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Cox's Orange Pippin Apple on G.890 (Spring 2024)


One of the finest, most beloved English dessert apples. Also known as Cox Orange, Cos Orange, Orange de Cox.

Famed in Europe as one the best apples available, Cox's is also one of the more difficult trees to grow. It is prone to scab, mildew, cracking, brown rot, and papery bark disease; it has a "basitonic" habit–often wider than it is tall–and tends to biennialism. Cox's is sensitive to sulfur under certain conditions, and care should be taken if using this to control fungus. It is also prone to sun scalding, and for best results the tree will be pruned in such a way that the foliage protects the apple from direct sunlight during ripening.

Ripening mid September-mid October, this apple stores well and is best in November and December. It is pale green with red stripes and an orange flush. The flesh is firm and snappy with an extremely fine aroma and flavor that has given it something of a cult following. In Apples of Uncommon Character, Rowan Jacobsen writes that biting into a Cox's is "like cherry-vanilla ice cream with lemon zest and rose petals. It was heavenly. What it was not was appley." Cox's is a versatile culinary apple and works very well in pies and preserves.

Cox's Orange Pippin is a Ribston Pippin seedling first planted by retired brewer Richard Cox around 1825. It remained largely unknown until Charles Turner of Royal Nurseries added it to his catalog in 1850. By the 1880s it was one of Britain's most popular apples. Breeders have made many attempts to import the famous Cox's flavor into a more stable tree, and Cox's myriad progeny include Ellison's Orange, Freyberg, Kidd's Orange Red, and Suncrisp.

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Famed in Europe as one the best apples available, Cox's is also one of the more difficult trees to grow. It is prone to scab, mildew, cracking, brown rot, and papery bark disease; it has a "basitonic" habit–often wider than it is tall–and tends to biennialism. Cox's is sensitive to sulfur under certain conditions, and care should be taken if using this to control fungus. It is also prone to sun scalding, and for best results the tree will be pruned in such a way that the foliage protects the apple from direct sunlight during ripening.

Ripening mid September-mid October, this apple stores well and is best in November and December. It is pale green with red stripes and an orange flush. The flesh is firm and snappy with an extremely fine aroma and flavor that has given it something of a cult following. In Apples of Uncommon Character, Rowan Jacobsen writes that biting into a Cox's is "like cherry-vanilla ice cream with lemon zest and rose petals. It was heavenly. What it was not was appley." Cox's is a versatile culinary apple and works very well in pies and preserves.

Cox's Orange Pippin is a Ribston Pippin seedling first planted by retired brewer Richard Cox around 1825. It remained largely unknown until Charles Turner of Royal Nurseries added it to his catalog in 1850. By the 1880s it was one of Britain's most popular apples. Breeders have made many attempts to import the famous Cox's flavor into a more stable tree, and Cox's myriad progeny include Ellison's Orange, Freyberg, Kidd's Orange Red, and Suncrisp.


The Fruit

Fruit Type

Category: Apple
Subcategory: Heirloom, Cider

Fruit Uses & Storage

Uses: fresh eating, baking, storage, canning, sauce
Storage duration: three plus months (approximate, depending on storage conditions)

Fruit Appearance

Skin color: orange
Flesh color: off-white

Fruit Origins

Parentage: Ribston Pippin seedling
Origin: Buckinghamshire, England
Introduced in: 1825
Introduced by: Richard Cox

The Environment

Calendar & Geography

USDA zones: 5 - 7
Chill hours: 800
Ripening date: Sep 29 (approximate, in New York State) + 14 days after McIntosh

Tree Height & Spacing

Rootstock: G.890 Rootstock
Rootstock size class: Half-Standard (60% of Standard)
Tree spacing (natural spread of tree): 18'
Good for wildlife planting? N

Diseases & Pests

Apple Scab: Susceptible
Powdery Mildew: Susceptible
Perennial Canker: Susceptible
Fireblight: Resistant
Brown Rot, Blossom Blight, Fruit Rot: Susceptible

Pollination

Pollination Factors

Bloom group: 2
Is it self-fertile? N
Is it fertile? Y
Ploidy: Diploid
Rootstock size class: Half-Standard (60% of Standard)

Pollination Partners

This table shows the first few results from a full search for pollenizers of Cox's Orange Pippin Apple on G.890. Please see our Pollenizer Search to run other queries and read how the application uses various factors. Also read more about fruit tree pollination.

Tree Ships Currently in Stock
Enterprise Apple on G.890 2024 100
Winecrisp™ Apple on G.890 2024 53
CrimsonCrisp™ Apple on G.890 2024 50
St. Edmund's Russet Apple on G.890 2024 49
Macoun Apple on G.890 2024 25
Crimson® Topaz CV. Apple on G.890 2024 19
Pixie Crunch™ Apple on G.890 2024 16
Liberty Apple on G.890 2024 9
Galarina™ X-4982 CV. Apple on G.890 2024 9
Zestar!® Apple on M.7 2024 3
Almata Apple on G.890 2024 2

See all pollination matches for Cox's Orange Pippin Apple on G.890






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