Apples: News, 2013
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BUG IN A WATER DROP
Nothing to do with apples, but I had to share this; one of the most astonishing photographs I've ever seen; a picture of a bug snoozing in a water-droplet, taken by my friend Dick Jones. Look closely ....... and for a more detailed image, click the thumbnail. Thanks, Dick, for permission to display it.
07 Nov 2014
SURPRIZE
Here's a close-up of the newly-released apple Surprize, being sold by Tesco. More about this on the Surprize page.
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24 Sep 2014
REDFLESHED APPLES FROM TESCOS
I was interested to read in one of the national newspapers a mention of a new apple release from Tescos, called Surprize (sic). This is a new redfleshed apple. No clues about the parentage, but it appears to be an Etter-type, with green skin. The interior looks similar to Redlove but the skin is green, so it's clearly an Etter-type apple; brown pips and unpigmented wood and leaves. Picture below:
16 Sep 2014
A NEW PEST
I am sorry to report the arrival, in force, of a new apple pest in Leicestershire: apple sawfly. This is a much more serious pest than many growers suspect. 90% of my fruit is affected. Some serious spraying will be needed next spring to try to prevent a recurrence. The symptoms are superficially the same as codling moth, but more severe. A hole appears in the fruit; infected apples somtimes drop at an early stage, but many of them grow to almost full size and then rot on the tree.
Locally the pest is in most gardens; there will be few apples to store over the winter. My own apples will be gone well before Christmas; usually they last until May. The only thing I can do with most of them is make cider or dried fruit before they rot.
The warm summer weather has also accelerated the fruit ageing process and apples usually ready in mid-October are falling off the trees a month early.
13 Sep 2014
HOME GROWN FRUITS
Showing the selection of fruits available in mid-August: Clockwise from top: Rosette, Laxton's Fortune, Scarlet Surprise, fruit from a flowering plum, and Devonshire Quarrenden.
20 Aug 2014
EARLY APPLES
First apples of the season; fully ripe on 12 July 2014. I am not sure of the variety; they look quite like Discovery. The tree was made from a scion from an old pink-fleshed apple tree found on Castle Donington allotments, Leicestershire, in 2011. Any suggestions?
13 Jul 2014
UPDATE....after doing some research and contacting some apple growing friends I am fairly certain that this is Irish Peach.
LATE APPLES
Last apples of the season - "Christmas Pink"; to our surprise, sweet and juicy and still firm on 10 July 2014, after ordinary cellar storage. This time there is only a faint hint of pink flesh in the fruit. They were picked last November. This is the longest-storing eating apple we've seen. Previous longest-storing apple retaining reasonable taste was Burford Yellow; still good on June 15 a few years ago.
11 Jul 2014
UNIDENTIFIED EGGS
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An amazing geometric pattern found in the garden on the underside of a leaf of a redfleshed apple tree. My friend Steph identified these insect eggs as belonging to a shield bug.
12 Jun 2014
TRIPLOID APPLES AND POLLINATION
Brogdale has had its apple tested to see which ones are triploid (51 chromosomes) and which are diploid (34 chromosomes).
What follows is not a complete list of triploids, but it includes the common and a few of the not-so-common triploids likely to be found in gardens in England.
If you have one of these, it will usually improve the crop if a pollinator is present.
Some of the triploids below, e.g. Bramley, will set a reasonable crop on their own. The effectiveness of triploid pollens on some triploid and diploid trees is shown here and here .
Another interesting observation: the apple variety 'Cobra', was bred by Hugh Ermen using Bramley pollen to pollinate a Cox.
There are several short pieces on pollination listed on the articles page.
THE VARIETIES
Bulmer's Norman
Belle de Boskoop
Bramley & Crimson Bramley
Bloody Butcher
Beauty of Kent
Blenheim Orange
Claygate Pearmain
Crispin
Catshead
Doctor Hogg
Gravenstein
Isaac Newton's Tree
Jonagold
Jupiter
Morgan Sweet (cider)
Norfolk Beefing
Ribston
Reinette du Canada
Reinette Gris du Canada
Suntan
Tom Putt
Warner's King
Winesap
Winter Pearmain
12 Jun 2014
APPLE BLOSSOM 2014
23rd April: Ribston, Laxton's Fortune & Allen's Everlasting (Ireland).
23rd April: Tom Putt, Croft Late & Witney Deerpark Apple.
23rd April: Huonville Crab (Australia), Wyggeston and D'arcy Spice.
22nd April: Langton's Nonesuch, Park Farm and Wickson (America).
21st April: Purple Wave (ornamental), Christmas Pink, Burford Yellow.
20th April: Durrant's apple, Rubaiyat, Martin's Custard..
17th April: Hidden Rose (Aerlie Redflesh), Pink Pearmain, Grenadine.
14th April: Devonshire Quarrenden, Hall's Pink, Scarlet Surprise.
12th April: Maypole, Eden Crab, Burford's Redflesh .
10th April: Purple Radish (Germany), Dubbelman (Sweden), Christmas Pink (Etter) .
9th April: George's Red, Pink Pearl, Castle Donington redfleshed.
9th April: Mott's Pink, Webster Pinkmeat, Redlove Circe.
FIRST BLOSSOM 2014
Blossom is early this year; about two and a half weeks earlier than average. Last year was late by the same margin, so we are five weeks earlier than last year.
First blossom this year was the redfleshed Castle Donington apple (probably 'Sops in Wine or similar) and the redfleshed variety we obtained from George Humphrey, years ago, from Roundbush, Essex. The variety is unknown, but comes from a 120-year old tree on a parish boundary, and we have christened it 'George's Red'. First flowers this year were on 6th April:
6 Apr 2014
CHIMERAS
Interesting to see that 927 people referred to the article about chimeras on 23 March.
30 Mar 2014
PAUL HUDSON'S REDFLESHED APPLES
Paul has supplied a large number of seeds (see 2013 page) from a redfleshed apple tree he found in Cheshire.
These will not breed true, but it will be interesting to see what the seedlings are like. The apples are, for a redfleshed variety, larger and darker than normal.
20 Mar 2014
APPLE SEEDS FROM MAINE, USA
We have been sent some apple seeds by Ron Kley of the Vaughan Homestead Foundation. They are from Benjamin Vaughan's old Black Oxford apple tree at the Vaughan homestead in Hallowell, Maine. Apple seeds do not breed true, but we will sow them and see what happens. Any interesting-looking seedlings will be kept and grafted. Many thanks, Ron.
15 Feb 2014
