Gold Rush Apple (4-6′)

Winter.

The first of the new disease-resistant varieties from the Purdue-Rutgers-Illinois apple breeding program to have superior storage qualities. Not only that, it’s probably the best-tasting apple to come out of that program.

Medium-to-large round-conic fruit has uniform deep greenish-yellow opaque chewy skin that turns golden in storage. Creamy white green-flecked flesh is hard, very crisp, juicy and tart.

Excellent flavor. Serve them for dessert in February and March and no one will be disappointed. Becoming very popular with cidermakers. A good sharp addition to hard cider. Ripens late but successfully in central Maine. Ours stayed firm and delicious through early June in the root cellar.

Highly resistant to scab and powdery mildew. Moderate fireblight resistance. Blooms midseason to late. Climate Zone 4.

TFG apples are on standard full-sized Antonovka rootstock. Standard trees have deep, substantial—and therefore hardier— root systems. By selecting the varieties appropriate to your district, grafted on standard rootstock, you may well be planting a tree that will be picked by your grandchildren’s grandchildren. Standard trees will grow to be large, but you can manage the size with pruning. Although standard-sized apple trees may be planted as close as 10–15′ apart, they were typically planted 30′ apart in 19th-c. orchards. 

(Thanks to Fedco for variety descriptions.)

For pollination timing of Gold Rush, see Online pollination checker for fruit trees.

Volume discounts: 1-9 trees for $48. 10-99 trees for $24. 100+ trees for $17.

Shipping: We will ship trees in March unless otherwise requested.