Vista Bella apple
A very-early season dessert apple.
Vista Bella is a very early season dessert apple. It ripens in mid-July in southern England, making it probably the earliest apple of the season.
Vista Bella was developed at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA, in the 1950s. It is grown commercially on a small-scale, particularly in the USA. The name "Vista Bella" comes from the Guatamalan highlands where it is also grown.
Vista Bella is a medium-sized apple, with a light yellow-green skin, flushed deep red where exposed to the sun. The color frequently changes to a solid crimson when ripe or over-ripe in good sunlight. For such an early variety the flavour is remarkably good, with a distinctly fruity taste reminiscent of slightly under-ripe raspberries. The flesh is light and juicy, and this apple is very easy and enjoyable to eat. If you have been surviving on old supermarket apples stored from the previous season, then Vista Bella is a revelation, with its full-on taste of the summer.
However, there are some caveats. Like all early apples Vista Bella does not keep. If you are buying from a farm shop make sure you find out what day the apples have been picked, since anything more than a few days old will not be worth having. The excellent flavour and crispness decays very rapidly after picking - to the point where that 9-month old supermarket Golden Delicious will be far nicer! Store them in the fridge, not the fruit bowl, and serve them whilst still cool.
Given these limitations, growing your own Vista Bella is probably the best way to ensure you can get some of these lovely apples. Trees are available from specialist nurseries, and you should be successful although this apple variety is susceptible to canker - but as Hessayon so aptly states in his book "The Fruit Expert", being able to pick bright red apples in July is worth a few problems.
Summary
- Species: Malus domestica
- Origin: New Jersey, United States
- Introduced: 1970s
- Orange Pippin Cultivar ID: 117900
- Some historical details taken with kind permission from 'The New Book of Apples' by Joan Morgan and Alison Richards , illustrated by Elisabeth Dowle, published by Ebury Press, 2002.
Identification
- Fruit colour: Red / Green
- Flesh colour: Cream
- Fruit size: Medium
Using
- Good for eating fresh
- Flavour quality: Good
- Flavour style: Sharp / refreshing
- Ripening period: Early season early/mid July
- Use / keeping: 1-3 days
Growing
- Cropping: Heavy
- Flowering period: Early-Mid season
- Flowering group: 2
- Fertility: Self-sterile
- Triploid: No
- Precocity: Precocious
- Gardening skill: Average
- General disease resistance: Average
Climate
- Suitable for warm climates
- Suitable for temperate climates
- Tolerates cold winters
Disease resistance
- Scab - Some susceptibility
- Mildew - Some susceptibility
Vista Bella identification photos from official fruit collections
Vista Bella identification photos from website visitors
Fruit tree register
Do you have a tree of this variety in your garden or orchard? If so please register the details here and contribute to our international register of fruit trees.
The following Vista Bella trees have been registered - click the name to view more details of each tree.
You can also view these trees on a map.
United States
- Lance Barker in CANYON CITY, OR
United Kingdom
- Elizabeth Moriarty in OXFORD, oxon
Canada
- Fred Rode in PICTOU, NOVA SCOTIA
Australia
- Jenny in MELBOURNE, VICTORIA,
- Lydia Kokotos in LOWER WATTLE GROVE, TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA
Latest Spring blossom records for this variety
2011 season
- 26th June 2011 - tree owned by Lance in CANYON CITY, United States
Record your blossom dates in our Fruit Tree Register - more >>.
Latest harvest records for this variety
2011 season
- 3rd week September 2011 - tree owned by Lance in CANYON CITY, United States
Where to buy apples
United Statesmap >
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Mainemap >
- Sweetser's Apple Barrel and Orchards, Cumberland Center
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Massachusettsmap >
- Nicewicz Farm, Bolton
- Red Apple Farm, Phillipston
- Russell Orchards, Ipswich
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New Yorkmap >
- Rulfs Orchard, Peru
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Pennsylvaniamap >
- Masonic Village Farm Market, Elizabethtown
- Shaw Orchards, Stewartstown
Canadamap >
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British Columbiamap >
- Salt Spring Apple Company, Salt Spring Island
Rate this variety for flavor