Ginger Gold is a vigorous, hardy tree, with wide crotch angles. It is susceptible to fireblight, mildew, and cedar-apple rust, but resistant to scab. Extremely productive, this tree needs to be thinned to maintain crop quality and annual production. It is also a partial tip bearer.

This is a greenish-yellow apple that bears a lovely, delicate blush on its sun-side. It is an early-season apple (early September in upstate New York), and one of the first yellow apples to ripen. While its flavor is mild, it is certainly more balanced than that of Golden Delicious. Crisp and sweet-tart, this apple is an irresistible herald of the coming season. Ginger Gold does not store well and it is best eaten fresh. It is a great salad apple, as the flesh does not oxidize after cutting.

Ginger Gold is famous as the apple that Hurricane Camille created in 1969. After Camille brought devastating floods to Nelson County, Virginia, the orchards of Clyde and Frances "Ginger" Harvey were badly washed out. In 1980, among the few surviving trees around the edge of a Winesap orchard, a tree was found that Clyde Harvey recognized as being different when it produced yellow rather than red fruit. (One very probable parent is Golden Delicious.) The variety was eventually named after Clyde Harvey's wife. In January 2007, the Virginia General Assembly proposed a bill designating the Ginger Gold apple as the official fruit of Virginia.