English Apples - Favourite Varieties
Blenheim Orange
A medium to large sized flattish, round apple, tinged and striped with red and slightly russeted. Fine flavour, firm yellow flesh. Season, late September to late November. Dessert or cooking. Good cropper when established but it takes some years to come into full production. It does well in grass orchards and frequently forms a very large tree. It can be grown on miniature stocks such as Malling 9. It is triploid would, therefore needs a diploid a variety for pollination.
Bramley's Seedling
A large, flattened, round and shaped apple, sometimes slightly re- but, green and sometimes tinted dealt red. Acidic flavour; firm yellowish flesh, sharp and juicy. Season: October to April or even May in cooler years. Stores well. Does well in the Midlands and on most soils including heavy clay and forms a strong tree. One of the best cooking apples. Not well suited for small stocks but worth trying on MM 106. Some susceptibility to scab, and it is triploid, so needs another nearby diploid tree for pollination.
Claygate Pearmain
A medium - sized round to conical apple, fairly similar to Ribston Pippin, dull green, slight flush of red - brown; russeted. Fine flavour, greenish - white flesh, luscious and aromatic; pronounced flavour of pineapple when it matures. A heavy cropper and stores well if gathered at the right time but is past its best by mid- November in hot years. Self- sterile.
Cox's Orange Pippin
A medium-sized, round apple with a golden to orange to red russet skin. Excellent flavour, white flesh, very aromatic and rich, a broad cropper, but in colder districts does less well and best put next to a warm wall. Rather spindly in growth. Well suited to miniature stocks and can be grown in pots. It is self sterile. Good pollinators are Worcester Pearmain and James Grieve.
D'Arcy Spice
This is a medium-sized, brownish, flattened greenish-red apple; then brownish russet over dull yellow when fully ripe. It is a late variety, and here it's ready around November and will store in more or less pleasant condition until about February. At the end of this period it may taste mealy or woolly. It is self- sterile.
Edwards VII
A large, round apple, green it for most a of the season but becomes pale yellow with a reddish brown flush when over ripe. Good flavour, firm pledge, acidic and juicy. This is a very similar to Bramley but the apples are slightly later, store better, and on not quite so flat. 0 does it crop quite so well. Forms a strong and growing standard and works well on miniature rootstock axe. It is a good garden fruit and it flowers late, so avoids most of the frost. Needs cross pollination. But it is not triploid, and a tree on its own will still have a reasonable crop.
James Grieve
A rather acidic, smooth skinned green apple, turning greenish yellow, striped and tinged with orange or red. Soft yellow flesh, sweet and juicy. Ripe about mid- September, earlier in hot years; does not keep well in store and is well past its best by mid- October. It is particularly susceptible to brown rot, and failure to thin the fruit or to cut out excess fruiting spurs will increase it susceptibility.
Laxton's fortune
A medium round to conical apple, with attractive red stripes when ripe. Extremely juicy and sweet; ready mid-September and stores to early November. One of the best flavoured English apples. Trees sometimes appear unhealthy through lack of vigour, but little trouble with disease. Flowers at same time as Cox's Orange Pippin; slightly prone to woolly aphis and canker; small branches may die if this is not spotted.
Ribston Pippin
A medium to fairly large round conical apple; a dull greenish yellow covered with a brownish red russet. Superb flavour, possibly the best flavoured English apple; however it does not store as well as Cox, and is more prone to bitter pit. Books give its season as November to January, but mine are well past their best by early December. They are best eaten fresh off the tree in October. It is triploid, and so it needs a diploid pollinator. It is very susceptible to woolly aphis and canker and is often the first tree to be affected by these pests.
Wyken Pippin
This is an apple originating in Leicestershire. It is small, greenish yellow, and much better than it looks. Unusually for an apple of this colour, the flesh is firm and dense and has aromatic flavour. It is well suited to the caller temperatures experienced in the Midlands. Very suitable for miniature stocks.
