New fruit trees on the way...

[northepaul]

I hope you dont mind me sharing, but I just had to ()
My OH bought me two new fruit trees for my birthday, which should be here November ish.

One Annie Elizabeth apple year old maiden on MM106. (I wanted a 2 year old half standard but they had sold out) and

One Iranian Medlar on Quince C...

Cant wait!

[FB.]

I'm liking the Annie - nice tree, nice blossom, nice fruit, good disease resistance, long keeping qualities (can be eaten raw when well-ripened or after several weeks of storage).
Make sure she's not too exposed to the wind though as those her large/heavy fruits tend to swing around a lot and break off under their momentum.

Not sure about the medlar (but sounds like a bit of fun). I was recently in the town of Bath and one of the local parks had what looked like a medlar tree (from a casual glance at 30yds), but either people didn't know what it was, or they had tried and rejected the fruits, which were all over the ground under the canopy!

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I've recently been working on replacing my own tree losses after what I presume was due to 2009's mild autumn that suddenly plunged into one of the harshest winters in decades. I think that the trees were caught out by the sudden and unusual cold spell. This year, the survivors seem to be preparing for early hibernation. The M25 rootstocks really didn't like the deep freeze, followed by soggy ground.

Being the "prepared" sort of person (and knowing how poor my conditions are), I had several reserve trees - some planted in a bit of waste ground behind my garage, or in dustbins and similar large containers down the side of my house.
I also picked up a handful of trees that were new to me - of some rather rare varieties - and they are on more winter-hardy roots (MM111 instead of M25).
Coeur-de-Boeuf, First-and-Last, Hambledon-Deux-Ans, Milton-Wonder.
Only time will tell how they perform - although three of them are ancient varieties that must have been good to have survived to this day.
As for why they're no longer popular.......well, I guess I'll soon find out!

My "reserves" - some bought recently - for replacement of any prematurely dying trees in future years will include:
Belle de Boskoop M25
Brownlees Russet M25
Egremont Russet MM111
First-and-Last MM111
Howgate Wonder M25
Jupiter M25
Smart's Prince Arthur M25
Winston M25
Worcester Pearmain M25

You may wonder why I persist with M25 - it's so that I don't have all trees on the same rootstock and vulnerable to the same problem.....and because the great vigour of M25 is useful on my poor soil.
At the moment, I have more MM111 than M25 and I'd like to have about equal numbers of each.

[Mell]

You refer to the Annie is that Annie Elizabeth & has your's been in blossom yet ?

[northepaul]

Yes Annie Elizabeth, Mell

They should blossom in spring, although maybe if its a baby it might take a year or two before it does.
By the way, thanks FB for the interesting post.
TBH if I get enough medlars for a couple of jars of jelly I'll be happy. Though I do know they dont produce fruit for approx 5 years.

[Mell]

I'm looking for info and photos on Annie Elizabeth Blossom, for the Leicestershire Heritage Apple Project. The old books say it is a bright pink blossom, very ornamental, but I've not seen one as yet that I'd describe as such. We are rather concerned it became mislabeled.

[FB.]

Mell

I grow Annie Elizabeth and the blossom is nowhere near as pink as "the books" say. Sadly, I lost my M25-rootstock Annie Elizabeth to crown rot a few months ago and gave my M26 cordon away last winter. I still have a young MM106 Bush which I had kept in case all else failed (which it did!).

Either the pink blossom of Annie is a myth, or people exagerate how pink, or maybe there has been a mutation over the years.
Annie's blossom starts out as very deep red-pink buds, but they soon open out to become whitish with a subtle hint of pink.

I'd say that the blossom is only modestly more impressive than any other variety, but Annie's a good organic performer, albeit with a curiously small root system for the tree size, when compared to other varieties on the same rootstock.

Personally, I find the blossom of part-tip-bearering apple trees to be the most attractive, due to them not having blossom-less ends on the branches.

For truly pink blossom, I'd say that Brownlees Russet is the one to go for, but it is a spur bearer and needs a good rootstock underneath it to make it grow fast enough.

[Mell]

Thanks

I'm not sure I buy that all have mutated, this is one of the reasons we are looking for as much info as possible, from as many sources as possible. Do you know the origins of your AE trees ? So far most I know of came from a single ultimate source, by the looks of things.

There is the possibility of a change in descriptive terms, but again I'm not convinced about this as it is a comparitive term & as you say they are not much different from most others, I doubt that has changed vastly in 150 years or so. It is a Leicestershire cultivar, hence my interest, we are very keen to ensure that the right cultivar are named correctly and can be pretty certain some fruit trees have been mislabelled from time to time.

The best pink blossoms are on red fleshed apples, in the main. Very decorative

[FB.]

Thanks
Do you know the origins of your AE trees ? So far most I know of came from a single ultimate source, by the looks of things.

Original sources of my Annie Elizabeth stock were Deacons Nursery and Victoriana Nursery - but I have no idea where they got their stock from.
The trees have been "true to type" in all other respects - flowering time, fruit appearance, growth habit etc.

[FB.]

we are very keen to ensure that the right cultivar are named correctly and can be pretty certain some fruit trees have been mislabelled from time to time.

Bernwode trees may be able to clarify the description of Annie Elizabeth - they seem to specialise in preserving the valuable old varieties with names that even nurserymen and apple enthusiasts haven't hard of!
Many comments in their catalogue speak about their attempts to authenticate the identity of many of the rare apples that they offer.

Bernwode's catalogue mentions Annie's blossom:

".....The trees were once popular in ornamental orchards because of their striking deep pink and maroon blossom....."

However, I find that the deep pink and maroon soon opens to become white that is lightly tinged with pink. Admittedly we get strong sun here that tends to "bleach" garden flowers somewhat, but I don't think that sun fading of the pink is the entire explanation.

[Mell]

Thanks. I'm hoping to compare modern trees with an identified really old tree, preferably pre ww2 at least. As you say most other factors tend to fit, but if we believe those were recoirded correctly, it is slightly at odds with accepting the blossom colour was recorded inaccuratly. very weird.

[Mell]

I don't think it is sun, your description pretty much matches my observations. I've asked a couple of nurserys, not sure if Bernwode too, I chat to them fairly often as we have reintroduced quite a few cultivars and as they are great with unusual cultivars we try and get scion wood to them too. You just never know when disaster may strike if you keep all the genes in a single location, sharing scion is the best insurance !

[jojo2910]

Not sure about the medlar (but sounds like a bit of fun). I was recently in the town of Bath and one of the local parks had what looked like a medlar tree (from a casual glance at 30yds), but either people didn't know what it was, or they had tried and rejected the fruits, which were all over the ground under the canopy!

Whereabouts in Bath were you? I live locally and would like to check it out.

[FB.]

I can't remember exactly the location of the (presumed) medlar in Bath, but the park was distinctive in that I was looking down on it from the pathway.
There were a couple of "lions" in there - one sat in a big red/white cross flowerbed and had its head made of flowers.
Also in the same park, near the medlar, was a cloverleaf pattern in a flowerbed.
Also a green-tinged angel statue.
....and the park was alongside the river (near a bridge), maybe on the opposite side of the river to a sports pitch.
There might have been a "Garfunkels" restaurant nearby.


Well, I think that's where the medlar tree was.

[bharper1]

New trees also ordered this week and cant wait! The first 2 are coming from Suttons and the other ten are from Adams Apple. Never ordered from Adams Apple before and they seemed very cheap, £8 per tree! so lets hope the quality is ok.

Redlove Era
Redlove Sirena
Ellisons Orange
Claygate Pearmain
George Cave
Ribston Pippin
Suntan
Spartan
Winter Gem
Monarch
Keswick Codling
Newton Wonder

[Mell]

I can vouch for Adams apples, I have rootstock from him & have had trees stock are great & a great price, he also responds if you ask a question so sure he would be good if there was a problem, but I've never had one !