Antietam Blush® is an exciting new cultivar developed for the hot, wet summers of the Mid-Atlantic and for scion dwarfing. It is the first apple ever bred and released specifically for this climate. The branching architecture has been selected for easy harvest and maintenance, and the tree is precocious and productive. Early trials have suggested tolerance to brown marmorated stink bug, but susceptibility to bitter rot. In our own orchard we find it somewhat susceptible to fireblight.

Developed by Dr. Christopher Walsh and former graduate student Julia Harshman, this tree produces a late-season fruit that ripens three to four weeks before Pink Lady® (one of its parents). The skin is predominantly pink over green-yellow, and the flesh is crisp and juicy with a zing that comes from a balance of high acid and sugar. Flavor quality will hold in normal cold storage for up to 70 days.

Harshman named the new breed "Antietam Blush," for the color of the fruit and for the orchard’s proximity to the historic Civil War battlefield. Antietam Blush® was named a 2013 invention of the year finalist from the University of Maryland’s Office of Technology Commercialization.