Pre-order for spring 2024We are now accepting pre-orders for the spring 2024 planting season.
Orange Pippin Trees USA logoSpecialist fruit trees for your orchard or back-yard

Blenheim Orange apple tree

Blenheim Orange
Blenheim Orange has received the RHS Award of Garden MeritBlenheim Orange is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Late
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Pollination group: 3
  • Awards: RHS AGM (current) 1993
Blenheim Orange is a classic English dual-purpose apple, useful for dessert and cooking with.
StarStarStarStarStar empty See or add reviews

Blenheim Orange apple trees for sale

  • Medium 1-year bare-root tree $37.95
    Mature height: 8ft-12ft after 10 years
    G.214 rootstock
Next deliveries

Our inventory is up to date, you can pre-order now for the spring 2024 planting season.


Blenheim Orange is a popular large English heritage apple variety, widely grown in gardens in the UK. It has the characteristic orange flush which is often associated with English apples. Although it can be eaten fresh, it is best considered a culinary apple, and it cooks to a stiff puree.

Blenheim Orange makes a good feature tree in a larger garden.

How to grow

Blenheim Orange produces a large vigorous tree, with unusually dense wood. It is a triploid variety so it needs two separate pollinating apple trees nearby.

This is slow-growing long-lived variety which takes a while to get into its stride. Victorian author Hogg, writing at the end of the 19th century noted that Blenheim Orange noted, "... when it becomes a little aged, it bears regular and abundant crops".

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

History

Blenheim Orange is believed to date back to the early 18th century. It was discovered at Woodstock in Oxfordshire, and named after the nearby Blenheim Palace. The parentage is unknown.

Blenheim Orange characteristics

  • Gardening skillExperienced
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Pollination group3
  • Pollinating othersPoor
  • PloidyTriploid
  • Bearing regularityBiennial tendency
  • Fruit bearingPartial tip-bearer
  • WildlifeRHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking seasonLate
  • UsesEating freshCulinaryDual purpose
  • CroppingGood
  • Keeping (of fruit)1-2 months
  • Flavor style (apples)Sharper
  • Cooking resultPuree
  • General resistanceAverage
  • CankerVery resistant
  • ScabSome resistance
  • MildewSome resistance
  • Cold hardiness (USDA)(5) -20F / -29C
  • Summer maximum temperaturesCool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)Cold (< 20C / 67F)
  • Country of originUnited Kingdom
  • Period of origin1700 - 1749
  • Fruit colorOrange flush
  • AwardsRHS AGM (current) - 1993