Zone 4b Apple Tree Suggestions…with a catch!

General Fruit Growing
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Hi all, I searched far and wide for an answer, but came up empty. Here is my predicament:

I saw Scott’s wonderful post advising to watch how many Golden Delicious sports you have, which made me realize I have many (whoops). Currently, I have (or purchased) the following trees: Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Rubinette, and a Hooples (I know it’s zone 5, but I’m going to try after reading the reviews). So, does anyone have a good non-GD tree suggestions for a zone 4b grower that I can add to the gang to help with pollination? I am further looking for something interesting (vague, I know), disease resistant, preferably heirloom (although not tied to that), with unique flavor.

Any suggestions/advise? I would GREATLY appreciate any help!

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Sweet Sixteen and its parent, Frostbite, come to mind. Fedco has both of these, and lots of other cold-hardy options.

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Yes, and several other apples from the U of Minnesota. Including Malinda they used from early on in breeding.

Frostbite and S.16 are going to be high brix (sugar).

Possibly Northern Spy or Black Oxford.

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Unique flavor to do what? Juicing? Fresh eating? Cooking? apple butter/sauce? If you want something for pies the best apple butter fruit in the world is going to suck.

How many spots do you have for trees? I know, we all wish we planted trees 10 years ago but right here right now you may want to slow your roll and carefully sort out the candidates, even if you skip yet another season. I think most of us have also succumbed to enthusiasm and regret a tree or three we planted, now wishing it was something else.

My favorite fresh eating apple is Prairie Magic, juice is great too. Favorite ‘interesting’ apple is Kerr crabs, ruby red juice tastes like cranberries, great for off hand eating. Favorite hard cider apple is Franklin crabs, completely inedible off hand, the juice makes a world class cider.

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I am looking for something for fresh eating. Right now, I have 3-4 spots available. Although, two of those are reserved for the Rubinette and Hooples. I was going to get a Pippen, but realized it may not line up (pollination wise) with everything and I heard it’s difficult to grow.

And, I completely agree regarding going slow. I left them open last year for that reason, and have been researching the next batch to add for the last few months. So, I am trying to make sure I make the right decision now, and if that means waiting, so be it.

In any event, I am hoping to nail down some good suggestions now so I can continue looking into things (albeit more productively)!

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I’ve been looking for a Malinda for years. I gave up on buying a tree and started looking for scions. The only place I’ve found any is at Maple Valley. I’ll be ordering a stick or two when they open for orders.

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Pixie Crunch is another excellent one, the only downside is it is small…

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@derekamills has Malinda scions available as well.

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Scott Farm Orchard in Vermont has the variety, and about 130 others.
Not sure if theY only sell apples, or also scions or something?
Nice.

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Good to know. I don’t see Malinda listed on his website.

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Derek has said that his website is hopelessly out of date. PM or E-mail him (derekcs2005@aol.com) and he’ll send you an up-to-date spreadsheet and ordering instructions.

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I believe they only sell apples

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Nah, I look at websites and order what I want. I can find it listed on Maple Valley’s site, I’ll order it there.

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Skillcut on here gives high praise to Williams Pride and hes tasted hundreds, maybe thousands of apples. its also very resistant to diseases and a earlier apple. im putting one in next spring. another early one is Pristine which is also disease resistant.

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This may be an ignorant question (apologies if so), but aren’t Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Hooples, and Rubinette all mid-to-late season apples? I had my eye on Williams Pride but moved on when I thought it would bloom too early to benefit the others.

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The honey crisp is a hard to grow apple, if I could I would rather grow the pippin.

Look for a crab apple, some are truly fantastic and a good number of them bloom for longer than full size apples, making them ideal pollinators.

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I was debating adding Kerr or Dolgo actually. However, space is at a premium right now so I’m trying to make sure I get something that’ll both help with pollination and be a joy to eat.

How do crabs typically compare to regular apples In your experience?

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Some crabs are superior to most apples. When picking apples in orchard with variety I tend to gravitate towards munching on Chestnut crabapples.

Between Kerr and Dolgo I would take the Kerr.

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The only crab i would rate equal or better to many apples is Chestnut.

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Alma sweet can be a great crab on a good year. It also has bad years.

Trailman and centennial are pretty darn good.

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