Keepsake apple trees
- Gardening skill: Suitable for beginners
- Picking season: Very late
- Keeping (of fruit): 3 months or more
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Pollination group: 4
- Uses: Eating fresh
Keepsake is a late-ripening winter apple with a good strong apple flavor - at its best in mid-winter. The apples have a full rich flavor, and a juicy crisp texture.
Keepsake was released in the 1980s but did not achieve much commercial success, perhaps because the apples can be a bit uneven in shape. However the combination of good flavor and disease-resistance makes it a useful choice for the backyard orchard, particularly in the northern states.
Keepsake apple trees for sale
1-year Keepsake apple trees bare-root
Small (6ft-9ft) mature height
$29.00
Out of stock
1-year Keepsake apple trees bare-root
Medium (8ft-12ft) mature height
$29.00
Out of stock
1-year Keepsake apple trees bare-root
Full-size (16ft-24ft) mature height
$29.00
Out of stock
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*Find out more about the apple rootstocks we use to control the mature height.
How to grow
Keepsake is easy to grow, and has good disease-resistance. The only real issue is a tendency to over-crop, which can lead to biennial bearing (fruiting every other year). This can be prevented by carefully thinning the fruitlets in early June.
Advice on fruit tree pollination.
Historical details
Keepsake was developed by the University of Minnesota and released in 1978. It is perhaps best-known as one of the parents of Honeycrisp, which inherits Keepsake's excellent disease-resistance.
Keepsake characteristics
Using
- Picking season:
Very late
- Uses:
Eating fresh
- Cropping:
Good
- Keeping (of fruit):
3 months or more
Growing
- Gardening skill:
Suitable for beginners
- Self-fertility:
Not self-fertile
- Pollination group:
4
- Pollinating others:
Average
- Ploidy:
Diploid
- Vigour:
Slightly large
- Precocity:
Precocious
- Bearing regularity:
Biennial tendency
- Fruit bearing:
Spur-bearer
- Organic culture:
Suitable
Disease resistance
- General resistance:
Good
- Cedar apple rust:
Some resistance
- Fireblight:
Some resistance
Climate
- Cold hardiness (USDA):
(4) -30F / -34C
- Summer average maximum temperatures:
Cool ( 20C - 24C / 68F - 75F) Warm (25C - 30C / 76F - 85F)
Identification
- Country of origin:
United States
- Period of origin:
1950 - 1999
- Fruit color:
Orange flush
- Fruit size:
Average
