, but boy claimed they were good to eat fresh. Tree was propagated and later family increased their orchards and marketed fruit in Sydney, where proved popular and ideal for export market. Now grown in all warmer fruit regions - Spain, Southern France and Washington, USA. GRIMES GOLDEN - A very old (known in 1804) West Virginia apple that has long been planted for home use and highly esteemed as a dessert and cider apple It has a clear yellow skin that will be noticed on a distance. It has a crisp yellow tender flesh and a rich aromatic and distinctive flavor. Grimes Golden is self-fertile and is an excellent pollinator for other apple varieties. Grimes ripens in late September and stores very well. Believed to be a parent of Yellow Delicious. HAWAII - A cross of Gravenstein and Golden Delicious. Originated in Sebastopol, California and was introduced in 1945 by William Silva. The skin is a clear yellow and sometimes a light pinkish orange striping will give the fruit an orange color. The crisp textured flesh has a distinctive "pineapple" flavor. The tree is spreading in form and of moderate growth. Hawaii like its parent the Golden Delicious tends to overset with fruit. Thinning is necessary to produce large size fruit. Hawaii stores well and ripens in September. HIDDEN ROSE - The amazing red fleshed apple. Probably nothing gives a backyard fruit grower more pleasure than to see the surprise and delight on the face of a family member or friend as they take their first bite of a red fleshed apple that you have grown in your fruit garden. The more recently discovered Hidden Rose, which may be the best of all red fleshed varieties and indeed would be an outstandingly delicious apple no matter what color the flesh is. A choice seedling from Oregon, Hidden Rose has a beautiful yellow skin with pale whitish dots, but it is inside that it excels. Deep rose red flesh, juicy, crisp, hard, sugary and richly flavored, ripening late (October) and keeping throughout the winter. The late Conrad Gemmer, an astute observer of apples with 500 varieties in his collection, rated Hidden Rose an outstanding variety of top quality. He predicted this apple, with its delicious red flesh, to be the wave of the future, just as pink grapefruit has supplanted the white. At Southmeadow we have always been aware of the charm of red-fleshed apples ever since Almata was first tested over 30 years ago and offered in our second catalog (l962). Next we propagated Pink Pearl the first of the red-fleshed apples with a delicious rich aromatic flesh and a delight because the red flesh barely shines through the translucent cream to pale green skin. Then there is also the little Surprise apple (parent of Pink Pearl) with green skin and sprightly flesh tinged with red that has proven to be a special delight to children. We also grow Pink Sparkle, of unknown parentage with pink and red flesh that is exceedingly juicy. (The just mentioned red-fleshed apples are all in our list). HIGHTOP SWEET - This apple was listed as Sweet June or Yellow Sweet June in most southern nursery catalog and was sold all over the South. It is a very sweet apple, used most often for baking and drying. Hightop Sweet is one of the oldest American apples, having originated in Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in the early 1600. Its name reflects the tendency of the tree to have a long trunk between the lowest limbs and the ground. The vigorous tree grows very upright and is heavy bearing. Fruit medium size, skin very smooth, the yellow flesh is tender, fairly juicy and very sweet. It stores only a short time and ripens in late June and early July. HOLIDAY - A high quality, fine flavored dessert apple, raised
in 1940 by F.S. Howlett and recently introduced by the Ohio Agricultural
Experiment Station, Wooster,Ohio. A cross between Jonathan and
Macoun (McIntosh x Jersey Black), it has inherited the good eating
qualities of its parents with the rich flavor of Jonathan and
the white juicy flesh of Macoun. Shiny bright red over yellow
skin with a prominent bloom and prominent dots. It ripens late,
mid October. Season November - January. One of the best new varieties
during the Christmas holidays. HOOPLE'S ANTIQUE GOLD - A russet-skinned sport or bud mutation from a standard Golden Delicious tree in the orchards of Mr. Harry Hoople of Hoople Fruit Farm in Otway, Ohio. This is one of the most beautiful apples we have ever seen with a russet skin of amazing antique gold coloration. The flavor is also of extraordinary merit and indeed its universally favorable reception from those who had tasted it was the reason Mr. Hoople sent it to Southmeadow for propagation. Hoople's Antique Gold varies from the original not only in beautiful skin color but in crispier flesh and intensity of flavor. We are most grateful he has enabled us to make this superb new variety available to fruit connoisseurs. Season same as Golden Delicious. HUBBARDSTON NONESUCH - One of the great Massachusetts apples of the l9th century, this was always at the top of the list of the older pomologists. A large, rugged, mostly red apple with hard, crisp, yet fine-grained flesh. At first sprightly and rich in flavor, then it becomes mild and sweet. It regularly produces a crop of evenly sized and admirable fruit. October ripening. HUDSON'S GOLDEN GEM - Probably the largest-sized high-quality russet, with a pronounced conical shape, smooth, uniformly dull yellow russet skin, a very long stem, and deliciously sugary, juicy, crisp flesh. We believe to most tastes this would be regarded as the finest russet apple for eating out of hand. It is a vigorous, productive annual bearer. Discovered in a fence row thicket in Oregon and introduced about 1931 by the Hudson Wholesale Nurseries of Tangent, Oregon. Highly recommended. Late October HUNT RUSSET - Originated on the Hunt farm in Concord, Massachusetts in the 1750's. Size medium, truncate-conic to conic in shape, slightly ribbed at the eye with a yellow skin flushed bright red and nearly covered with a russet. The whitish flesh tinged yellow is fine-grained, juicy and tender with a subacid flavor. The hardy tree grows upright and spreading. Hunt Russet stores well into late spring. Ripens in October. HYDE KING - From Beach's The Apples of New York, Volume 1 Hyde King appears to be one of the most valuable of the newer varieties of apples which have been tested at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station. The fruit is large or very large, pretty uniform, smooth, glossy, pale green or yellow, often a little shaded with red. It is quite attractive for a green apple. Although not high-flavored it is good in quality, suitable for culinary use. The tree is vigorous and almost an annual bearer. Skin thin, smooth and glossy. Flesh whitish, firm, rather coarse, breaking, tender juicy. Ripens October. Season December - February. INGRID MARIE - A good-sized Danish Seedling of Cox's Orange, raised at Flemlose, Westfyn Island around 1920 Very dark with large white dots and crisp refreshing sprightly white flesh. Good cropper and widely grown in Denmark and Northern Europe. Ripe late September. Season Nov. - March IRISH PEACH - To our taste this is the best very early apple. It ripens in late July. Unlike most of the very early apples that are too tart for dessert, Irish Peach has a pleasantly rich flavor and a fine aroma. An ancient Irish apple, green with faint red stripes, it was first described in 1820 in The Transactions of the London Horticultural Society. JACOB'S STRAWBERRY (Lady Sudeley) - A medium sized golden yellow apple covered with brilliant scarlet stripes and flush. Yellow tender flesh, juicy and rich in flavor. Raised 1849 by Mr. Jacobs at Chatham, Kent, England. Renamed and introduced 1885 by nurseryman G. Bunyard, Kent. Royal Horticultural Society, Award of Merit. 1884. Jacobs' dish of his seedling at a London show in 1884 caught Bunyard's eye and he straight away obtained grafts and renamed it after his best customer - Sudeley estate - which had just bought over half a million trees to set up Toddington Fruit Company in Gloucester. Heavily promoted in 1890s for profit; as colourful as 'Yankee" imports and also reputedly as dresses Lady Sudeley wore at court. It's a highly decorative tree in blossom and fruit. One of the best flavored August dessert apples. JEFFERIS - In 1888, Dr. H.E. Van Deman, U.S. Pomologist, said, "if I should be asked to select the choicest early autumn apple known to me, I should say the Jefferis. No family orchard should be without it." When one considers these are words from a man who was acquainted with more fruit varieties than any man of his time, it is certainly high praise indeed. And it is still merited today, for Jefferis is one of the truly delicious fruits of the garden. The rich pear-like flavor of the juicy, crisp yet tender and yellowish flesh is unsurpassed. The color is mostly an attractive light red with darker red stripes. The hardy tree rates as high as the fruit, bearing a heavy crop every year. It originated on the farm of Isaac Jefferis of Chester County, Pennsylvania, and in 1848 was awarded the premium by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society for the best seedling apple exhibited. Ripens mid - September. Season September - December. JONAGOLD - Another superb dessert apple raised in 1943 at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station and was named and introduced in l968. It is a cross of Jonathan and Golden Delicious. The large fruit is round conic in shape and the color is an orange-red blush on a yellow background. Attractive with a rich, honeyed, almost aromatic flavor; crisp, juicy, nearly yellow flesh. The tree is open and spreading and it is cold hardy. A heavy cropper. A triploid, which means it has three sets of 17 chromosomes. Triploids produce very little viable pollen and cannot be used as pollinators. For there own successful pollination and good crops they need two other diploids (to pollinate the triploid and each other) Most varieties are diploids like Melrose, Akane, Winter Banana, Newtown Pippin or the crabapple Snowdrift. Jonagold ranks with Spigold in eating quality and probably surpasses it in some characteristics such as ripening more evenly. It does not have stippen, and is handsomer in appearance. We would not want to be without it. Flesh has same cracking quality of Spigold yet equally dissolves into luscious liquid in the mouth. Ripens early October. JUBELEE - A cross of McIntosh and Grimes Golden made in l926 by the Dominion Experiment Station in Summerland, British Columbia. A medium-sized beautiful shiny, solid bright red apple with crisp, juicy, cream colored flesh, it is one of the most agreeable flavored, attractive looking and perfect sized apples for eating out of hand. October. Drops from the tree when ripe but keeps very well. KANDIL SINAP - An amazingly tall, narrow as a spire, cylindrical-shaped apple from Turkey, cream-yellow porcelain-like skin washed with a brilliant red blush. An apple of great beauty and striking form, it's tall as a minaret. The flesh is crisp, juicy, fine-grained and of excellent flavor. Ripens in early October. Tree also grows in a pronounced narrow pyramidal dwarfish form but is a heavy and regular bearer. KARMIJN (pronounced carmine) DE SONNAVILLE - A new Cox's Orange Pippin cross with Jonathan from the Netherlands. The round fruit, variable in shape, is red orange over a greenish yellow background. Manhart says," biting into a crisp Karmijn" will cause you to "come up out of your chair", very rich, juicy and "one of the best liked of high flavored apples" Karmijn ripens in September KENT - Raised by H. M. Tydeman at the East Malling Research Station, Kent, England in the 1960's from Cox's Orange Pippin crossed with Jonathan. It is a medium sized apple, conical in shape, light red with smooth russet radiation's from the stem end. It ripens later than Cox's Orange Pippin and keeps longer. The flesh is crisp, white with a sweeter, milder flavor that either parent, a first-rate apple for the home garden. Ripens mid-October. Season Nov. - Feb. . KERRY PIPPIN - In our view probably the best-flavored late August apple, and our favorite for eating out of hand in this season. He suggests every garden should have some of these little treasures or sweetmeats, which are often neglected simply because of there small size. He likes to carry them to work in a pocket and eat them as a snack. Small, shiny yellow skin sometimes striped in the sun, with crisp, crunchy, hard flesh of a fine rich flavor that Hogg called "a spicy tang." An old Irish apple first noted in 1802 in a survey by the Royal Dublin Society of County Kilkenny. A singular characteristic is the frequent pushing over of the stem by the filling in of the flesh over the cavity. KESWICK CODLIN - Of ancient lineage, this has been the classic early tart and sauce apple of England. Large, greenish yellow, sometimes with a faint blush, oblong, conical and not uniform in shape. Of a fine tart flavor, it was once extensively grown for home culinary use in this country. As late as l948, P. Morton Shand, one of the most discriminating writers on food, wines and fruit, said of Keswick Codlin, "No other kind makes anything like such deliciously smooth apple puree." It has survived in England better than most of the old favorite dessert apples. Ripe in late July and early August. KIDD'S ORANGE RED - This apple came to us from such a reliable source and has created so much interest and praise that we are offering the trees. A 1924 cross between Cox's Orange Pippin and Red Delicious from New Zealand, this apple has the shape and size of Delicious, but its quality and coloring are much closer to Cox's Orange. Kidd's Orange Red was on a list of 20 favorite dessert apples by Dr. Roger D. Way, Professor of Pomology at New York State Agricultural Experiment station, where exists perhaps the most extensive apple variety collection in the United States. Ripens just before Cox's Orange. KING DAVID - A cross between Jonathan and Arkansas Black found in a fence row in Washington County, Arkansas in 1893. A solid deep red apple of great attractiveness, uniformly round with firm, crisp, spicy and juicy yellow flesh. Mr. Nitschke once asked Ira Glackens what good apple would hang on the tree into winter with bright red fruits. This was his nominee, and it fills the bill. The fruits never seem to drop, all the while increasing in brilliance of color. Of course, for good eating they must be picked earlier when the red coloring becomes complete. Early November. KING (Tompkins' King) - To our taste, Tompkins" King has no superior for size, beauty and flavor. It always seems to bring back boyhood memories of the way a real apple ought to taste. In addition to being of delicious flavor for eating out of hand, it is one of the finest of apples for sauce, pie and " Apfel Kuchen." It is large, often very large, red and red striped, crisp and juicy. Andrew Jackson Downing, wrote in his FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES OF AMERICA of its "rich vinous flavor unexcelled by any other apple for home use." Ripens second week of October. KNOBBED RUSSET- Probably the most unusual looking apple in the Southmeadow collection. Green and yellow, sometimes yellow streaked in the sun, the uneven surface is overlaid with rough grey and black russet and welts and knobs worthy the name. Yet this single appearing apple has crisp, rich, sugary, highly flavored flesh of the highest quality, superb with cheese at a winter evening's dessert. First brought to notice in 1819 in Sussex, England, and rescued from oblivion when the National Fruit Trials collection was put together after World War II. Ripens mid-October. LADY APPLE - This exquisitely beautiful little dessert apple delights the eye as much as the palate. Small flattish in shape, its shiny skin ranges from creamy yellow in the shade to a deep glossy crimson on the side next to the sun. Its flesh is tender, white, crisp, very juicy, refreshing and slightly perfumed with the best of the flavor in the skin, which should always be eaten. As Jean de la Quintinye said, "it may be eaten greedily at a chop with its coat all on." Known in Europe as "Api" or "Pomme d'Apis," the Lady Apple is of great antiquity, which some writers trace back to Appius Claudius the Roman censor who constructed the Appian Way. It was grown in the gardens of Louis XIII at Orleans in 1628 and was a favorite France dessert apple " which the ladies of France carry in their pockets by reason they yield no unpleasant scent." From the earliest days in America it has always been a fancy apple used not only for dessert at Christmas time, but also, because of its striking red and yellow skin, for Della Robia wreaths and garlands of fruit. It makes a fine dwarf tree which bears heavily. A good keeper- late October. LADY SWEET (Ladies' Sweeting) - Probably the finest of the nonacid so-called "sweet"apples. It has a good size. The skin is red striped, sometimes marbled with white. It has fine grained, tender but crisp white flesh with a distinctive aroma. Its delicate refined sweet flavor is nonetheless refreshing. A heavy and early bearer, it must be thinned to get good fruit. A good keeper, it ripens in October. LAMB ABBEY PEARMAIN - A rare old English variety raised in the year 1804 from a seed of Newtown Pippin imported from America. Small, red striped, the flesh is yellowish white, crisp juicy, sugary with a fine flavor. It's a perfect apple for the home gardener. It makes a fine sturdy small tree on dwarf rootstocks bearing its fruits early, regularly, heavily, year after year.. Ripens the middle of September. LATE STRAWBERRY - An old New York apple originating at Aurora and long regarded as one of the best fall dessert apples. Yellow striped and splashed with light and dark red. Flesh tender, juicy and sprightly. Ripens in September. LIMBERTWIG - We had requests for this once well known Southern apple of medium size and deep or dull solid red color. Flesh is yellowish, hard, and aromatic. Late October. It keeps a long time. Winter apple. LORD'S SEEDLING - This apple was sent in 1892 to the New York Experimental Station by James S. Lord, who found the variety as a seedling in his Baldwin orchard on the old home farm at Linden, New York. Although many thousand trees have been grown since that time at the Geneva Station to be tested and then cut down, this tree has always been spared, although admittedly of no commercial value. The late Professor George H. Howe, co-author with U.P. Hedrick of the famous "Fruits of New York" series, once wrote Robert A. Nitschke of Lord's Seedling. "It is almost always an annual bearer, nothing to look at, yellow and more or less russeted but good size. It ripens in late August, and is one of the most aromatic, deliciously flavored apples I know". As a commercial variety it is absolutely worthless. It is only for the amateur. One of my colleagues, a New Englander like myself is always vying with me to see who gets a good basketful of Lord's Seedling." As grown here on dwarf rootstock, Lord's Seedling fully merits this praise and is a heavy and regular bearer. We are happy to be the first nursery ever to propagate this choice fruit. LUBSK QUEEN - Liberty Hyde Bailey, after seeing an exhibit of Lubsk Queen at the Columbia Exposition in 1893, wrote: "This apple was the most remarkable combination of brilliant pink and white and pruinose color of which the eye can conceive. It's perhaps the most striking single variety of fruit shown at the Fair." Visitors to Southmeadow still have the same reaction, "What is that beautiful apple?" Lubsk Queen is the only apple we know with glistening white porcelain-like skin, its uniqueness heightened by splashes and blushes of brightest pink and rosy red. Lubsk Queen was one of some 350 Russian apples brought into the United States by Professor J. L. Budd of Iowa State Agricultural College and Charles Gibb of Quebec between 1879 and 1885 from various localities in Russia in an attempt to find varieties that could survive the harsh winters of Quebec and the Northern U. S. prairies. A medium to large apple, the flesh of Lubsk Queen is snow white, firm, juicy, brisk, tart to most tastes but better than other early Russian apples such as Red Astrachan or Yellow Transparant for eating out of hand. It does not have the tendency to become overripe and mealy on the tree. Also excellent for pie and sauce. Late August and early September, and a good keeper for an early apple. LYMAN'S LARGE SUMMER - This magnificent large green, sometimes yellow, apple is decidedly the best of the early eating apples. Though ripening in early August, it has the breaking, crisp, juicy flesh and pure flavor, blending sweet and subacid, of the finest winter apples. This apple under the name Large Yellow Summer was first described in William Kenrick's New American Orchardist (1844) as a "large fruit of surpassing excellence" It was highly recommended by other early American pomologists. Old Michigan records show that a plate of Lyman's Large Summer was exhibited by one James Dougall of Amherstberg, Ontario, Canada on August 24, 1847, in Detroit at the Exhibition of the First Horticultural Society of Michigan. But the variety is not mentioned in any of the pomological literature since 1900 and seemed to have been lost entirely. Then it was accidentally rediscovered in 1941 by a New Hampshire collector from scionwood found in Wilton, Maine of a tree thought to be Cole's Quince, a famous Main apple rated highly by the pomologists of a century ago. But when it fruited it was recognized to be Lyman's Large Summer. Year after year we continue to rate this the very best of its season MACOUN - For those who like the McIntosh apple, this cross of McIntosh and Jersey Black from the Geneva Station is the best of its type, and in our opinion one of the best flavored of juicy, crisp eating apples. Macoun has a beautiful shiny dark red and red striped skin with white flesh, ripening in late September. MAGLEMER - From Denmark; origin unknown; named after place near Maribo, Lolland. Known in the 18th century as Alfred Hayes Apple. In 1870 introduced with the present name Maglemer. A very juicy, appetizing, quite brisk flavor; flesh soft and creamy. Widely planted in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries, where it is still valued as a duel purpose apple, formerly used in Denmark for cider. A medium sized apple and heavy bearer. Ripening early September. MAHOGANY - A cross between Red Hook (a McIntosh seedling) and a fine old English variety, Sturmer Pippin from the Geneva Station, New York, where it was discarded in 1962 because it had no commercial value. The skin is like a polished piece of dark red mahogany (hence the name). Worthy of growing for its beauty alone. Medium in size, it has crisp white flesh stained with red. A tart apple, it ripens late and keeps until May, when it mellows in flavor. Makes delicious pink applesauce. Since Mr. Nitschke has always kept this apple despite discarding hundreds of others tested at Southmeadow, he thought it should be propagated. MAIDENSBLUSH - One of the oldest American apples, first noted by Coxe in 1827 as "remarkably light and fitted for drying." A beautiful, flat, perfectly round apple showing a contrasting bright red cheek on a distinctly yellow ground, whence its name. The flesh is white, "tender and sprightly." Ripens in August. MARGIL - Recommended to Southmeadow Fruit Gardens by the Director of the National Fruit Trials in England, it is one of the class of small, highly flavored old English apples, still regarded by English connoisseurs as among the best of all dessert apples. Cultivated as early as 1750 and possibly of French origin. It's medium to small, slightly conical, orange-red with dark red stripes and always russeted on one side. The flesh is firm, yellow, sugary and as Hogg said, "with a powerful and delicious aromatic flavour." Bunyard said,"of the highest possible quality. Should be in every garden." Late September. McLELLAN - -Beach properly described McLellan as "a very choice dessert apple, handsome, fragrant, tender and excellent in quality." A very old Woodstock, Connecticut apple planted from seed about 1780 and which deserves to be cultivated in amateur gardens. Always has a good crop, ripens in late fall (mid-October) and is a good keeper. Light, smooth, straw-colored skin covered with stripes and marblings of lively red. Season November - January/April. MELON - When it is properly developed the Melon is one of the best dessert apples of its season, as Beach rated this apple. The Melon (many synonyms) besides being crisp, is tender and delicious. Melon originated in East Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York in the old seedling orchard of Heman Chapin. This orchard was planted about 1800 with seedling grown trees grown from seed brought to East Bloomfield from Connecticut. It was introduced in l845. Fruit large, very beautiful, flushed in strawberry red over pale yellow. Crisp yet melting, juicy flesh; refreshing flavor suggesting perhaps melons or strawberries. Grown for 'fancy trade' in Western New York early 1900s. Ripening mid-October. MELROSE - Another newer variety that should grace every home fruit garden and worthy of being included in any all-time list of choice apples. It is a Jonathan -Delicious cross by Dr. Freeman S. Howlett of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, Wooster, Ohio. In appearance it is a rugged, shiny red apple which feels good in the hand, as does Hubbardson Nonsuch. It has size and a fine sugary sweetness tempered with just the right amount of lip-smacking tartness that gives it first rank among hard, crisp-fleshed eating apples. In addition to its beauty and delicious eating qualities, Melrose preserves its fine qualities and crisp, juicy flesh throughout the winter into April and May in our cold storage room. This year, the beginning of the Third Millennium, we nominated Melrose to be in our premier list, which include " The Classics" written about many times in our price lists. Ripens middle to late October. MIO - A most delicious solid bright dessert apple of Swedish
origin, a cross between Worcester Pearmain and Oranie made in
l932. Medium to small in size, perfect size for eating out of
hand. Crisp, juicy, marvelously refreshing white flesh. It's
one of the most beautiful of all apples. Heavy cropper. Ripening
August. MUSTER CIDER APPLES A few of the classical English "cyder" apples for fresh and hard cider. These old bittersweet varieties contain the correct balance of sugar, acid, and tannin to make vintage cider (not a blend). Dabinett COMMERCIAL ORCHARD APPLE VARIETIES on dwarfing rootstocks. Blaze EXTRA HARDY APPLE VARIETIES on hardy Antonovka rootstocks. Carroll PEARS - Dwarf on Angers Quince and standard rootstock. Abbé Fétel ORIENTAL PEARS - on calleryana pear seedling. Chojuro QUINCE - Smyrna PEACHES - Connoisseur and home - garden varieties. (* White fleshed peach). Belle of Georgia* PEACHES - Commercial Varieties Elberta APRICOTS Alfred NECTARINES Fantasia PLUMS - European Type Alabaster PLUMS - Japanese type Elephant Heart SWEET CHERRIES Bing SOUR CHERRIES English Morello GRAPES (*Especially rare varieties) Alden (black) CURRANTS (Ribes) Jonkheer van Tets (early red) BLACK CURRANTS (Ribes) Consort GOOSEBERRIES (Ribes) Achilles.................................very large red CONSERVATION FRUITS AMERICAN CRANBERRY BUSH (Viburnum trilobum) - A handsome native
shrub with bright scarlet fruit that remain on the branches until
spring. CRABAPPLES - A favorite conservation fruit as well.. ALMEY - Flowers cherry-red, orange fruits hanging on most
of the winter. Rosa Rugosa F.J. GROOTENDORST - A very hardy hedge/shrub rose introduced in our hometown Boskoop, the Netherlands in early 1920. The bright red double flowering rose blooms from June through September. Highly rated by the American Rose Society. Rosa Rugosa GROOTENDORST PINK - Another hardy Rugosa type rose. A sport of F.J. Grootendorst. Flowers are clear pink fringed and in clusters. Very vigorous and profuse reaching 4 feet. |
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