This tree is perfect for the backyard or any type of organic production: It is vigorous, spreading, and sturdy, with good branch angles. Cold hardy to zone 4, Williams' Pride is also resistant to fireblight, powdery mildew, and cedar-apple rust, and field immune to scab. This is a delicious and easy-to-grow early-season apple, and it also has an extended bloom (early through to late-mid), making it a great pollenizer. The long bloom time may also help provide crop in spite of frosts. Basically, if you are looking to extend your apple season, you won't find a more reliable tree than Williams' Pride.

The attractive, midsized apple ripens to a dark red-purple that is starred with small white lenticels. The flesh is creamy, crisp, and firm, with a rich and pear-like flavor. In our U-pick orchard we have just a handful of Williams' Pride trees, and they get stripped bare as soon as they ripen by pickers who just can't wait a minute longer for apple season to begin. Ideally, however, the fruit is harvested with several pickings, as it ripens unevenly. If there any left, the apples will store well for about six weeks.

Williams' Pride was bred by the Purdue, Rutgers, and Illinois Universities research team that specializes in disease-resistant cultivars. It is named after Edwin Williams, who led the  team for many years, and who selected the variety in 1979. It was released in 1988.