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Over 250 specialist fruit tree varieties for your orchard or back-yard

Yellow Transparent apple trees

White Transparent apples
Yellow Transparent is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Very early
  • Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
  • Pollination group: 2

Yellow Transparent is an old Russian apple variety, quite widely grown in the northern states, and also in Europe (where, confusingly, it is known as White Transparent).

Yellow Transparent has two notable qualities. It ripens very early - often as early as the third week of July even in the northern states. Secondly, it is exceptionally cold-hardy, and capable of surviving winters in zone 3. It is therefore easy to see why Yellow Transparent became a popular variety in North America as the settlers moved west.

Yellow Transparent can be eaten fresh, but the apples are generally quite soft when mature. It is primarily an apple for the kitchen, where it easily cooks down to a light and very smooth apple sauce with a good flavor. For cooking it is best to pick the apples slightly green.

Yellow Transparent apple trees for sale

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  • Semi-dwarf 1-year bare-root tree $37.95
    Mature height: 8ft-12ft after 10 years
    G.969 rootstock

How to grow

Yellow Transparent has exceptional cold-hardiness, and has long been popular in the northern states for this reason.

In these areas it is also considered a good disease-resistant tree. However it is very susceptible to fireblight, so is not a good choice for areas where this disease is prevalent. It is probably also a good idea to choose fireblight-resistant rootstocks where possible. This aside, its natural vigour seems to help it shrug off most other problems.

The other horticultural issue is that Yellow Transparent can lapse into biennial bearing - fruiting only every other year. This seems to be associated with its natural tendency to over-crop, and this is definitely a variety that repays thinning of the fruitlets as they start to swell after the blossom.

The Perrine Yellow Transparent is generally considered to be slightly more disease-resistant than the original form.

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

History

Yellow Transparent originates from Russia and is probably a very old variety. It was widely grown throughout Europe in the 19th century, and also became popular in North America.

In Europe it is most commonly known as White Transparent, and confusingly, another variety - Transparente de Croncels - is more commonly known as Yellow Transparent.

We occasionally also offer Perrine Yellow Transparent which is a sport (a natural bud mutation) of the original form, and is unusual for being a tetraploid variety - it has double the number of chromosomes of the original ("diploid") form. The extra chromosomes are thought to be responsible for its better fruit size and the slightly larger and more vigorous tree size. Perrine Yellow Transparent was found by D.B. Perrine in an orchard in Centralia, Illinois, in the 1930s. It is effectively an "improved" Yellow Transparent.

Yellow Transparent characteristics

  • Gardening skillBeginner
  • Self-fertilityPartially self-fertile
  • Pollination group2
  • Pollinating othersPoor
  • Picking seasonVery early
  • UsesEating freshCulinaryTraditional cookerDual purpose
  • Keeping (of fruit)1 week
  • General resistanceAverage
  • FireblightVery susceptible
  • CankerSome susceptibility
  • ScabSome resistance
  • Cedar apple rustSome resistance
  • MildewSome susceptibility
  • Cold hardiness (USDA)Zone 3 (-40C)
  • Summer maximum temperaturesCool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)Warm (25-30C / 76-85F)Cold (< 20C / 67F)
  • Country of originRussia
  • Period of origin1800 - 1849
  • Fruit colorGreenGreen - lightGreen / Yellow