Experience with Red Fleshed Apples

While I’m at it, I’d be willing to negotiate a small purchase if anyone wants to part with some of their red fleshed harvest this year.

And always thankful and willing to pay shipping for dormant scionwood (in season) of red fleshed apples.
( Or willing to do swaps…although most of my trees are one or two years old and snipping is limited and often small caliper.)

1 Like

Stepped across the street to check on the single Redfield apple I’d left on the tree for this season. (The tree needs to grow much more before we allow a crop.) Well, the apple is missing.

Meantime, Redfield bloomed at least two spurs, near top & bottom, in early August. It set three more fruits. Of course they cannot ripen in the next month or so, but this is the second time it has bloomed in late summer and set fruit. I wonder if it will cease this activity once it is allowed to set a crop.

2 Likes

The weather is probably more to blame. I saw a serviceberry with blooms last week.
Sorry you missed your Redfield. I am anxious for mine to bear…but since it’s on M111…who knows when.

1 Like

Heavens, graft Redfield next March to something that lends precocity. If you put it to Budagovsky 118, Geneva 30, M26, MM106, you’ll have samples before MM111 ever gets around to it.

BTW, I have Winekist also across the other street (I’ve got a corner lot) & can send you scions of that if you like. Winekist is quite skinny and spreading, but its vigor, as in success in callusing, when grafted is remarkable. Its fruit comes ripe here in Spokane in July. You will probably find it only somewhat attractive to codling moth. Its ruby flesh and excellent qualities overcome its smaller size - 2 x 2" is as big as they get.

2 Likes

Are Baya Marisa apple trees available in the U.S.?

1 Like

Yeah, I did graft Redfield onto something else. At the moment I forget what…

Thank you profusely for the offer of Winekist. I have a successful May 2019 graft of it, thanks to on of our western members here. What else ya’ got?

1 Like

I have had 2 Baya Marisa. Both on M111. Both died.

:(
1 Like

I had hoped to pick a Redfield this year too. Tree is small, but just one can’t hurt. I was surprised to get no fruitlets after I hand pollinated it. Next year…

2 Likes

Glad you chimed in…you’re the source of my Winekist….and it is small but healthy.
Bellflower is even healthier.

(My Redfield hasn’t bloomed…so the hand pollination thing won’t work.)

Redfield & Winekist are the only red fleshed apples I’m growing. Neither is particularly sweet - even here in Spokane.
If you have enough light in your region, Discovery should develop color in the flesh & ripen sweetly. I’ve tried grafting it without success, so haven’t tasted it. Discovery has a bud sport that is quite red fleshed - forgotten the name.
Anyone?

2 Likes

Are you speaking of “Red Devil”? Or is that a child of Discovery?

(I have Red Devil, but it hasn’t hardly grown at all.)

1 Like

Red Devil is a seedling, according to orangepiipin.com.

The red-fleshed bud sport has an altogether different name. It’s been a year or more since I ran across the reference, & dropped the matter when the graft failed. If I bump into it again I’ll report.

3 Likes

My Winekist grafts are growing steady, but they aren’t breaking any records. The good news is that even as pretty small new benchgrafts, they seem to tolerate my 100+ degree days without really wilting; not many plants can take it so well. I think Winekist is the apple I’m most excited about, I don’t need more sweet apples, I want something interesting.

4 Likes

When you get a crop, try slow-baking some Winekist. Best of five varieties tried that way so far. In order of preference: Winekist, Bardsey, Rambour Franc, Empire,Jonathan.)

Oh, and found the reference to the bud sport of Discovery.

Keepers Nursery in the UK presents Rosette: “A red-fleshed sport of Discovery with better flavor and keeping qualities than its parent.”

I suppose it’s easy to make such a mistake, for Rosette would be a seedling if Discovery were actually the “parent.” It would have been clearer to say, “A red-fleshed sport of Discovery with better flavor and keeping qualities.”
Looking at the Temperate Orchard Conservancy list, Rosette is missing, so I doubt it is found on this side of the Atlantic. Unless someone in this forum has gotten a hold of it…?

6 Likes

Thanks. Yes, somewhere I’ve seen “Rosette”, but as you say it may have been on a British website. Where’d you find Bardsey? Jonathan is an old stand-by multi-purpose apple, but I see it didn’t win any points in your cooking experiments.

1 Like

@derekamills lists it and likely could provide scions.

@BlueBerry, Derek has Bardsey as well. Raintree also lists pre-grafted Bardsey trees.

4 Likes

I bought Bardsey on EMLA26 from Raintree in ‘14. It shrugs off drought and its fruit is always juicy. When slow-baked the flesh retains some substance while the skin softens. It is the prime target for codling moth in this yard. After taking off orchard socks and deciding to wait another week beyond the 14 days already planned, I find little caterpillars in most of those that had not been invaded before original application of the orchard socks.
Bardsey grew quite upright at first & is now spreading with the weight of fruit - its first full crop since planting - at about 9 x 9’.
Jonathan tastes fine slow-baked, but the skin becomes almost bomb-proof. I must cut it with a knife to make bites.
Good to know about Rosette. Might be worth a try here. Thanks!

4 Likes

varalma
Win - lose. Almata died. But, acquired this one.
Giant Russian is growing slow.
Otterson doing pretty good first summer on Antonovka.

4 Likes

Lovely color, that.

2 Likes

What is that in the picture? Jerry’s right, that is an incredible color.

2 Likes