opal is my favorite apple the flavor is like jolly rancher or banana to me it’s a really strange flavor / aroma for an apple.
I do like Opal a lot but sometimes, they are kept in cold storage so long before they reach markets. The crunch and the freshness is quite reduced. It is a very attractive yellow apple among many pink, reddish and red Club apples. I think I’ve eaten several club apples listed on the NPR article. There are a couple that I like. Can’t recall which is which now.
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Sounds like it would be a great tasting apple…if not stored too long. Only trouble is, being a club apple, I can’t get scions for it to graft onto my crab apple. Such is life…
TFN
I was thinking of putting Gold Rush and Mutsu and Suncrisp on my crab… what do you think about Arkansas Black for a long keeper apple?
TFN
Not everything ‘restricted’ or “club” is un-available. They do trade at scion swaps.
Despite the ‘rules’ this is the case.
Arkansas Black is a great keeper, for me it was. Hard as a rock when you pick them. Soften and ripen nicely after a month or more in storage.
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I’d sub either the Mutsu or the Suncrisp with Pink Lady. PL is more grower friendly than either and the two are somewhat similar. Here they tend towards biennial bearing- PL is surprisingly consistent for such a late ripener and I think holds its flavor in storage somewhat better as well. But then, I don’t like Mutsu nearly as much as Scott. If I want a long keeping sweet, I prefer Fuji, although it’s another biennial type here. I am a fan of Suncrisp, but mine stands only a few feet away from two Goldrush on my property, and after good crops last year the Goldrush trees are loaded, but the Suncrisp has barely a scattering. This has been the tendency here and at other sites.
That’s good to know about the Suncrisp being biennial. I did have PL on my list. Maybe I should go with Goldrush, Arkansas Black, and PL. That should make for an interesting tree…
TFN
Oh, I forgot about Melrose. It sounds like it would be the kind of apple I would like. Thanks, aap for suggesting it. I may go bald prematurely trying to decide what and where and how many…
TFN
I’ve never eaten Melrose…but it ain’t the state apple tree of Ohio for nothing.
I’ve been eating some amazing apples lately: Ashmead’s Kernel, Golden Russet and Rubinette have been at the absolute top of the pile.
On any given day, each of these could be the best apple you’ve ever eaten.
Well, looks like you are right. Every time I research a variety that has been suggested, it sounds like one that I want…I do have the other three trees that have extra limbs…I’m sure they would’t mind…HMMMMM…But what about the wifey…? LOL😉 Thanks a lot guys.
TFN
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I have the exact opposite problem, my GoldRush is strongly biennial and my Suncrisp is relatively consistent. This year is “on” for GoldRush, it is really loaded.
My Suncrisp has knocked GoldRush down a few rungs, I like SC better for flavor and texture, and the apples are a lot bigger. GR are too hard and sour to be fun eating until many months in storage. Come March all is forgiven though 
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For apples you have more a sweet tooth than me and other tart lovers. I like both sweet and tart apples and actually prefer Goldrush right off the tree- it excels by comparison by late winter, of course, but I prefer it tarter. I think I actually prefer Esopus to Goldrush off the tree while sweet lovers find it excessively intense before some time in storage.
I like the texture of Goldrush more than SC as well- to me, it’s crunchier. I like hard apples.
My Goldrush may be more reliable than yours because I mop out all unwanted growth in mid-spring (it grows back but spur and nearby leaves get much more light at the most critical time) while thinning fruit. I also remove entire flower clusters when it is in bloom. Perhaps Suncrisp suffers from receiving somewhat less attention, although I do thin it early. It is also a problem at another site where Goldrush at least produces some fruit on off years while Suncrisp has absolutely nothing. Never-the-less the sample size is far from conclusive.
I once complained to Adams that Goldrush was biennial back before I developed the methods mentioned. They said that was not at all their experience or of growers in their region.
Go figure! At the time I just figured the problem was my shorter season as it is such a late apple. Holding apples so late has to be an energy suck for any tree. I feel absolutely certain that dawn to dusk sun encourages annual yields and that probably pruning trees more open has similar affect.
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