Freyberg Apple on G.11 (Spring 2026)

This tree is upright, of moderate vigor, and needs thinning to maintain annual bearing. It is very susceptible to fireblight and slightly resistant to scab.

Freyberg is a cross of Cox's Orange Pippin and Golden Delicious with a modest appearance; it is medium sized, greenish yellow, and slightly russeted. One bite into this demure apple, however, will startle and confound your unsuspecting taste-buds. The crisp, fine-grained flesh has an aromatic flavor with distinct notes of banana and spice. I compare it to a well-made Italian custard, with baked caramel flavors enlivened by notes of cardamom and anise. "Complex" doesn't even begin to describe Freyberg. The flavor intensifies in storage, but these apples only keep for a month or two.

The cross of Cox's and Golden Delicious was made in 1934 by J. H. Kidd, a New Zealand apple breeder who also bred Gala and Kidd's Orange Red. He died before Freyberg was commercially released in 1958, but he did name this apple after Lord Bernard Freyberg, a highly decorated soldier and military leader in WWI and WWII, a world-class athlete, and the Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946-1952.