Silver Creek Nursery Ltd.

Hewe's Virginia Crabapple Bareroot

History: Hewe's Virginia (aka Hughes' Virginia or Virginia) was discovered in Virginia in 1817 although the first trees discovered were thought to be around 100 years old. It is believed that Hewe's Virginia is a cross between a European apple and a North American crabapple. It became quite popular for its excellence as a cider apple and was favoured by Thomas Jefferson who devoted an entire block of his orchard at Monticello to just Hewe's Virginia. This variety was widely planted in the 18th and 19th centuries but waned as interest in cider-making declined. Luckily, it stuck around with us due to its usage as rootstock and pollinizers for other varieties. With the growing popularity of cider in the US, however, Hewe's Virginia is making a strong comeback as people are once again realizing its potential.

Why We Grow It: This hardy, vigorous tree produces a good number of crabapples that are excellent for cider. It is easy to see why this variety was so popular back in the day and is making a resurgence now, the bittersharp juice is great on its own and in blends. Hewe's Virginia is also great for making jelly!


$56.50

Rootstock
Size

4 low in stock

Fruit Traits:

Recommended Use: Cider, jelly

Fruit Size: Small

Storage: Keeps a couple months at most when stored in refrigerated conditions

Harvest: September - Mid

Cider Class (if applicable):

Class: Bittershap
Sugar: Medium/High, SG 1.060
Acidity: High, TA 9.1g/L
Tannins: Medium, 1.9 g/L
Juice Yield: High, 282mL/lb
Taste: Some bitterness with lemony bright apple flavor with banana, pear & butterscotch notes
Recommendations: Good in blends or as a single variety cider
*Information based on Claude Jolicoeur's The New Cidermaker's Handbook and Washington State University's "Cultivar Performance Gallery"

Tree Traits:

Canadian Hardiness Zone: 4

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: Middle

Bloom Colour: White

Pollination Requirements: Requires a pollinator of a different apple variety that blooms around the same time. Like other crabapples and applecrabs, this variety is an excellent pollinator thanks to its large number of blossoms.

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

General Growth Habit: Vigorous with a spreading growth habit, produces good crops. Susceptible to fireblight and watercore. Possibly hardier than zone 4.

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.

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.

Hewe's Virginia Crabapple

Hewe's Virginia Crabapple Bareroot

$56.50

$56.50

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