It's apple blossom time. That's the beautiful Almata apple. It has dark pink flowers, dark reddish leaves, and red apples with deep red flesh. It's a beauty. Around the farm are a lot of other apple trees, some from the old farm and a lot that we have planted in our time.
Also all over the place are wild crab apple trees, some with the tiny fruit of the native trees (see the picture below) and other which have obviously crossed with domestic apples as they have much larger fruit. We have grafted eating apples on some of the trees as they have the advantage of being willing to grow in much wetter sites than the rootstock of most domestic apples.
And in the fall the birds love the fruit.
The idea of grafting onto crab apple root stock is interesting - I shall tell that to the farmer. We have many crab apples in our hedges.
ReplyDeleteI was interested also in your tree with a variety called Almata - I have been to Almata in Kyazakstan and there are acres and acres of apple trees - presumably that is where the variety comes from.
Actually, it is likely the name is a nod to the 'Father of Apples' region in Kazahkstan: Alma-Ata. I read in several places this apple was a cross made in South Dakota (no year mentioned). As the Alma-Ata region has come under careful scrutiny by pomologists in the past 50 years or so, this may be a recent development (counting in tree years.) I wonder how well it does in this location. The Brits say it is susceptible to scab and fire blight.
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