Choosing one’s Parents!

A fair while has lapsed since my last post during which I have been getting my head around the pattern of apple set here.

I have come to the conclusion that all the varieties growing here which have any genetic connexions with Cox’s Orange Pippin, including COP, itself, have suffered with the mild winter  just passed. As a result of the fruit buds receiving insufficient chill between late November and late February they were not rendered viable to set fruitlets. So some lightly cropping trees of these.

This fact includes both Sunset and Kidd’s Orange Red.

By contrast both Red Ellison and Worcester Pearmain are yielding well.

Aah, but Red Ellison/Ellison’s Orange have COP as a parent. The other parent is Calville Blanc  which, interestingly, must dominate the COP in the breeding. We have a tree of Calville Blanc here – with apples on it!

It will be a year for our stranger varieties.