An attractive, highly disease-resistant apple, ideal for organic growers.
Mother Apple on G.935 (Spring 2024)
An American heirloom apple of outstanding flavor. Also known as American Mother, Gardener's Apple, Queen Anne.
The tree is upright-spreading to rounded and moderately vigorous. It is slow to bear, but once established, it is hardy and dependable. It is fairly resistant to most major diseases, but somewhat susceptible to fireblight. The fruit should be thinned to maintain quality and annual bearing. Mother is partially self-fertile, but will be more productive if partnered with a pollenizer.
Mother is an outstanding eating apple that ripens mid-September in upstate New York. The fruit is tallish and conical, with a skin colored bright red over yellow-orange. It has a distinctive flavor that is often described as balsamic or piney, but it does needs full sun to be at its best. Tom Burford includes Mother on his list of Top 20 Dessert Apples, and writers as early as Beach (Apples of New York) have compared Mother to Esopus Spitzenburg in terms of quality. This apple never achieved commercial success, mainly because it does not store well, but it is an excellent tree for the apple enthusiast who wants a small specialty orchard.
Mother was first discovered in the garden of General Stephen P. Gardener in Bolton, Wooster County, Massachusetts. In its heyday, Mother was a favorite tree in the south, where it readily ripens to full flavor.
The Fruit
Fruit Type
Category: Apple
Subcategory:
Heirloom, Disease-Resistant, Hot-Climate
Fruit Uses & Storage
Uses: fresh eating
Storage duration: less than one month (approximate, depending on storage conditions)
Fruit Appearance
Skin color: red
Flesh color: yellow
Fruit Origins
Parentage: unknown
Origin: Bolton, Massachusetts
Introduced in: pre 1811
Introduced by: Stephen P. Gardener
The Environment
Calendar & Geography
USDA zones: 5 - 8
Chill hours: Not yet determined
Ripening date: Sep 15 (approximate, in New York State) + 0 days after McIntosh
Tree Height & Spacing
glossary
Rootstock: G.935 Rootstock
Rootstock size class: Semi-Dwarf (40% of Standard)
Tree spacing (natural spread of tree): 12'
Good for wildlife planting? N
Diseases & Pests
glossary
Fireblight: Susceptible
Cedar-Apple Rust: Resistant
Apple Scab: Resistant
Pollination
Pollination Factors
glossary
Bloom group: 4
Is it self-fertile? Partial
Is it fertile? Y
Ploidy: Diploid
Rootstock size class:
Semi-Dwarf (40% of Standard)
Pollination Partners
This table shows the first few results from a full search for pollenizers of Mother Apple on G.935. Please see our Pollenizer Search to run other queries and read how the application uses various factors. Also read more about fruit tree pollination.
See all pollination matches for Mother Apple on G.935
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