Our Recommendations
In a hurry? Choose something from this page and you won't go wrong.
If you are still stuck, don't hesitate to call us - or fill in our enquiry form and we will respond quickly with personalised advice.
Your first apple tree
Liberty
Easy to grow throughout the USA, resistant to most apple diseases, and has a clean well-balanced apple flavor. Can be pollinated by most other apple varieties.
Best disease-resistant apples
Enterprise
A modern late-ripening apple with high levels of resistance to many apple diseases, an ideal choice if you have scab, fire blight, cedar apple rust or mildew in the neighborhood. Its relatively thick skin is part of its defense strategy, and helps give it a long storage life. The flavor is crisp and mild.
GoldRush
Another modern disease-resistant apple, not quite in the same league as Enterprise, but close. Its Golden Delicious parentage ensures a good balanced flavor. Can be stored in a fridge until spring.
Best russet apples
Roxbury Russet
Probably the oldest apple to originate in the USA, Roxbury Russet is a large sweet-flavored russet apple. It is easy to grow, quite disease-resistant, and the apples are versatile for eating fresh or using in the kitchen, and produce a good cider juice.
Ashmead's Kernel
An old English russet variety that performs well in most US climate zones. The flavor is intense and distinctive. Like many russets it produces a high quality juice which is valuable for hard and soft cider blends.
The best cooking apples
Newtown Pippin
A dense juicy American heirloom variety with a rich aromatic flavor, which is perfect for traditional American apple cookery. Keeps its shape when cooked.
Bramley's Seedling
England's most famous cooking apple is perfectly at home in most US climate zones. Its overflowing juicy acidity transforms into the richest of tangy purees in the kitchen. No cook should be without a Bramley tree! Make sure you read our advice on pollination though.
Calville Blanc
The authentic apple for French pastries but equally at home in the North American kitchen. It lends a spicy richness to apple cookery. Keeps its shape when cooked.
Best alternatives to Cox's Orange Pippin
Rubinette
Gets very close to the true Cox's Orange Pippin flavor, but with a wider climate range in the USA.
Kidd's Orange Red
A marriage of the English Cox's Orange Pippin and the American Delicious - the result is a sweet Cox-style apple which is much better suited to the US climate.
Apple trees for cold winters
Honeycrisp
Honeycrisp is a great all-round eating apple, specifically developed for winter hardiness. It is a good choice if you are in Zones 3-4, although it is perfectly happy in warmer zones too.
