Silver Creek Nursery Ltd.

Alkmene Apple Bareroot

History: Alkmene, aka Early Windsor, was developed by M. Schmidt and H. Murawski at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Züchtungsforschung in Müncheberg, Germany in the 1930s.* It was named after Hercules' mother Alcmene. After the chaos of WW2, it took about 30 years for Alkmene to be introduced to the rest of the world. It was released in 1962 and given the name Early Windsor for better marketability. It remains a popular apple in Europe today.

Why We Grow It: Alkmene produces a medium-sized crisp, juicy apple that has yellow skin overlaid with red stripes. The aromatic fruit is known for its rich flavour that is both honeyed and notably sharp. The tree is known to be quite a heavy cropper! 

*While the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute was heavily involved with the Nazis during WW2, at the time of Alkmene's development the institute's president was Max Planck, a scientist who staunchly defended his Jewish colleagues. The institute was renamed in his honour following WW2. That is to say, we're not selling a Nazi apple.

$56.50

Rootstock:
Size:

25 in stock

Fruit Traits:

Recommended Use: Fresh eating

Fruit Size: Medium

Storage: Keeps until November when stored in cool humid conditions

Harvest: September - Late

Cider Class (if applicable):

Tree Traits:

Canadian Hardiness Zone: 5

Soil Preferance: Sandy loam, loam, clay loam. Prefers average to moist conditions, avoid planting anywhere that floods for more than two weeks in the spring. Generally quite adaptable to different soil conditions.

Flowering Time: Early

Bloom Colour: White

Pollination Requirements: Self-pollinating, this variety will produce fruit without another pollinator but will produce more and better fruit with a pollinator around

Sun/Shade Requirements: Full sun (approx. 8-10 hours of sun daily)

General Growth Habit: Moderately vigorous with an upright and spreading growth habit, produces heavy crops. Very susceptible to canker and susceptible to fireblight but resistant to scab and powdery mildew.

Overall Disease Resistance Rating*: Low

*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.

We have simplified our crop inventory for grafted fruit trees into two sizes:

1m+ Grade: this often has some feathering, and is measured including the rootstock.

50-80cm Grade: this is like a 'b-grade' tree, sometimes with minor scaring or bent, these trees are priced accordingly.

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