Mamuang,
Unless you are south of the Mason/Dixon Line, most or all my apples may do well for you, especially Bardsey. I think we have much to learn about its capabilities. My challenges are with dry heat and a shorter growing season.
Médaille d’Or poses the greatest risk here. It blooms extremely late on the Puget Sound (and In England) and ripens pretty late, although there are folks on the Atlantic Coast who say it ripens earlier than anywhere in Britain. It just might pay off.
I’ve had contact with a grower on the coast of Maine who could not bring Rambour Franc to a worthy fruit. I am guessing it requires a bit more heat and light than his very maritime and cool location allows. That tree, a cleft graft I made onto Geneva 30 in 2012, is growing strongly and has excellent crotch angles. Maybe debut bloom and fruit next season?
Nutting,
I’ve been reading about fruit growing for several years now. ( unfortunately I don’t remember much of what I read 
I like learning about new fruit varieties. I have grafted several apple varieties to my existing fruit trees, both pome and stone fruit. For some of your apple varieties, I would like to try grafting them instead.
The new apple I am most interested in growing is Katharine mentioned by @scottfsmith. He is on the same side of the coast. What he can grow well, I have a good chance to grow them here, too.
Ah, Katherine - Albert Etter’s favorite. I had forgotten about it since it did not seem likely to ever ripen in my locale. Too short a growing season. In that case, anything I can grow is a fair shot for you.
I’ve been intrigued by mention in the Seed Savers “Fruit, Nut & Berry Inventory” of Multnomah, an apple arising near Portland, Oregon. I bought a scion from Nick Botner and grafted it - but it failed, along with far too many others this year.
I first read about Edelborsdorfer in The New Book of Apples, by Morgan and Richardson, describing the Royal Horticultural collection at Brogdale. Morgan wrote its flavor in Britain was “bleak.” Sounded like a candidate for growing in the States. And now it is out in the back yard!
You never know…
I try to remind myself that 1) taste is subjective, 2) different location and climate can yield a different result (and taste) of the same fruit.
Nonetheless, all opinions are appreciated.
I removed two trees this fall. The first was Sweet Treat Pluerry because I found out like Scott did that this tree is an absolute black knot magnet! I was going to take it out last fall but held off doing it because I wanted to see what the fruit tasted like but after this year with it having never bloomed since planting back in 2013, I said enough is enough…OFF WITH IT’S TRUNK! The other tree I took out was Collette pear that I bought from Miller’s back in the same year I think. It never grew more then one inch since planting it. It started to get fireblight this year and I said good luck and good riddance to you, letting the fireblight take the whole thing.
I removed a seedling peach. It had borers bad and had a graft of a honey peach on it…being in the ground i doubt that it would ever set fruit, so i grafted that honey peach over to a potted seedling (budded this summer) and the chainsaw removed it this weekend.
I think i’m removing my elderberries…with SWD i think it’s pointless…they make a great screening plant, but there is no way i can let them fruit without spraying…ugh
I expect most of the apples I’ve tried would do well anywhere east of the driest part of the Great Plains. That is why I sent scions of D’Arcy Spice to everyone who swapped with me last winter.
Bardsey seems capable of handling almost any climate found in North America, since it came from Wales and flourishes in Spokane. It might not do well in the South (chill hours? but how else can we know?)
Rambour Franc was a hit in Colonial America and also at Trees of Antiquity in Paso Robles, CA. (I corresponded with them last winter.) I think it worth trial in most areas; just be sure it gets some calcium. It looks like it has plenty of blossom buds this year, so will have a taste test first time since I cleft grafted it in 2012.
Neil Crowley in Reno, Nevada, loves Claygate Pearmain. I have two whips that will take some years to prove here, but am confident it can do well. CP gets high marks over much of our continent.
Wynoochee Early arose close to the Pacific coast of WA: damp and cool, where it is prized for its many attributes. (Scab immune and good d r, reasonable size tree, large tasty fruit ripening in August yet keeps until Christmas; skin nearly dissolves when cooked/baked.) It has proven very good in the desert of central WA (many people are unaware of the desert in WA.) I think it also deserves trial in your spot. The folks at Tonnemakers, in Royal City, WA wrote me (I ask questions of anyone!) that WE needs stripping until it attains size before allowing it to ripen a crop. It is very precocious, so that is one aspect that can make a difference for later crops. Fine with me; I’ll leave a token apple on it to get a taste and note ripening date each year in the meantime.
Edelborsdorfer arose in Germany near Naumburg, Saxon-Anhalt (midway between Erfürt and Leipzig) before 1175. It seems tremendously durable, while improving in fruit as the tree matures. Mine is a maiden and likely to wait for debut fruit until next year at least. It cries to be tried everywhere. You can be sure I will tell the world, just as I already sing the praises of Bardsey.
Winekist makes a small apple early in the season. It seems a prime candidate for sauce. pies and cider. 2 x 2 inches and 12 Brix last year; its third leaf. It is untouched by codling moth here, no diseases, very hardy, pink flowers (mid-late!), pink twigs and red flesh. It is a bit droopy in growth habit, so allow room.
Those are the successes and what I am confident about so far.
D’Arcy Spice was a complete failure for me, it was bland and mealy. Claygate Pearmain is highly prone to rot and skin problems. I am in a hotter area than many people and many apples working in a slightly less hot area just don’t work here. Overall of English apples I tried about half were good for me and half failed.
I too removed sweat treat over the winter, in 4 years they never even flowered. Also removed santa rosa, I really like a fully ripe santa rosa but just not enough production to justify. Removed burgundy as well, very productive, but lacking flavor. I decided to add a row of dwarf antique apples grafted to g41
Scott, your experience confirms Tom Burford’s - many apples flourishing in the North languish in VA. And the reverse is true.
Somewhere there is a happy medium for D’Arcy Spice. Sure want to try it wherever that may be someday!
Jwsemo: I think sweat treat (why don’t they rhyme that way?) would be a loser, too. (Sorry. this affliction of English majors is common. Is Sweet Treat an Asian plum?)
It’s a pluerry
He also says that varieties that used to thrive in VA no longer do so because of increasingly warm weather. Baldwin is one he mentioned when he said this to me.
Earlier in the thread @mamuang and I had a discussion about the productivity of Danube cherry. It’s still definitely behind Jubileum in productivity. I have a Danube and Jubileum of the same age at the house. The first is a pic of Danube in bloom this morning, the second is of Jubileum. In fairness to Danube, not all of the blooms are quite open yet (it blooms a tad later than Jubileum) so it might look a little fuller with flowers with a little more time.
Just LOVE how you have those trees shaped. Very pretty trees in bloom!
Mark,
My ex- Danube bloomed like crazy, but set a handful of fruit, really a waste of space, in my yard.
My Juliet bush cherry just arrive. That will be a good replacement.
I’ve noticed that too. Both Jublileum, Danube and Balaton don’t fruit set all the blooms like peaches when there’s no frost. I can’t remember if Danube was the worst last year in fruit setting blooms, but I know it had significantly less production than Jubileum.
Both of those trees are absolutely beautiful. If I had room in my yard, I’d put them in as ornamentals and view the cherries as a bonus.
Just gorgeous.
I get rid of most things that require too much work. If something needs sprays to stay alive, or to produce decent fruit or nuts, it’s going to go. For example, I used to have 4 almond trees. Now I have one. I used to have 6 or 7 quince. Now I have one. One reason I love jujubes and chestnuts is that they have very few problems and require very little work.
I can understand that. But it can be confusing to many when easy is confused with quality, in this case eating quality. It’s not often that the easiest of anything is the best.