Currently Zestar is my favorite Apple, I have one of those too. I haven’t tried a ton of varieties yet though
Do you know where to get Henry Clay scion? Sounds like a good one to have
I got the scion of Henry Clay I grafted from the Temperate Orchard Conservancy which got it from the former Nick Botner collection in Oregon. I believe St. Lawrence Nursery of upstate New York sells trees of it grafted onto Antonovka. All the other sources I knew of it are no longer extant. My grafted branch is still fairly small, but it did kick out a few apples- I was able to taste one after being in the fridge- not bad for a summer apple… a lot like Lodi or Yellow Trans but not pithy like Lodi, and not as sour as either. Here’s what it looked like on July 7, 2023:
I started picking/eating Pristine one and two days later, so it barely beat it for earliness, and Pristine is yet another notch above in eating quality (photo of Pristines July 9, 2023:
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As of today (Mar 25, 2024)- It appears St. Lawrence might still have trees of Henry Clay on Antonovka for sale here:
You might consider giving them a call to confirm availability if interested.
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In my opinion, the best super-early apple is Sansa.
Pristine and Henry Clay are okay. Occasionally, Williams’ Pride is very good.
The best earlies to follow are GingerGold and Gravenstein which are both excellent. Gravenstein only lasts a glorious 3 weeks in August whereas GingerGold has remarkable keeping quality for an early apple.
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I got some Williams Pride scion the other day, and I’m glad I did. I’m top working some apples I planted years ago over to more disease resistant varieties. Liberty, Enterprise, Winecrisp, MonArk, and a couple crabs like centenial and trailman.
Hoping to get sundance next year seems like I’m too late for this year.
Fruity sweet with a bit of vinous in early August? Try Blairmont.