Our two year old tropical apple is fruiting, and the apples are so good – sweet and crisp and intensely flavoured. The description says they are like a Red Delicious but to my taste they are better. But perhaps that’s cos I am used to apples that have been cold stored and travelled. Tree ripened fruit is always so surprisingly different you wonder what you have been missing.
Anna is a low chill, only needing 200 hours, so I worried that our subtropical, coastal climate wouldn’t get cold enough. We bought the tree from Daley’s in September 2020, so it is just two years in the ground here. But it has set a couple of dozen apples in this first fruiting year, even in a La Nina year. We planted it in compost enriched soil, and we give all the fruit trees half a bucket of seaweed brew every month or so but otherwise it gets no real special treatment.
The tree is deciduous, right outside the kitchen window on the western side of the house. In winter it is bare branched, letting the sun in. In very early spring it flowers with beautiful delicate pale pink and white flowers with a lovely floral smell – a perk for standing at the sink to do the washing up. The label says it will grow to between two and five metres tall, and it is a good three metres already. We plan to keep it pruned to about that. The parrots started in on the apples so we have had to net it as they ripen, and if we let it get too much bigger it will be difficult to net.
The label says it will self pollinate but bears better with another tropical apple to cross pollinate. In this little, retrosuburban garden we were reluctant to make space for two apples without knowing if they would bear. The bees love it so it’s possible they’ve found another in the neighbourhood. But now we know how good they are, I might have to find space for a Golden Dorsett as well.
Just like to say that I really enjoy your newsletter. I too had an Anna, unfortunately it didn’t survive long after I purchased it and I replaced it with a Golden Dorsett, which is doing wonderfully even though it has only been in the ground a short time. I think I need to get another Anna and give it another try as I do love a crisp sweet apple. I grew up with Cox’s Orange Pippin in our backyard but they require more chill than my current location is able to give.
The Anna is lovely. We’re thinking of getting a Golden Dorsett now as a pollinator. Has yours fruited yet? Is it nice?
Hi Linda, the Golden Dorsett has only been in the ground 12 months so it has some time to go before it will fruit. The Daley’s description made it sound lovely so I am looking forward to trying it.
If you don’t have space for another apple tree, you can always graft some Dorsett Golden scions on the Anna tree to assist with pollination. Other varieties to try that can pollinate the Anna are Shell of Alabama and Tropic Sweet (which is a UF introduction).
That’s a good idea Javier. Our daughter has a Golden Dorsett so we can get a scion from her. I’m only in the very beginning stage of learning grafting. We grafted from our Hass avocado onto seedling avo trees that I have planted down the lane verge this year, and from our grafted lime onto seedling citrus. All just following Youtube videos though, so I’m not real confident about skill yet. But we could try the apple too this next spring.
Pingback:Gearing up for heat waves - Part 2 - the west wall - The Witches Kitchen
Enjoyed reading your blog, I’m thinking of getting an Anna, I was concerned the full western sun might be to harsh in Brisbane but you don’t find that it gets heat stress at all?
Ours hasn’t. It’s on the western side of our house, but we’re in Coffs, a bit south of you.