Has your Golden Russet fruited for you? It’s the same one I have, from the germplasm repository.
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I’m sorry to hear that.
My rosemary russet also has a great natural structure so far with good scaffolds forming and nice crotch angles. Seems quite vigorous and healthy.
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I picked up a RedLove Era last year. Its still a whip and will be for years to come but so far so good. I look forward to trying a few varieties that you cant find locally. I also have an Airlie Red Flesh. A few years less before that one gets going. Still going to need more patience than I think I have.
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Hi! Redlove era is not loke odysso, it’s more tart i think…
Your 1st grade ride to school? I mean, I knew you were old, but I didn’t realize …
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I hope so. I like my apples on the tart end of the spectrum. I have concern about the Airlie because I’ve read some people’s reviews saying that the flavor was not very strong and they are best used for cider. Hopefully at least one of my reds it to me & my family’s liking.
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Many people in this thread seem to like KdS. I love this apple and it is high on my list but not my favorite. On the upside, this is the most intensely flavored of all apples without doubt. The only reason its not at the top is that it is just a little over the top for me. I prefer Cox and most of its other descendants
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I look to try it someday…grafted it last spring.
I like the Cox type a lot too. There’s a reason they’re so highly regarded!
What is KdS?
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Karmijn de Sonnaville. It’s kind of a cumbersome thing to type out without practice. “Karmijn” is the Dutch word for “carmine” and, I understand, is pronounced the same way. I think Mr. Sonnaville was the grower.
https://www.orangepippin.com/varieties/apples/karmijn-de-sonnaville
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My favourites right now are Gala and Novamac (I grow the latter on a 15ish year old tree). I also really like a wild variety apple I’ve found, resembles a gala, but with yellow/red flesh on a VERY large apple (some almost as big as a grapefruit). I plan to propagate it this spring on rootstock, hopefully I can manage it. It’s quite good.
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Grapefruit size sounds interesting…
keep us posted, and perhaps someday you’ll have scions to share?
Up to present, Arkansas Black is my personal biggest apple…but it’s really only
about the size of Honeycrisp.
Have “wolf river” and “Ooten” and I am about ready to graft “Appletown wonder”.
Only the “wolf river” has any possibility of fruiting anytime soon.
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@BlueBerry 100%. I’ve been scouting around for good wild apples (hence the username haha) and found this one on a friend’s property by pure chance. I expected my search for good wild varieties to be years and years long, but I think this may be the best one I find, ever. Doesn’t mean I’ll stop looking!
I suspect it has gala parentage, because it sprung up in what was one time a compost pile and all this friend eats is gala.
I’m more than happy to share scions once I get my own trees established. I think it’s really important to preserve and propagate these genetics, and I’ll try my best to do so. Hoping to make a post in the summer/fall with more details/photos of the apples, as I don’t really have any good photos of them at the moment, unfortunately.
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@BlueBerry I actually found a photo of the tree on my phone. Not sure how well the size of the apples comes across in it, but trust me, they’re big and real nice.
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Arkansas Black on M111 rootstock was the first apple tree I planted. It’s, also, been the worst performing apple. I’ve been growing it for nearly a decade and it’s only 6’ tall with no branching and apples. Is that normal with this cultivar or was I sold a bad apple 
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Thanks Mark. I wonder how it would grow as no-spray in steamy Maryland? Hmmm, will look into this. Intense taste gets my attention.
I’ve still got a few Shackleford scions I grew, trying to place in good homes. If you know anyone who might want a stick or two, pls let me know. Dave Benscoter at Lost Apple Project raves about its taste.
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