Green Thumb Corner

The Wolf River Apple, Malus 'Wolf River', is best known for its large size, which can grow up to 5" diameter fruit. This is one enormous apple! The fruit is so large that some have said that just one apple can make a pie! These huge fruits have been prized for years for baking, applesauce, and apple butter. Weighing up to 1 pound each, the apple is pale yellow to green with carmine-red blushes and stripes. It is thick-skinned, tart, and aromatic. The Wolf River apple is scab and mildew resistant and very winter hardy. An old variety, it is long lived and ripens mid-September to early October in Zone 5. Wolf River is a midseason apple grown best in northern climates. Plant about a month after the first killing frost in the fall or about a month before the last killing frost in the spring. Select a planting site that has good air, drainage, full sunlight and deep, well drained soil.

The Yellow Transparent Apple, Malus 'Yellow Transparent', has a skin that is clear yellow, and the flesh is white. The Yellow Transparent tree is very upright, precocious, and productive, so therefore, is a very heavy producer. It is an early yellow apple, ripening the first week in July. The fruit is tender, juicy, and mildly acid, making it a favorite for homemade applesauce and cooking. Pick before maturity for better storage life. Harvest time is mid-June to July. Careful early training, annual pruning and shaping are required to insure a healthy and productive tree. It is scab resistant. Plant about a month after the first killing frost in the fall or about a month before the last killing frost in the spring. Select a planting site that has good air, drainage, full sunlight and deep, well drained soil.

The Apple - Ashmead's Kernel, Malus domestica 'Ashmead's Kernel', has an appearances that can be deceiving. Ashmeads Kernel is lumpy, misshapen, and rather small, but has remained popular for well over 2 centuries, and with good reason: it has a distinctive flavor that you will rave about because it is quite different from most other varieties. This dessert apple is outstandingly rich and tart, flattish in shape, about the size of a Gala or Jonathan, and half-russetted over gold.

Apple - Cox Orange Pippin, Malus domestica 'Cox Orange Pippin', is the classic English apple, often regarded as the finest of all dessert apples, and it remains unsurpassed for its richness and complexity of flavor. Cox Orange Pippin has a striking and attractive orange-red coloring and is definitely a superb looking and extremely tasty apple. Its medium-sized fruit has yellow skin blushed with orange-red and striped with crimson brown. The Cox Orange Pippin apple is grown for cider, cooking, and eating. The fine-textured, creamy white flesh ripens mid-fall to early winter and will not tolerate extreme cold, heat or low humidity. This upright, spreading tree is covered in pure white, cup-shaped flowers in mid and late spring, followed by first class, juicy dessert apples for harvesting in early to mid-October.

The Apple - Pink Pearl, Malus domestica 'Pink Pearl', is an apple that is generally medium sized, with a conical shape. Pink Pearl has a translucent, yellow-green skin, and a crisp, juicy flesh with tart to sweet-tart taste. This apple has a secret: inside, it is positively vampy, with startling bright pink, sweet-tart flesh. Even the blooms are bright pink! The fruit is crisp and tastes of raspberries and lemon custard. Pink Pearl apples ripen in late August to mid-September. It is a wonderful table apple and makes a beautiful pink applesauce.

Apple - Yellow Newton Pippin, Malus domestica 'Yellow Newton Pippin', is more flavorful and holds its shape better than any other pie apple. Green with yellow highlights, this snappy, tart treat is an excellent eating apple. This all purpose apple is sweeter than Granny Smith, and it is unparalleled for cooking and baking. If you like apple pie, this is the apple for you! This vigorous tree is generally late blooming, and it needs full sun, well-drained soil, and moderate fertility. It is best to thin fruit to maximize quality and size. Yellow Newton stores well and is self fertile. For peak flavor and acid/sugar balance, wait until harvest when cheeks are yellowish-green.

The Tomcot Apricot is a very consistent and productive apricot variety. The large, orange fruit is firm and the flesh is sweet.The Tomcat Apricot will be ready for harvest, 2-3 weeks before Wenatchee and 4 days before Goldstrike and Goldbar. This fruit tree is partly self-fruitful but they will produce larger crops if cross-pollinated by another apricot. The fruit ripens in early July, 2.5 weeks before Wenatchee and 4 days before Goldstrike and Goldbar. The skin is a light-orange color and slightly glossy. A trace of blush develops on the side that is exposed to the sun. The pit is medium-large and free from the flesh.

The Flavor Delight Aprium®, is a cross of a apricot and a plum tree. The Flavor Delight is 3/4 Apricot and 1/4 Plum with a very sweet taste. The flesh of the fruit is yellow and firm like an apricot but contains the taste of both fruits. This fruit of this self-fertile tree ripens in Late June and with proper pruning can be maintained around 10 feet tall. Even though the Flavor Delight is self-fruitful, larger fruit will be achieved by pollinating with any other apricot tree.

The Wenatachee Apricot bears large size fruit. This apricot may also be called Moorpark. The fruit and skin is a light yellow. The Wenatchee is known for being a good annual producer. The fruit is flavorful and is widely used for drying and home canning. It is a self-pollinating tree. The Wenatachee blooms very early so it is sometimes difficult in late frost areas. It produces best in well drained and moderately fertile soil. Thin fruit early in season for size/quality.

The Goldbar apricot produces very large, light yellow-orange fruit with reddish blush. The fruit is round to oval with slightly compressed sides and is very large. The skin is light-orange and slightly glossy. A reddish blush covers up to 30% of the side that is exposed to the sun. The flesh is light orange, very firm, meaty and moderately juicy. Some acidity is associated with the skin. Quality for the fresh market is good. The pit is large and freestone. Goldbar is not suitable for canning. It is a vigorous tree that flowers heavily but sets light crop, which increases fruit size.

The Goldstrike apricot has large and firm fruit. The fruit is round to slightly oval and is very large when well-thinned. The skin is a light-orange color and slightly glossy. A reddish blush covers up to 20% of the side that is exposed to the sun. The flesh is light orange, firm, meaty and moderately juicy. Some acidity is associated with the skin. The pit is medium-large and free from the flesh. Goldstrike is not suitable for canning. Goldstrike trees bloom heavily but fruit set is often moderate to light under natural pollination. This apricot has excellent eating quality. It will cross-pollinate with the Goldbar.

The Tilton apricot is the leading variety for freezing, drying, and canning. Tilton apricots are a unique looking apricot and are one of the most flavorful of all apricots. Their appearance is noted by having a slightly flatter shape with a "suture" line that goes halfway around the fruit. This longtime favorite is tender and juicy with a sweet-tart flavor. It has medium sized fruit that is heart shaped. It has a light orange skin. The flesh is firm and flavorful and it has a golden color with a red blush. A vigorous tree which bears heavy crops and is resistant to late frosts. One of the earliest ripening fruits. Blooms very early and ripens late June to early July.