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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] ? Baldwin & Minn 447 Zone 6 Idaho

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  • From: dwoodard@becon.org
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] ? Baldwin & Minn 447 Zone 6 Idaho
  • Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2007 05:09:48 -0500 (EST)

Naomi, Cox is notorious for disliking hot weather, as well as for cold-tenderness.

In the absence (?) of information from people with actual experience of conditions similar to yours:

Just speculating, I would guess that MN 447, bred and selected in Minnesota where I understand the summers can be hot, would *probably* do fairly well for you.

Baldwin is a classic New England apple, and I wouldn't be as confident about it. It might not suffer any more than Jonagold, which is said to prefer milder summers.

I have no idea how carefully you have surveyed and taste-tested available apples, but I will offer some suggestions, mostly just from reading:

You might consider apples from the Summerland station in the Okanagan valley where summers are hot and dry and orchards have to be irrigated.
Spartan is a McIntosh type that does well there (McIntosh x Newtown),
a good supermarket apple in Canada, and the Okanagan grown ones are especially popular. I have noticed some of the better grown ones with an extremely pleasant flavour.

Spencer ( McIntosh x Golden Delicious) was bred there and is said to be of high quality, picks late and keeps fairly well.

Brooks and Olmo say of Spencer; "quality extremely high; shows a tendency for breakdown in cold storage in some areas but in other areas, it keeps well until March, matures about 3 weeks later than McIntosh; requires moderate thinning. Tree: very hardy, being slightly hardier than Spartan or McIntosh; vigourous, upright, spreading."

I believe Newtown used to be grown in the Okanagan. By report it is at its best in late winter; perhaps not worth growing for early consumption.

Melrose (Jonathan x Red Delicious, bred Ohio) is a quality keeping apple which might be worth considering.

Kidd's Orange Red (Red Delicious x Cox Orange, New Zealand) seems to be well liked for quality. Brooks and Olmo say "best suited to warm climates." Lawrence Hills (The Fruit Finder, 1977) says 'resists scab and mildew and has near a Cox flavour."

Generally, New Zealand, Australian and Japanese apples might be more likely to be suited to hot summers.

Sturmer Pippin is an English apple, said to have Cox ancestry, which
used to be grown in Australia for shipment to England. High vitamin C
(29 mg/100 grams). Probably hard to get. Reputedly well flavoured. Dull appearance. Good keeper.

Robert Nitschke in his 1968 Southmeadow Fruit Gardens catalogue (long before the present owners of ill repute), mentioned that Calville Blanc d'Hiver only reached its best quality in the warmest summers in his orchard at Detroit. It's a French gourmet apple, although I have encountered conflicting reports as to whether it was/is favoured for fresh eating or cooking. Reputed difficult to grow. High vitamin C (35 mg/100 g.)

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario


On Fri, 16 Feb 2007, Naomi wrote:

Thank you. It is not the frost /cold tenderness I worry about. I have had
a Cox for 15 years. One year it bore well. The rest of the time it
produced poor fruit. Ed Fackler said that Cox does not like hot weather.
He said the same on the Karminj. That is my concern. Will Baldwin and MN
447 taste good in my area because of the summertime 100 degrees?
Naomi

[snip]




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