Almota
A seedling found in Pullman Washington in 1894 by C.R. Mays and named after the town Almota. A large conical productive apple of very good quality for dessert use. Ripe in mid season. It has tender juicy sub-acid flesh. When riper the skin appears light yellow with pinkish/pale orange blush and different shades of red/carmine splashes and streaks with yellow dots. The tree produced abundantly in Seattle.
Black Stayman
(Blaxtayman) A “sport” of Stayman Winesap discovered in 1926 at Wenatchee by J. H. Dickey and by William Barron near Chelan Washington. It ripens two weeks earlier and is a solid red color. Fruit is medium to large. Medium bloom time. Triploid. Susceptible to scab. Ripens very late in the season and an excellent keeper..
Buckley Giant
A seedling of unknown parentage discovered in 1954 at Sumner, WA, distributed by the Buckley Nursery Company, Buckley, WA It was introduced in 1963. The apple is large, oval shaped with a yellow color covered with a red blush. The flesh is white and crisp. Fruit ripens September 1-10. Recommended for dessert and kitchen use. Tree is medium size, round headed and highly productive.
Cellini
This tree is from the Forsberg/Fisher orchard which was planted around 1870. The orchard sits on the Northwest Washington coast near access to the water for direct access to Victoria and fruit tree nurseries there. Cellini was offered in the 1878 Layritz catalog. It originated in England, raised by Leonard Phillips, nurseryman of Vauxhall; introduced in 1828.
Cellini was well-known in England as a cooking apple. It produces heavy crops annually. Fruit is medium size, yellow with a red blush. The white flesh is sometimes tinged pink. It blooms with Bramley and ripens in mid-September. The flavor is sub-acid, juicy and aromatic but not crisp. This variety is impressive here in Northwest Washington but not common elsewhere in the U.S. After being closely inspected in 2025, Lori Brakken thinks this could actually be a Red Gravenstein. The DNA tests we will do on each of the varieties will tell us.
Charles Ross
A Peasgood Nonsuch X Cox’s Orange Pippin from Berkshire England in 1890 and named for Charles Ross. . It is favored in Northern England and Scotland because it thrives where the growing season is short. It is scab resistant. The orange/red striped medium to large apple ripens in September. It sets large crops and has a sweet/tart flavor. It was offered by the Layritz Nursery in Victoria B.C. and grows well on the Olympic Peninsula.
Criterion
A complex cross of Red and Yellow Delicious and Winter Banana. From the lower Yakima valley and released in 1972. It has the Red Delicious shape. It’s a large, flavorful, productive apple ripe in October.
Chelan
A seedling introduced by John Wapato, a native American in 1890 near Lake Chelan.
A yellow apple with a pink blush with a spritely juicy flavor. Offered by C & O Nursery of Wenatchee. It ripens very late in the season.
Double Red Rome
A bud mutation of Rome Beauty found in Wapato in 1917. A red apple that is productive and a good keeper.
Earligold
A seedling of Golden Delicious found in 1979 by Okanagan Nursery in Wenatchee. This yellow apple ripens in August, weeks before Golden Delicious.
Fort Vancouver
This had been the oldest living apple tree in Washington state. It was planted in 1825 at the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fort Vancouver from seeds brought from London England. The apple is smallish and green, ripe in September and makes good pies and cider. The tree was protected in a fenced area from incursions of urban growth and highways with a plaque commemorating the historic tree. A tree that may be a seedling from the old tree remained in the fenced area. In about 2022 the original tree died but grafts were taken from the tree to make the tree now in our fruit garden.
Hanner’s Jumbo
A sport of Stark’s Jumbo, related to Spokane Beauty released by Daniel Hanner of Hood River OR in 1970. It is a red sweet/tart oval apple that is very juicy and prized for cider. It is a very large apple, weighing up to 3 pounds.
Indiana Favorite
A seedling of Vandevere Pippin from Fayette County Indiana in 1828. It is a red striped sweet juicy apple ripe in the late season. Offered by the Layritz Nursery of Victoria B.C. in 1878 and found in the Forsberg/Fisher orchard on the American side of the channel.
Lord Suffield
Found by Lori Brakken in Port Angeles WA, it was sold by the Layritz Nursery of Victoria, British Columbia in the late 19th and early 20th century and was grown in NW Washington. It came from Manchester England, near the estate of Lord Suffield and was released in 1836. The apples are yellow and ripen in mid-August. The fruit is unique, a Codlin type, as the chunks cook down to make a smooth, sweet/tart frothy sauce. It is an abundant producer on a small spreading shaped tree.
Multnomah
Released by nurseryman Herman Lewis in Portland Oregon in 1923. It is a cross of Red Rome X Newtown Pippin. It is a large oblong yellow apple, sometimes with a pink blush that ripens in late fall. It is tart and juicy, great for baking and a good keeper.
Norton’s Seedling
Dr. Robert Norton former director of the WSU Mt. Vernon station, started his own small orchard on Vashon Island and was a founding member of the Vashon Island Fruit Club orchard. It is now the Dr. Robert Norton Memorial Orchard. Dr. Norton found this seedling in his orchard in East Wenatchee and planted it in his orchard on Maury Island in 2004. He thought it to be a superior variety and worth keeping. It is a medium size conical shaped yellow apple with a red blush.
Orenco
A seedling found in the Old Pioneer Cemetery in Oregon City Oregon. The tree was 28 years old in 1906. It was offered by the Oregon Nursery Company in Orenco Oregon. It is a red crisp juicy sweet apple, ripe in mid-September. Prized for eating fresh or pies it is scab resistant though a shy bearer.
Olympia Baldwin
William Shincke found this red sport of Baldwin in his orchard in Olympia WA. It started being sold in 1890. Ripe in October, it is good for fresh eating, cider or pies.
Palouse
A seedling found near Colfax WA in 1879 and the winner of the Premium prize at the 1889 Whitman County Fair. The large, elongated red apples are ripe in October.
Pacific Pride
This seedling was discovered in Mt. Vernon WA in 1909 by E.R. Gage. It was not patented until 1960 by the Pacific Pride Nursery in Bow WA. A large conical apple striped dark red, it ripens in mid-October. It is a large apple and a regular bearer and it was popular in our area in the 1960’s and 70’s.
The Queen
From Essex England about 1880 it became popular in our area as it was soon offered by Woodburn Nursery in Oregon and Layritz Nursery in Victoria B.C. This large reddish brown flattened apple ripens in late August and is tart and prized for cooking.
Richardson Pippin
Grown by Madrona Murphy on Lopez Island and a favorite of Lori Brakken. The small yellow oblong apples are fragrant and juicy.
Sweet Alice
A white yellow medium size apple that ripens in late August and is prized for cooking. Found at the Sehmel Homestead Park in Gig Harbor Wa, it was reported to Larry McGraw of the Oregon Home Orchard Society who helped trace the apple back to the pioneer Luelling Nursery in Milwaukie Oregon. First offered from 1850-1857,
it was named by Seth Luelling for his daughter Alice, who died in 1862.
Surprise
A round pink fleshed apple with red over yellow skin. It is a descendant of the Niedzwetzkyana red fleshed apple in our inner oval. It is tart and high in tannin and used to make cider, ripe in October. From Turkey in about 1830.
Spokane Beauty
A very large yellow apple striped red, rivaling the Wolf River in size. It was planted as a seedling by Grandma Maxon near Walla Walla in about 1890 and known as Maxon’s Seedling until it was renamed Spokane Beauty around 1900. It has crisp juicy flesh and ripens in mid to late season. Used for cooking, fresh eating and impressing your friends with its huge size. Grown and bragged upon by home gardeners throughout the state of Washington.
Scarlet Staymared
A bud mutation of Stayman Winesap that is deep red. Found in 1930 in Wenatchee in 1930 it was sold by Stark Bros Nursery. It has a sweet/tart flavor and is ripe in October.
Wynooche
Wynooche Early was a numbered selection NY 55140-9 introduced in about 1967 from New York Fruit Testing that was field tested around the nation. New York never named it. It was grown in Montesano in Southwest Washington at the mouth of the Wynooche river by H. Hughes who promoted it as a variety to grow in that wet climate. It is a red over yellow early season scab immune sweet/tart apple ripe in mid-August that has become a favorite in Western Washington.
White Pippin
Originating in Virginia in the early 1800’s it was widely planted by pioneers in the Pacific Northwest. Very large old trees are in the Anacortes area and in general around the waterways of the Sound. A reliable yearly producer of large rich acid-balanced crisp apples that bloom in mid-season and ripen in October. Trees are upright and vigorous. The skin is yellow with many russet dots.
