Thousands of named apples exist, but a high percentage of them are unsuitable for regions with severe winter temperatures. Some apples, although hardy, are difficult to grow or are unproductive.
Having moved to an area where temperatures can drop to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, I quickly learned that many apples wouldn’t put up with the frigid winters. My passion became to learn about the cultivars and rootstocks that would.
A Bite of Apple History
The story of the cultivated apple begins where the vast steppes of Central Asia buckle against the rocky slopes of the Tian Shan mountains. Apples grew from lowlands, where summers are hot and dry and winters cool, to high mountain valleys, where summers are cool and winters bitterly cold. This diversity of habitats created a diversity of genetics.
Apples came to North America with the earliest immigrants. By the late 19th century, orchardists and farmers were growing hundreds, if not thousands, of named cultivars across the continent. In northern areas, however, harsh winter conditions killed many of these trees.
A series of imports had a huge impact on the apple mix for the north. In the 1880s, apples that originated in the colder areas of Russia were brought to Canada and the northern states. Names such as ‘Antonovka’ quickly became household names because of their hardiness and tenacity.
Private individuals and public institutions started breeding apples in earnest, crossing hardier types with less-hardy but higher-quality cultivars. People discovered many superior seedlings growing in their hedgerows and orchards. The expanding stable of apples resulted in better-quality fruit and trees that could be grown in areas with extremely low temperatures.
Notes on Taste
Descriptions of an apple’s taste can be objective only when judging a cultivar’s level of acidity, sweetness, or tannins, because these qualities can be measured in a laboratory. Our tongues can also tell an acidic apple from a more neutral or sweet one.
Nuances of flavor, on the other hand, aren’t quantifiable for most of us. We often resort to comparisons with other foods. An apple may be said to have hints of pear, banana, raspberry, nuts, or caramel. Distinguished palates might pick out subtle aromas. Interested parties can develop sophisticated abilities, becoming what the American Cider Association calls a “Certified Pommelier.”
Apples can behave very differently in different places. Geography, topography, climatic patterns, soils, and management practices can cause an apple to prosper in one place and suffer in another — sometimes within a dog’s bark of each other. An apple grown in a warmer climate under irrigation and intensive management may look and taste much different than the same apple grown where it’s cold and under less-intensive management. My ‘Golden Delicious’ apples barely resemble those from Washington state — same genetics, different results. The descriptions that follow are based on my experience with these particular cultivars; you might have a vastly different experience with the same apples. This is part of the joy of cultivating fruit trees — every season, every fruit invites a new and unique moment.
‘Haralson’ Apple
- Hardiness: Zone 3
- Introduced: 1922
- Origin: Minnesota
- Primary uses: dessert; cooking
(CC BY-NC 2.0) ‘Haralson’ creates wonderful pies because of its acidity."/>Seth Kenny of Morristown, Minnesota, planted the seed in 1908 and selected the seedling in 1913. After distributing it to other growers for trialing, the new apple was named after Charles Haralson, the superintendent of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. Until now, it’s been the most-planted apple in that state’s orchards, though by the time you read this, ‘Honeycrisp’ and ‘Zestar!’ will likely have changed things. In the past, its origin was listed as ‘Malinda x Ben Davis,’ but DNA testing unveiled that the pollen parent was ‘Wealthy.’
‘Haralson’ is a superbly hardy apple. The tree has a relatively small stature, with a strong central leader and wide-angled branches. Bearing is somewhat biennial, so thinning is recommended to produce more fruit.
The apple has a tangy tartness, though allowing the fruit to fully mature on the tree will boost the sweetness. Most often eaten fresh as a dessert fruit, it nevertheless creates wonderful pies because of its high acidity.
The fruit is round to slightly conic and has even red striping over its entire surface. Several deeper-red sports, showing little striping, are available. They include ‘Red Haralson,’ ‘Haralred’ and ‘Scarlet O’Haralson.’
For those living where spit can freeze before it hits the ground, ‘Haralson’ is a good choice.
‘Antonovka’
- Hardiness: Zone 2
- Introduced: 19th century
- Origin: Russia
- Primary uses: cooking; baking; dessert
I have a special isolated orchard that contains only two cultivars, ‘Beautiful Arcade’ and ‘Antonovka.’ Both are old Russian apples whose rootstocks are highly valued for inducing superior hardiness and causing high productivity. Their rootstocks are well-anchored and usually produce trees about two-thirds the size of a typical seedling. I’ve isolated these trees to ensure that a great percentage of the seedlings will be crosses between the two cultivars and more likely to maintain the best features of these special trees.
‘Beautiful Arcade’ never became popular, as it ripens early and breaks down quickly. ‘Antonovka,’ on the other hand, is a good apple in its own right and also one of the best-known sources of hardy rootstock. Though scarcely grown for eating in North America, it’s one of the most popular apples in Russia, Poland, and other Eastern European countries.
‘Antonovka’ is believed to have originated in the city of Kursk, about 200 miles southeast of Moscow. The tree was brought to the United States in 1870. The tree is upright to slightly spreading, and it’s naturally smaller than most. It bears every year and is healthy, being little affected by apple scab and not particularly attractive to apple maggots. The fruit will hang on into winter if not picked. Most amazing is that the tree will survive into Zone 2, making it among the hardiest of cultivated apples.
The fruit’s dimpled surface, combined with its soft, rounded ribs, gives it the appearance of an overstuffed bean bag. It’s round to oblate, with a large, closed calyx set in a wavy basin. (“Calyx” is the collective name for the specialized leaves located at the outermost portion of the flower, and the basin is the depression at the blossom end of the apple. The remains of the calyx can be found at the center of the basin.) The stem is short to medium in length, nestled in a deep cavity that often has streaks of russet emanating from it. The fruit itself is solid green, which yellows with maturity. Inside is a flesh that’s coarse, juicy, and tart, though it has plenty of sugar for balance.
‘Antonovka’ is a gift to the bakers of the world. The fruit’s acidity doesn’t fade — allowing even stored specimens to produce wonderful baked products — yet its sugars are high enough to reduce the amount of added sweetener needed for pies and baked apples. If picked when the skin’s yellow hue has overtaken the green, it makes a lovely eating apple — refreshing and sweet.
If you live where a walk in winter without gloves is a shortcut to the emergency room’s frostbite unit, this apple can provide a fine-quality fruit without any special attention. Pair it with another super-hardy cultivar for pollination, and you’ll be able to participate in the delights of apple growing even while living in a land better known for short willows and poplar groves. If you’re a grafter, the seeds will produce deep-rooted, extra-hardy rootstocks. It’s also been instrumental in giving scab resistance to many of the newly bred disease-free cultivars. ‘Antonovka’ is an important apple, indeed.
‘Bramley’
- Hardiness: Zone 4
- Introduced: circa 1846
- Origin: England
- Primary uses: cooking; baking
Few apple histories are as well-documented as that of ‘Bramley’ (alias ‘Bramley’s Seedling’). This famous cultivar originated at the hands of a small girl, Mary Anne Brailsford of Southwell, England. She planted several pips in pots. One seedling thrived and was planted in the family garden in 1809, where it grew into a vigorous tree with large, green apples. The family later moved, and the cottage was purchased by a local man named Matthew Bramley. In 1856, nurseryman Henry Merryweather asked to propagate and sell the tree. Bramley agreed, with the proviso that the apple be named after him. The Royal Horticultural Society recommended it by 1876. Until recently, ‘Bramley’ accounted for nearly all the cooking apples sold in England. The original tree survives and is considered a national treasure. The pity of it all is that the apple wasn’t named ‘Mary’s Pippin.’
This apple’s notoriety is due to its excellent culinary characteristics and extremely large size. The fruit is round and somewhat blocky, often ribbed and grass-green with red striping where it receives sun. It has a short, thick stem. The flavor of ‘Bramley’ is quite sharp when picked before fully ripe, but it mellows somewhat as it ripens; this occurs mid-to-late-October in New Brunswick. The flesh is white and often tinged with green. The cooked fruit has the unusual quality of becoming golden and fluffy. This characteristic, combined with its acidity, makes it one of the finest apples for pies and pastries. ‘Bramley’ will keep in cold storage until midwinter.
The strong tree is stout and wide, reflective of its twigs and branches, which are much bulkier than most. This is one of the most pleasing tree forms for me, though picking is a challenge, as the branches tend to be low and horizontal. Both fruit and leaves are highly resistant to apple scab. ‘Bramley’ requires the pollen of two other cultivars for pollination.
In an age when nearly all apples sold are dessert apples for eating fresh, finding fine fruit for cooking can be difficult. If you have a chance to purchase ‘Bramley’ fruit, do so; if you have a chance to plant a tree, even better.
‘Roxbury Russet’
- Hardiness: Zone 4
- Introduced: late 17th century
- Origin: Massachusetts
- Primary uses: dessert; cooking; cider
(CC BY-NC 2.0) ‘Roxbury Russet’ is excellent for eating fresh as well as making into cider."/>This might be the great-granddaddy of American apples, considered by most to be the first named apple cultivar in America. When applied to apples, “russet” is a term describing a reddish or tan area on the skin that resembles leather and is often rough to the touch.
Records show that trees or scions were taken from the farm of Ebenezer Davis of Roxbury, Massachusetts, to Connecticut in 1649 — meaning the original tree must’ve first appeared in the 1620s or 1630s, brought to the continent by the earliest European settlers. This apple is still grown today, a testament to its excellence.
‘Roxbury Russet’ bears a medium to large oblate to oblate-conic fruit that’s sometimes elliptical. The stem is thick and short to medium in length, often shaded red on one side. The skin’s greenish-yellow background is overlaid with a patchy layer of yellow-brown russet, sometimes with a bronze blush that can turn to dull red. Inside is a green-yellow flesh, coarse yet juicy and sprightly with overtones of spice. Although somewhat tart, the fruit also holds a great deal of sugar, which the cider-maker can take advantage of.
The tree is long-lived and vigorous, with strong limbs and a spreading form. An excellent pollinator for mid-to-late-season bloomers, ‘Roxbury Russet’ is partially self-fruitful. In areas colder than Zone 4, make sure it’s been grafted on hardy roots.
Considered by many to be among the finest flavored of any, ‘Roxbury Russet’ was originally planted as a cider apple. Its complexity makes it a worthwhile addition to a cider mix. If stored in favorable conditions, the fruit will keep until the following summer — one of the reasons it was so popular in the days before refrigeration. ‘Roxbury Russet’ is also quite resistant to most diseases that plague apples, including apple scab, mildew, and fire blight.
Cultivars for Northern Climates
The following selections have been chosen for their hardiness, outstanding flavor, culinary excellence, disease resistance, or historical importance. All are interesting and useful, and some are exceptional. Note that no list can be considered complete.
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Tree Resources
Cultivars mentioned in this story are available from the following vendors.
Bob Osborne is a horticulturist with more than 40 years of experience propagating and selling apple cultivars from his Canadian nursery. This adapted excerpt is from his book, Hardy Apples: Growing Apples in Cold Climates.
