Silver Creek Nursery Ltd.
Blenheim Orange Apple Bareroot
History: The history of Blenheim Orange is a bit muddled depending on your source. We know it was discovered by George Kempster (either a baker, a tailor, or a basket weaver depending on who you ask!) in England in 1740 and it was originally named Kempster's Pippin. Some say he found it as a seedling growing along a wall of Blenheim Palace while others claim he grew it in his garden located near Blenheim, England. It was later renamed to Blenheim Orange in the early 1800s, likely when it was sold commercially through nurseries. This variety has many other names, including: Beauty of Dumbleton, Blooming Orange, and Northwitch Blenheim. The tree itself is also known for its sturdy wood and it was at one time popularly used to make railway cogs.
Why We Grow It: These large, somewhat flat apples feature orangey-red stripes over yellow skin with some russet. The fruit is good for fresh eating with a nutty taste and is quite nice when paired with cheese. It is also great for cooking and makes a stiff purée. The tree is highly vigorous but can be slow to come into production, although it has heavy crops once it does.
$56.50
Unit price per19 in stock
Fruit Traits:
Recommended Use:
Fruit Size:
Storage:
Harvest: September - Late
Cider Class (if applicable):
Tree Traits:
Canadian Hardiness Zone: 5
Soil Preferance:
Flowering Time: Middle
Bloom Colour: White
Pollination Requirements:
Sun/Shade Requirements:
General Growth Habit:
Overall Disease Resistance Rating*: Medium
*this rating is combined with our experience growing in our test orchards combined with already available information on the cultivar.
Shipping: Every year we ship thousands of plants across Canada. We carefully bag roots in damp sawdust, then box them and send them out via courier. CLICK HERE to see our shipping policy.
Pick-up: We also have thousands of trees picked up from our nursery each year. The pick-up options is free, though you must wait until you have been emailed a confirmation that your order is ready to pick up, which will have further information such as hours, locations, etc.
Our grafted fruit trees are graded into two categories, and the size includes the rootstock:
- 50-80cm grade: Smaller trees that may have some minor branching, this grade is like a "b-grade" size tree according to industry standards. This size may include trees that are over 1m but have some scarring or mild crookedness.
- 1m+ grade: Trees that are over 1m tall, some may have no branches and others may have light feathering or a few established branches
Please keep in mind, bareroot trees appear small if you are unfamiliar with them. Size can vary year to year due to weather conditions and every single variety has a unique amount of vigour (some varieties naturally are smaller and some bigger, much like humans -and when you propagate hundreds of varieties, there certainly is variation). While we remain competitive in our plant size, it's also worth noting we don't use synthetic chemicals to push vegetative growth. Therefore you may find some conventional nursery stock larger in comparison.
Why plant small? It's best to transplant a tree when it's young so it can establish its roots before it has a lot of vegetative growth. This is much less stressful on it and after a few years bareroot trees tend to catch up and even surpass larger potted trees planted at the same time.
Orders that are cancelled last minute due to size (being "too small"), will still incur the applicable cancellation fees if the trees are true to our grading standards as per the agreement of sale when the order was placed.
