Pristine is an attractive green-yellow apple, and usually the first to ripen - if you want fresh new season apples in July or early August, this is the one get. You could think of it as an early-season Golden Delicious.
It has a sweet/tart flavor, and also keeps quite well - a week or so in the fridge. Pick when still slightly green for use in the kitchen, or wait until it turns golden yellow for eating fresh.
Pristine's other notable feature is its good disease-resistance, and the apples usually have an attractive clean finish.
Delivery in spring 2026.
Fill in the form below and we will notify you when Pristine apple trees are back in stock.
If you do not hear from us by February you can contact us in June to pre-order for the following spring.
Pristine is generally easy to grow, and is very resistant to scab, and has some resistance to mildew. It was developed to have some resistance to cedar-apple rust and fireblight, but some reports suggest it may be slightly susceptible.
It's main weakness is a tendency to over-crop, resulting in small fruits. Thinning of the fruitlets in early June should resolve this.
Advice on fruit tree pollination.
As the name suggests, Pristine was developed in the co-operative breeding program of Purdue University, Rutgers University, and the University of Illinois (PRI ...). It's development reference was "Co-op 32" and it was released in the 1990s.
