English Apples - Golden Noble
This is said by some to be the best English cooking apple. It is a large early cooker with a striking appearance; almost spherical, has completely smooth skin, green to begin with which goes to a lovely golden yellow. By this time, late Sept to mid Oct, the apple can almost be eaten raw. It does not keep more than 2-3 weeks, which is its main disadvantage. Its other drawback is a tendency to go biennial (cropping mainly in alternate years).
Pictures (click on small images for detail):
Blossom opening out:
After a couple of days the flowers look like the picture below: the undersides of the petals retain a pink tint but the top sides have virtually no colour.
They are distinguished by their rather squat, broad petals, their whiteness, and their late flowering period - one of the last to blossom in my own garden (just before King Edward VII, which is the last). After a couple of days in bright sunlight the pale pink on the undersides of the petals usually disappears.
Fruit
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The second picture shows Golden Noble with a soulardii redfleshed crab for scale.
compiled by Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
