North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Don Yellman <dyellman@earthlink.net>]

Mr. Bunny:

Blushing Golden was once a variety exclusive to Stark Bros.; I'm not 
sure if it still is.  Stark Bros. don't tell you much about the trees 
they sell, not even roostock type, but I strongly suspect BG is a sport 
of Golden Delicious.  The take on BG is that it is a very late apple, at 
least a month later than Golden Delicious, and that it has a more tart, 
spicy flavor than Golden Delicious.  It is also said to be an excellent 
keeper, which would not be surprising for a sport of Golden Delicious. 
It is supposed to develop a pink blush over the yellow background when 
fully ripe.

I planted a Blushing Golden five years ago, lured by one of Stark Bros. 
end-of season sales.  About half price.  You can't be sure of the 
rootstock with Stark Bros., but it looks to be on M-7.  This year it set 
a good crop of fruit on the very nicely shaped young tree.  But most of 
the fruit did not fill out properly, although it was thinned to one per 
cluster, and it all dropped prematurely.  My apple trees (but not the 
pears) suffered a moderate-to-severe bout with fireblight this summer, 
and Blushing Golden was one of the hardest hit.  I kept snipping the 
fireblight off the tree (and many others), and I suspect the fireblight 
was also responsible for the premature drop.  When the little half-grown 
apples came down, they appeared similar to Golden Delicious, perhaps a 
bit more conical in shape.  However, many of my other trees suffered 
fireblight attacks, and it did not cause such a complete fruit drop.

Only time will tell whether this fireblight infection, which was far 
more widespread on the apples than I had ever seen before, will return 
to haunt me next season.  This summer was extremely hot and humid here 
(2nd warmest on record), but I don't think that alone was responsible 
for the severe infection.  If it does not recur, I may be able to ripen 
out Blushing Golden next year.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA