I was wondering if anyone has any first hand experience with this apple?
Due to its name and the strong link to general apple growing in the Winchester VA area, ive found it a nightmare to try finding information about via search engines.
I ask because I had the chance to try a couple this summer from an orchard that specializes in older heirloom apples, and found it interesting enough I am considering trying to source some scion wood and use it to learn to graft some onto a crabapple that’s growing in my yard in hopes of getting a few fruits later on (assuming that’s possible - haven’t seen it talked about but a few places, much less wood/trees being offered for sale).
But I also don’t want to spend the energy hunting down some wood on the coming years if it will be a headache to grow (e.g. if it will be a huge vector/magnet for fireblight, etc to get into my home orchard).
From the only 2 I tried (wish i had gotten a few more), the apple was rather bland for fresh eating, with just a hint of spicy acid and otherwise thoroughly forgetable. But what surprised me with it was that it baked up into a tastier apple than most any I can recall having tried.
I can’t justify growing it in my limited space over a couple of more all-purpose apples, but if i can start my crabapple towards a Frankentree with this I might try just to get a few to bake with.
I don’t get the impression this is an apple that many people grow though. Any experience regarding it is welcome.
Good luck on your search. Hocking Hills appears to be the only nursery stocking it now as scions only. Botner had it; but TOC who took over the collection does not list it anymore. You could try emailing an inquiry to TOC as there are a few off list now available,
I have one tree of Winchester growing at our Hocking Hills Orchard. The notes on my spreadsheet for it state:
York Imperial x Lowry, dessert variety released by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station. Ripens in mid-September, covered with 60 to 90% orange red blush over a green background. Fruit averages 3 to 3.5 inches in diameter and weigh about half-a-pound each. The flesh is white, crisp, juicy, and the flavor is tart to subacid.
Oh good to know. Its parentage and ripening dates are about all the info I’ve been able to find so far.
Do you happen to have any notes on disease/pest resistance or vulnerability, or even bloom times by chance (I have a small yard so will only have 2-3 other apples (and 1 of those is triploid so only 1-2 in reality) -plus the crabapple- to pollinate with so if it’s very early or very late blooming it might be a non-starter for my situation currently anyway)
Of the apples released by Virginia, Shenandoah seemed to be the best one. Big Horse Creek sells scions of it. Roanoke is another that faded into obscurity. All were adapted to the mountain growing regions. I would expect all to have resistance to at least one major apple disease being a university release where cost of production is the main driving point on offering commercial apples.
A quick search of online release notes did not turn up open access results.