Larry, do you know the source for the "Mountain Rose" in Bend? They may ship to California.

Patty S.

Patty, I surely hope I didn't find the wrong nursery, but I ordered from 'One Green World'. I have never ordered from them before, but read all the pos. and negs. about them, and pos. out-weighed the negs. Mrs. G

I've ordered from them before, no problems at all. Good quality product, quick delivery.

Patty S.

There are several red fleshed apples developed in Italy and sitting in USDA holding areas for future sale in the USA. Who knows when they will clear quarantine (last I heard they keep finding more retrovirus D particles). Frankly, most of the pink/red apples are not good fresh eating apples. They are entertaining cooking/saucing apples. A few exceptions.

I was sorry to see people reporting a 50% failure rate with Greenmantle. I got 4 benchgraft pears from them last year and only 1 broke bud and is now planted. I hoped they would get better skills, especially on the easiest of all: apples.

Of 24 apple benchgrafts I got from Kuffel Creek 23 broke bud after sitting 9 weeks in my frige because I didn't have time to get to them. I have another 25 sitting in pots this year and it is finally getting warm enough that they are popping out. It is kind of cool having the mailman deliver 24 trees in your mailbox.

http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/apple52.html

http://www.fourseasonscabinrental.com/redfleshedapples.html

Trees of Antiquity has at least 3 pink ones under apples> pink _____ name.
http://www.treesofantiquity.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1

http://www.greenmantlenursery.com/fruit/rosetta-apples.htm

http://www.greenmantlenursery.com/2008revision/fruit2008/etter-apples2008.htm

http://www.greenmantlenursery.com/2008revision/fruit2008/rosetta-apples2008.htm

Thanks Patty that is really good news, since most of us are really picky, me included. We all hate being disappointed with mis-representation. That is reason #1 why I pulled back from Greenmantle. Too many neg. comments.

Fascist, thanks so much for your comments as well. I visited every site you were kind enough to post. Isn't it funny that 'red-fleshed' apples will become the new hot tree to own. They've been around for years. I plan on cooking with mine. And cannot wait for one that will be developed that will taste and be the size of Jonagold! Thanks all, Mrs. G

Mrs G, Realize their guarentee is only till June 1. For us northern folks that is not long. If you have trouble notify them early.

Peachymomo, I'm going to try your applesauce recipe. Never used honey or lemon in mine before. Do you add cinnamon? Mrs. G , PS. RED applesauce, now those are some apples!

Thanks Bruce. If the trees are fresh and dormant, I don't see why there would be a problem unless they miss my shipping date. Thanks for the 'heads up'!

Patti: (mountain rose apple)

http://mikuni.myshopify.com/products/mountain-rose-apples
(out of stock until next autumn)
Mikuni Wild Harvest dot com

I purchased mine at Sheridan Fruit Market in Portland in December. Put it under the Christmas tree.

Original google search: hood+river AND "mountain rose"

Patty thanks! Your Mountain Rose apple is beautiful. I think I'm finished for this spring as far as orders go, and I'm just happy your nursery is out of stock. Mrs. G :)

When I'm going for really good pink color I leave out the cinnamon, which can always be added later. I usually make two batches of sauce - one with lemon and honey and one with brown sugar, cinnamon, and brandy. They honey type tends so be so pink it looks like I used artificial coloring, lemon slows the oxidizing and honey is a natural preservative so you get really good color. I also have some 'anti-sugar' relatives who will only eat things sweetened with honey, so I usually end up making a honey sweetened version of everything. It's tasty, but I have to admit that when just snacking I prefer the kind with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Oh boy, peachymomo, you're making my mouth water! Would you be willing to share your applesauce recipes with us? I just love applesauce, and would love to try your recipes! Especially one with a little brandy in it, yum!

Patty S.

I have noticed that the foliage on the red-fleshed and pink-fleshed apples is almost gray, and even a bit fuzzy. That makes for a very interesting tree in ones orchard, where most leaves are usually green. These leaves are almost gray. Very beautiful. Also the blossoms are deep pink to red. Reminiscent of crabapples! Mrs. G

Yes, that's another reason I like the red wonder apple.
Do you have picture links of others?

I've never actually written a recipe down, I just guess and adjust to taste so I can't give you specifics but I'll write down the process.

Honey Applesauce:

I start by squeezing the juice of a lemon or two into the bowl for the apples, then as I add the peeled, cored, and sliced apples I swirl them in the lemon to coat them so they don't brown so fast. I put the apples in a large pot with a little water, a pinch of salt, and some honey, I like to use clover or another lightly colored and flavored honey. Sweeten it to taste, maybe 1 cup of honey for 6 pounds of apples, a little goes a long way. Cover and simmer the apples until they get soft, stirring frequently to be sure they don't scorch and adding water if necessary, be sure to taste it as it cooks and adjust for sweetness. When it's done I like to puree the sauce so it's nice and smooth.

Brandy Applesauce:

Once again I start with lemon juice in the bowl, and then peeling, coring, and slicing the apples. I mix a little cinnamon and a pinch of salt into some brown sugar, then melt some butter in a pot and add a little brandy, some apple juice or apple cider, and stir everything together before adding the apples. Then cover, simmer, stir to keep from scorching, and puree at the end if you want. Be sure to taste along the way to get the right amount of sweetness and spice.

Sorry I can't give any measurements, but hopefully going by taste will yield sauce that is perfect just for you.

Enjoy!

Thank you for the recipe. I think we should start a thread for those in the fall don't you?

Konrad, my Mott's Pink apple has grey fuzzy leaves also. The leaves seem much stronger and thicker, as they were the last to drop this past fall. I do not have other photographs yet. I only saw pictures on the internet of the leaves in 'cluster', or in my own back yard. I'll take pics for you as soon as my trees leaf out. It is a wonderful contrast! Mrs. G

Thanks, peachymomo! Konrad, I'd just die for some budwood from your Red Wonder, cannot find any mention at all of this cultivar anywhere, but I wonder if I could get it to grow in my aera. My chill hours are only about 600 to maybe 700 max on a good year.

Patty S.

Patty,

You may have good luck growing a red fleshed apple. Jon @ Encanto Farms grows grenadine. He might have scionwood for you too.

Good Luck,
Little John

Jeepers, I'll email Jon right away, before we get bud break. Thanks for the tip, wildforager. He grows SO much down there, hard to keep up with it all. I'll have to check out Grenadine. Now, to find spots to squeeze these red-fleshed trees. I have a Goldrush and the Myra Fuji on its way. Now, to squeeze maybe 2 or 3 red-fleshed varieties. My goodness, I'm going to have to think of 6 ways to Sunday to eat all these apples. Apples grow extremely well here in my area, despite chill requirements, and I have a relatively high number of chill hours for my area, due to my odd microclimate. Looks like I'll hit almost 600 ch, which is pretty good for only being 4 or 7 miles from the ocean in San Diego county :-)

Patty S.

OK, if this is turning into a recipe thread let me add a link to my Shutterfly album which describes how I make a whole grain loaf of bread.

http://markswholegrainbreadhowto.shutterfly.com/

Should be good with that beautiful applesauce, although lately we've been using raspberry preserves.

I think a new thread for recipes is better. Start a fresh thread and post there, it will be better viewed! Thanks, Mrs. G

I went red apple crazy this year as well. Talked to someone at Trees Of Antiquity and ended up with a Pink Sparkle, Pink Pearl, and a Buford Red Flesh. I was interested in the Niedzwetzkyana but was told the Buford might be a better choice.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the fall color on the Buford, as well as the interesting shape of the Pink Sparkle.

Oops- Sorry, Mrs. G. I missed your earlier post. My bad. This isn't really the place.

No problem mrknmt! Mr.Caballus, isn't it easy to go crazy with something that is new and being developed. I almost purchased a Buford, but held back. I cannot wait to see pictures of your this fall or late summer. When does it ripen. The reds I chose will ripen in late july early aug. But I won't see fruit for a couple of years. I'll be able to take pictures of my Motts' Pink this summer. It all started with pink then went to red. I also really wanted the darkest Niedswetzkyana, but couldn't find one for sale.

I put in a Pink Pearl last year from Greenmantle. I've read comments of folks dissatisfied with their product. I've ordered 4 different times from Greenmantle and had good luck every time. Last year I received about 10 bench grafts and all but one "took".

I've ordered from them enough, I know what to expect. The grafts are small, so if size is at all a consideration, Greenmantle is not the place to order from.

I've never seen them actually have any one year grafted trees in inventory. All they have available are bench grafts. I think Ram (owner) is getting quite a bit older and bench grafts don't require near the labor, and so are easier for him to do.

I've talked to Ram quite a bit on the phone and he doesn't strike me as the type of guy who checks his email much. He can also be hard to reach on the phone sometimes, but once you get him on the phone, he'll talk with you as long as you want.

I think their operation is somewhat like Arboreum, that is, you order the trees and don't hear from them again unless you call. The trees just show up.

MrsG47, Trees of Antiquity just says 'midseason'. So it's a bit up in the air. I've also been warned that early and midseason apples may not be very good due to our high heat levels, so I've only planted a couple of each. (As a weird weather year buffer) It's hard to resist some of them though when you read the descriptions!

MrCaballus, no kidding. You read the descriptions and before you know it, you have five new trees arriving instead of one! Mrs. G

Okay, this is most definitely an axiom. I saw Mrs. G's message post, and damn. Now I have 4 red-fleshed apples coming. On top of the two I have to put in that are on their way. So, where the bloody hell am I going to put 6 more apple trees? Oh, I know, next to the 17 pear trees, lol!!! Fortunately they're all on M26. But still. I'm just sayin'. "Must stop buying fruit trees, must stop buying fruit trees, must stop buying fruit trees...."

Patty S.

Patty, we better start lining up all of the people who will eat this fruit! I have discovered, that having at least four or five of each, apple, pear, plum, peach and one cherry isn't that bad. You should try withdrawal by enjoying Konrad's pictures of his fruit and orchard. Being a 'vicarious' fruit watcher is far less expensive and time consuming! Mrs. G LOL

The interesting bit i have found with size of freshly grafted "Small" trees is that they pick up size quite a bit faster than larger dug up trees do...

It doesn't bother me to get an 18" or 2' whip vs a 6' tall dug up tree.. because it's going to be 6' tall by the end of the first season.... and it's not going to have to recover from the massive the trauma to the root system....

My most unhappy Fruit Tree experiences have been with larger "trees"... where you are getting a 3" caliper Plum or some such... and they just languish and pout.... Not to mention that you pay $80.00 vs $15.00......

Thanks

Just did some searching today and came across this thread. I got to several scion exchanges most years and in early February went to the Medocino permaculture event. There was a small bag of quite small sticks of Rubaiyat at the exchange and I picked up one small stick which I grafted today. It is not patented but Greenmantle claims the name is registered. It seems that Mendocino locals don't really respect the claims and use it anyways.

I believe there is a copyright mark on their site. It costs way too much to register each name. But, a copyright should be respected, don't you think? Mrs. G

Even their own website states clearly they "discovered" the variety in a pasture. They did not breed it and the initial breeding work was done by someone else years before....doesn't even sound like it came off their property.

I am not surprised folks don't respect their claims to it. Let them have the name they gave it, but to claim ownership of the genetics (non-propagation agreement) seems a stretch.

I don't know, maybe I'm just a fuddy duddy but the varietals would have been lost without their work so I feel like they have some rights to the genetics. Probably it's because I signed their agreement, but it just doesn't sit right with me.

I have grown red fleshed apples since the mid 1980's and currently grow 150 different varieties of red fleshed apples.

My total apple varieties are just over 740 but red fleshed and pink fleshed and oranged fleshed ones are the most interesting to me.

Somewhere during this string of messages someone mentioned my website:
http://www.fourseasonscabinrental.com/redfleshedapples.html

and although sort of current it is way out of date.

Plus, someone mentioned Pink Sparkle. Back in the early 1990's I ordered Pink Sparkle from Southmeadow Nursery in Michigan thinking I was getting something new. When it arrived down in the bottom by the roots and union I found a Pink Pearmain lable from Greenmantle.

I called Ram at Greenmantle and told him about and while he said it was unethical it was not illegal. Unfortunately mislabeling varieties to come up with something "new" is a problem. And will probably be more of a problem over the next few years as there are probably a dozen large conglomerations working on getting red fleshed apples out to the mass market including one called "The Next Big Thing". Google that phrase and red fleshed apples, pretty interesting.

My favorite red fleshed variety is Pink Pearl but it takes a lot of work. This past year Geneva had an exeptional taste.
Red Devil has a great taste but short shelf life.

Clifford, now marketed as Burford Red Flesh, bears reliably and improves in taste after being picked.

Raven I obtained from an old man in his 80's back in the 80's and is one of our favorites for making red cider.

Niedzwedkyana is brutal and good only for breeding purposes.

Airlie Red Flesh, now marketed as Hidden Rose, is another of my favorites. A nice sweet tart flavor and bears reliably.

Apricot Apple has orange flesh and is one of the most crisp apples I have ever bitten into. Actually crisp does not describe it accurately, hard enough to break teeth is better.

I have many varieties red fleshed varieties from Kazakhstan and Tajikstan that are just starting to come on and bear fruit.

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Fleshed Apples

Derek, thanks for the page, actually I already had it bookmarked. Many of the apples only have hints of red or are hot pink. 'Grenadine' comes close to what I was looking for. I now own, 'Mott Pink' (very hot pink!), 'Scarlett Surprise', and am waiting for my new 'Arborose' from Arboreum. Many of the smaller apples really look like crabs, not full sized apples. 'Rubiyat' is beautiful too. Many thanks. Your site was very helpful. Mrs. G

derekamills,

Welcome to the forum. Your knowledge and experience is much appreciated.

This post was edited by milehighgirl on Tue, Mar 11, 14 at 11:19

Red Merylinn is a new one I grafted a couple of years ago. Fruit is medium sized and ripens in mid September.

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Fleshed Apples

Purple Passion is a large size fruit that is good for cooking and cider.

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Fleshed Apples

Oh Derek, just when I thought I had enough apples you show me Merrylinn. Don't know if I can resist? Are they for sale? Many thanks, Mrs. G

derekamills,

Do you have pictures of your own red flesh apples?

This post was edited by konrad___far_north on Wed, Mar 12, 14 at 22:51

Derek, where or from whom did you get your scion wood for Red Merylinn? After searching the internet I find that the Czech Republic, Germany and France have many of the finest red apples, particularly Germany. I would love to get scion wood of Merilynn as trees do not seem to be for sale here. Thanks, Mrs. G

Mrs. G.,

I didn't see where you had asked me about where I got Hidden Rose. I got it and Scarlet Surprise from One Green World. I have scion that I could send you if you'd like.

Milehigh! Hi and happy 'almost spring'! We did discuss your Hidden Rose, and I did buy my 'Scarlet Surprise' from One Green World, because of your recommendation. Could have been a private email. Anyway, My Mott Pink is very similar in color to your Hidden Rose. I just love them all. Mrs. G

I was wondering if I was having a déjàvu experience! (and that's the limit of my French!)

Wish I could of found this page earlier in the season. Back in the 80's I had my first Pink Apple. I loved the look and the flavor was good when the apples were fresh off the tree. I purchased a tree from a grower in Graton Ca. He called it Pink Pearl. He later turned over the business to his son who told me there were several varieties of pink apple and a neighbor of theirs claimed he had a darker pink one and had given his dad a graft. I begged him for a scion and went home and grafted it on a piece of apple root I dug up out of a pot as I didn't have any rootstock available. I waited years for it to grow and flower and to produce fruit..Only to find out he had given me a pear graft! LOL good pear though

LOL..I bet, by now you know the difference of the wood,..nothing lost!

Thanks Konrad, Wouldn't bet I could tell the difference if someone tested me. Peach and cherry yes. Getting late in the season down here in Northern Ca. Still messing around grafting but now that the rain quit we are going to have 5 days of warm weather. Holding my breath on a Abermarle Pippin. I chip grafted 3 weeks ago, Looks like 2 out of 3 buds are turning green. Did couple Fox Welp and Black Twig 2 days ago so have to wait on those.for another couple weeks. Know of anyone with some Arkansas Black scion wood? Mine didn't take from last year.

Someone needs to start a new thread I think. If this was timely news 4 years ago, it must be more so now. rockcastles@gmail.com

Derek Mills, I just grafted Red Merylinn that I got from you.

All the other scions I've used earlier.

You'll be glad to know the first 8 grafts I did in February 2018 outdoors took 100%.

Then I ran out of rootstock. Too early to tell what the success rates are with April grafts.

I will say this: Alatau, Grenadine, Rubaiyat, on G.202 and Bakhran on standard all were successful of the red fleshed ones. And Ard Cairn Russett was successful on a G.30 root. I think most all will make it...( Odysso is dead)...was able to get two grafts each from all the scionwood I got from you.

Max Phelps

Rock Castles Landscaping

rockcastles@gmail.com

(Got 7 grafts out of scionwood stick sent me by USDA/ARS).