Duchess Of Oldenburg Apple on G.11 (Spring 2026)
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An extremely cold-hardy, disease-resistant culinary apple from Russia. Also known as Oldenburg, Oldenburgh, Borowitsky, Baroveski, Barowiski, Charlamowsky.
Very hardy, precocious, and productive, the mature Duchess is a roundish, mid-sized tree that is quite easy to grow. It is resistant to all major apple diseases with the exception of fireblight. As an antique variety, it does tend to biennialism and will need to be thinned diligently to maintain annual bearing.
Primarily a culinary apple, Duchess has red stripes and blush over a greenish yellow background, and it is speckled with russet lenticels. The flesh is tinged yellow, fine grained, firm, and aromatic. The flavor is too acidic to make it an attractive dessert apple, but it is an outstanding cooking apple. Duchess does not store well, but it can be picked before it is fully ripe and it has a long harvest season that requires several pickings and makes it a great apple for the home grower.
Duchess was among the first four Russian apples to arrive in America, imported from London by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1835. The other three were Alexander, Tetovsy, and Red Astrachan.
The Fruit
Fruit Type
Category: Apple
Subcategory:
Heirloom, Disease-Resistant, Cold-Hardy, Hot-Climate
Fruit Uses & Storage
Uses: fresh eating, baking, jelly, sauce
Storage duration: less than one month (approximate, depending on storage conditions)
Fruit Appearance
Skin color: red
Flesh color: yellow
Fruit Origins
Parentage: unknown
Origin: Russia
Introduced in: 1835
Introduced by:
The Environment
Calendar & Geography
USDA zones: 3 - 8
Chill hours: Not yet determined
Ripening date: Aug 18 (approximate, in New York State) 28 days before McIntosh
Tree Height & Spacing
glossary
Rootstock: G.11 Rootstock
Rootstock size class: Dwarf (25% of Standard)
Tree spacing (natural spread of tree): 8'
Good for wildlife planting? N
Diseases & Pests
glossary
Apple Scab: Resistant
Powdery Mildew: Resistant
Fireblight: Susceptible
Cedar-Apple Rust: Resistant
Pollination
Pollination Factors
glossary
Bloom group: 2
Is it self-fertile? N
Is it fertile? Y
Ploidy: Diploid
Rootstock size class:
Dwarf (25% of Standard)
Pollination Partners
This table shows the first few results from a full search for pollenizers of Duchess Of Oldenburg Apple on G.11. Please see our Pollenizer Search to run other queries and read how the application uses various factors. Also read more about fruit tree pollination.