As you might expect from the size of the apple and antiquity of the variety, Rhode Island Greening is both triploid and biennial tending. It will need two diploid pollenizers for full fertility, and it should be thinned well. It is slightly susceptible to scab, cedar-apple rust, and canker, and very susceptible to fireblight. Although slow to produce, this tree is (like its British counterpart Bramley) very long lived.

The large, late-season fruit is greenish yellow with prominent white and russet lenticels. The flesh is also tinged green and yellow, with the firm, chunky texture that American bakers prefer. The flavor is not complex, but it has just the right amout of zing to make an excellent pie. Although this apple does not develop good flavor in Southern climates, it does make an excellent version of one of our favorite Southern recipes: bacon-fried apples. If southern cooking is not your thing, you could try using your Rhode Island Greenings for Danish bacon-fried apples (æbleflæsk), which is the same, but Danish. This apple is also used in cider blending.

Rhode Island Greening is the oldest variety of American origin in production today. The original tree is said to have been grown in Middletown, Rhode Island by a tavern keeper called Green in the 1650s. This original tree became so popular that it died from having too many cuttings made from it.