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An interesting new variety developed by UK apple enthusiast Hugh Ermen, Winter Gem is a cross between Grimes Golden and Cox's Orange Pippin, and has a good aromatic flavour.
Grimes Golden is not that well-known in the UK but is the probable parent of Golden Delicious. Some enthusiasts reckon that Grimes Golden is a better apple than Golden Delicious, it has the same sweetness but with a bit more richness. This means that Winter Gem inherits characteristics from two of the most influential apple families in the world, and if you appreciate apple flavours it is well worth trying.
Product formats | Bare-root or Container-grown | Delivery | Rootstocks
All prices include delivery. We offer a discount on orders of multiple bare-root trees for delivery at the same time - this will be shown at the checkout.
*Delivery period: Container-grown trees will be delivered from September 2010. Bare-root trees will be delivered from mid-November 2010. You can order now and your items will be reserved for you, but you will not be asked to pay until nearer the time of delivery.
Winter Gem is in flowering group 3. It is self-sterile and needs a pollination partner nearby. The following varieties will pollinate Winter Gem:
Important: advice about pollination
Unlike either of its parents, Winter Gem is well-suited to UK gardens - indeed this is a characteristic of many varieties developed by Hugh Ermen.
Its main drawback is that it is a light cropper, so make sure there are suitable pollination partner varieties nearby - Red Devil, Srumptious, Falstaff, Saturn and Charles Ross would be good choices. In other respects it is quite easy to grow.
Winter Gem works particularly well as a small tree on a dwarf or semi-dwarf rootstock. On more vigourous rootstocks it tends to produce a large tree with not much fruit.
Winter Gem is a cross between Grimes Golden and Cox's Orange Pippin, and was developed in the UK by Hugh Ermen.
This is an illustration of what our products look like as delivered. Please remember that trees are natural products, so this information is for general guidance only. The trees at this stage are 1-2 years old, and will get larger as they grow older, the likely mature heights are indicated in the ordering section above. The trees you receive may differ in some respects from those shown here, for some of the following reasons:
For comparison purposes the model in our photos is 5ft 6" / 1m 68cm tall. Click any of the images to view a larger one.
(USA soon)