Meaning of the Name: Apple of Uster ( a town in the canton of Zürich)
Synonym: Änkebälleli (Butterball), Goldapfel, Zitrönler (Lemony, because of the color, NOT the taste)
Age and Origin: the legend says that a swiss Officer serving in the Netherlands brought this apple back to Switzerland in 1750 and planted it in Uster.
Fruit: ripens in September and keeps until new Year at most.
This is a so called sweet apple, with almost no acid. It was used as a sugar source for example mixed with a acidic pear cider, as dried apples, to sweeten apple sauce or (cooked in) as very thick sirup to sweeten baked goods.
Tree: bushy crown, robust but needs good soil, until 1945 seedlings of Usterapfel were used as rootstock, blooms late
Pros: high yields, robust bloom
Cons: very biennial
In zone 3b, Anchorage, Alaska. Was a record setting, first 90 degree temp ever. These varieties can handle new, to us, mid winter thaws and freezes.
From top left to bottom right -
Black Currant - Minaj Smeryiou
Rosa rugosa
Amelanchier alnifolia - Pembina
Lonicera caerulea - Borealis
Rosa glauca
Chard
Gooseberry - Hinnonmaki Red
The Landscaping Fool’s nursery area
Pink Currant - Gloire de Sablon
Cool! Can you make jelly with your rosa rugosa and glauca or are they more ornamental?
Here the most common wild variety is rosa canina. They are almost unkillable here and have a very good taste ( I like to eat them fresh) Google tells me that they grow up to the 62. latitude in northern Europe…
I have not tried jelly with the rosa rogosa (not a sweet person), but I do gather them and use in sauces; the hips are great for this. I haven’t thought about using the glauca (rubrifolia) for food, but wlil research and perhaps consider doing this next fall, it is one of my favorite ornamental shrubs. I hear you about the unkillable aspects of some roses, the rugosa is a tough plant, even moose stop after an initial sample.
With the late cold weather we had here, I am not sure we will have any Key apples to try this year I do hope there are a few left at my in-laws but even if there are some it won’t be many…
How about native fruits? I’ll take a picture of the wild Lowbush blueberries growing on my friends land the next time I’m up there. I may try to transplant one into a container at home while I’m at it.
That plant looks beautiful, interesting that it’s doing so well in such a spot, has it produced or spread much?
I just transplanted a small blackberry cane that popped up under the fence. The plant has been growing between my neighbors garage and the fence, in with the weeds, for close to a decade. When I was digging, it was more just pulling out rocks the size of marbles and walnuts mixed with sandy dirt. The new owner completely cleared and then added tarp and gravel around the garage, so it was more of a rescue, and I had completely forgotten there were berries hidden in the brush.
raspberries are the 1st pioneer species here after a fire or in disturbed areas. a clearcut forest becomes a big raspberry field if it isn’t sprayed with herbicide before replanting. they are a very tough plant.
Yes, they are though, but here Blackberries outgrow them very fast because you can’t stop Blackberries with mowing. This raspberry only survived because it has most of its canes hidden behind the stack of pipes and I was too lazy last year to go behind the stack and pull it up.
Now im glad because while it had a few berries last year, there seem to be more this year. And they’re early too…
Wow, didn’t realize how crazy they’ll take hold of open area. What a tasty weed lol. On that note, I’m surprised more people don’t try to contain them in raised (or sunken) beds as a way to control the roots. I’ll be growing mine in beds, only because I am gardening on paved driveway.
I do hope there are a few left at my in-laws but even if there are some it won’t be many…
