Owner's comments
I acquired this tree (five bushes) by way of a bag of potting soil. Apparently not all the roots, sticks and stems in the bag were decayed. I kept cutting it out of my yard but decided to use it for a privacy screen since I had potted so many dug out pieces. (It will not die) It is in my yard in a pot so this may alter information that I give you. I do know this is a late bloomer; every year I think it has died. But eventually they bloom. The flower is white with cherry red edges but seem to be thin, bluish, translucent white petals. The fruit is small about 2x2 inches, narrower at the blossom end. It starts out yellowish green, then canary green and about this time it starts to get red streaks coming down from the stem end. I think it may be a Braddicks nonpareil. I have a seed here...I may have picked this apple (one) early; the seed is round vs. tear shaped, if that helps. I did not know that antique varieties may fruit every other year; I will be sure to take note of this in the future.
I have Prince Charles' Organic Gardening book and read where he likes collecting the apple varieties and he mentioned the nonpareil apple tree having a pineapple taste. The flavor of the apple does have a tang (not a sweet apple) but does not taste like a Granny Smith (sour). I want to say it has a pineapple taste... Before I got Prince Charles' book I was telling someone about the apples, that I loved the flavor and had never tasted one like this before. I am in the SF bay area, a half hour south of UC Berkeley.
