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Annie Elizabeth apple

Annie Elizabeth

Annie Elizabeth is an old-fashioned English cooking apple, possibly a seedling of Blenheim Orange, which it resembles in shape and size, and also in its relatively sweet flavour.

This is one of the best apple varieties for any recipe which calls for an apple which keeps its shape when cooked - interesting, given that Blenheim Orange cooks to a puree.

It is also an easy variety to grow in the garden, fairly resistant to most of the usual diseases and tolerant of the wet mild climates often found in northern Europe.  A notable feature is the attractive purple blossom.

Annie Elizabeth apple identification images

All images copyright Orange Pippin unless otherwise stated.

  • Annie Elizabeth
  • Annie Elizabeth

USDA identification images for Annie Elizabeth

The identification paintings in the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection span the years 1886 to 1942.

    Citation: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705.

    Parents and other ancestors of this variety

    • Blenheim Orange (parent) - Annie Elizabeth is believed to be a seedling of Blenheim Orange

    Visitor reviews

    • 12 Jun 2016  VIC, Australia
      I have at last managed to find an AE here in Australia. Very rare here. Family lore has it that my Grandmother (born 1879) was named after this apple
    • 11 Sep 2012  France
      Is this the variety called Lanscailler ou Lancashire in northern France ? Delightful in "tarte tatin".
    • 10 Oct 2011  CEREDIGION, United Kingdom
      I planted a 12 tree orchard when we moved here 30 years ago, and have replaced and supplemented those original fruit trees over the years. I particularly wanted an Annie Elizabeth to extend the fruit season, and the volunteer gardeners at Llanerchaeron, a local National Trust traditional estate where I worked as a volunteer for a time, grafted and grew me one, as it was not available commercially near me. It has been planted for about 8 years now and yielded good crops. This year it has forked sticks protected by cloths supporting very heavily laden branches! I have picked up 4 trays of windfalls and we have only just entered October. My son is visiting to help 'harvest' and take fruit back home!
    • 10 Sep 2011  EAST SUSSEX, United Kingdom
      I have a beautiful specimen that is over 100 years old and is a fantastic shape, having been well tended to over the years. This tree was one of a pair in a small orchard of other trees at the end of the garden of a huge house. This is now my own back garden. The fruit is juicy and delicious and I made 48 jars of spiced apple chutney in 2010 and over 30 pounds of apple sauce from the crop. It seems to have produced more fruit this year but this has ripened many weeks earlier than last year and today (10th Sept) the leaves are already on the turn. My beloved grandma is called Annie Elizabeth and my cherished cat if 18 years is buried under it. I like to think a little bit of her soul is in every apple.
    • 16 Jun 2011  BERKSHIRE, United Kingdom
      The tree is in the front garden and seems to produce fruit every two years. It is, sadly, in poor condition and approximately 100 years old
    • 10 Apr 2010  CAMBRIDGESHIRE, United Kingdom
      Annie Elizabeth is the finest cooked apple that I've tasted - and I grow (or grew) quite a few different varieties of apple to compare against. The fruits also make very well-flavoured but slightly acid eating apples. Blossom buds start off as dark maroon-red, but open to produce pale pink blossom. Annie flowers slightly late, but not so late that pollination could be a problem. As mentioned in an earlier post; the trees have an upright tendency. Disease resistance and pest resistance is good. Over the years, I've grown, planted or grafted several Annie Elizabeth trees and I always find them to be slower to settle in to a new location and slower to get a good root system down. They also seem to grow smaller root systems than many apple trees of similar above-ground size. Another problem with the trees is that the fruits are very large, which causes many fruits to break off under their own weight, when tossed around by strong winds. Either give the tree wind protection, or grow it as a smaller tree that moves less in the wind.....otherwise, accept that strong winds could cause a lot of fruit to drop before it's ripe. If it wasn't for the excellent fruit flavour and overall fairly good resistance to pests and diseases, I would have given up on this variety long ago.
    • 18 Nov 2009  SOMERSET, United Kingdom
      hi, i lost my wife in 2007 and 8 months later my 17 year old daughter too, have planted a 31 tree orchard in there memory, but it soon will be 32 ,when i get a annie tree.after reading your comment
    • 03 Nov 2009  LEICESTERSHIRE, United Kingdom
      I planted an Annie Elizabeth 20 years ago in memory of my daughter and was delighted to read that it comes form Knighton, just a couple of miles up the road from where she was born. I have found it to be a useful all round apple which keeps well and holds its shape when cooked.
    • 27 Oct 2009  LEICESTERSHIRE, United Kingdom
      Annie Elizabeth comes originally from a garden in Knighton, Leicestershire. It is said to have been named after the daughter of the family who died very young. The trees tend to be quite upright .
    • 11 Oct 2009  SUNSHINE COAST, QUEENSLAND,, Australia
      I have heard that 'Annie Elizabeth' originated from an allotment in Knighton, Leicestershire. I have a fondness for this Apple because I am an Annie Elizabeth too.
    • 24 Dec 2008  GATESHEAD, United Kingdom
      I've just planted one of these on my Gateshead allotment - for my daughter, Annie Elizabeth!
    • 10 Oct 2008  INDIANA, United States
      It's kind of ironic because i was at a local orchard and they had these beautiful apples and i asked one of the little kids working there what it was and he said he didn't know. So I came home and later I was googling my name and this popped up, the exact apple i was looking at! also, annie elizabeth is my name so i will definatly be planting and enjoying these apples!
    • 14 Sep 2008  BRIGHTON, EAST SUSSEX, United Kingdom
      We moved two years ago to Saltdean, in the garden is a large apple tree, the first year we had no apples at all, so thought about getting rid of it. This we have so many lovely juicey apple but I didn't know what they were, your site has just solved that for me. They do cook very well, but intersring to now they can be left on the tree for so long. But how long can you store them, and what is the best way to store them. Many Thanks for your info
    • 25 May 2008  LEICESTERSHIRE, United Kingdom
      We have an old tree - planted late 1890s by my great- grandfather. Successfully grafted a few offspring. Fruit can be left on the tree until December - keeps well. We regard this apple as both an eater (if you haven't got too sweet a tooth) and a cooker. Tends to scab and is a biennial fruiter. Wouldn't describe the blossom as purple - more the usual pink and white.

    Tree register

    United States

    United Kingdom

    Ireland

    Italy

    Spring blossom records for this variety

    2018 season

    • 13th May  2018  - tree owned by Bill in Smeeton Westerby, United Kingdom

    2017 season

    • 9th May  2017  - tree owned by Bill in Smeeton Westerby, United Kingdom

    2016 season

    • 29th May  2016  - tree owned by Bill in Smeeton Westerby, United Kingdom

    2015 season

    • 21st May  2015  - tree owned by Bill in Smeeton Westerby, United Kingdom

    2014 season

    • 9th July  2014  - tree owned by Neil in Ovingdean, United Kingdom

    2012 season

    • May  2012  - tree owned by Neil in Ovingdean, United Kingdom

    2011 season

    • 23rd May  2011  - tree owned by Neil in Ovingdean, United Kingdom
    • 26th April  2011  - tree owned by Simon in Swanage, United Kingdom
    • 1st April  2011  - tree owned by East in Ovingdean, Brighton, United Kingdom

    2010 season

    • 15th May  2010  - tree owned by Mark/Georgina/Harry/Poppy in Derby, United Kingdom
    • 14th May  2010  - tree owned by N. in Cambridge, United Kingdom
    • 6th May  2010  - tree owned by N. in Cambridge, United Kingdom
    • 1st May  2010  - tree owned by East in Ovingdean, Brighton, United Kingdom
    • 16th April  2010  - tree owned by Neil in Ovingdean, United Kingdom

    2009 season

    • 2nd May  2009  - tree owned by N. in Cambridge, United Kingdom
    • 1st May  2009  - tree owned by N. in Cambridge, United Kingdom
    • 28th April  2009  - tree owned by N. in Cambridge, United Kingdom

    Record your blossom dates in our Fruit Tree Register - more >>.


    Harvest records for this variety

    2017 season

    • 2nd week November  2017  - tree owned by Tony in Blandford Forum, United Kingdom
    • 1st week October  2017  - tree owned by Bill in Smeeton Westerby, United Kingdom

    2016 season

    • November  2016  - tree owned by Elaine in Mold, United Kingdom
    • 2nd week October  2016  - tree owned by Bill in Smeeton Westerby, United Kingdom

    2015 season

    • 1st week November  2015  - tree owned by Robert in Plymouth, United Kingdom
    • 2nd week October  2015  - tree owned by Bill in Smeeton Westerby, United Kingdom

    2012 season

    • 4th week September  2012  - tree owned by Andrew in Eastleigh, United Kingdom

    2011 season

    • 4th week October  2011  - tree owned by David in Whitstable, United Kingdom
    • 3rd week October  2011  - tree owned by Neil in Ovingdean, United Kingdom
    • 1st week September  2011  - tree owned by East in Ovingdean, Brighton, United Kingdom

    2010 season

    • 1st week October  2010  - tree owned by Mark/Georgina/Harry/Poppy in Derby, United Kingdom
    • 1st week October  2010  - tree owned by East in Ovingdean, Brighton, United Kingdom
    • 2nd week September  2010  - tree owned by Neil in Ovingdean, United Kingdom

    2009 season

    • October  2009  - tree owned by N. in Cambridge, United Kingdom
    • October  2009  - tree owned by N. in Cambridge, United Kingdom
    • October  2009  - tree owned by N. in Cambridge, United Kingdom

    Origins

    • Species: Malus domestica - Apple
    • Parentage: Possibly a Blenheim Orange seedling
    • Originates from: England, United Kingdom
    • Introduced: 1850s
    • UK National Fruit Collection accession: 1957-175

    Identification

    • Country of origin: United Kingdom
    • Period of origin: 1850 - 1899
    • Fruit colour: Orange flush
    • Flower colour: Crimson
    • Leaf colour: Green
    • Annual cycle: Deciduous

    Using

    • Picking season: Late
    • Keeping (of fruit): 3 months or more
    • Flavour quality: Good
    • Flavour style (apples): Sharper
    • Cooking result: Keeps shape
    • Discoloration of fruit: No discoloration (Good for drying)
    • Vitamin C content: Medium
    • Cropping: Good
    • Fruit persistence: Fruit drops when ripe
    • Food uses: Culinary
    • Picking period: early October
    • Wildlife: RHS Plants for Pollinators

    Growing

    • Gardening skill: Beginner
    • Flowering group: 4
    • Pollinating others: Poor
    • Ploidy: Diploid
    • Vigour: Vigorous
    • Bearing regularity: Regular
    • Fruit bearing: Spur-bearer
    • Organic culture: Suitable
    • Attractive features: Attractive flowers
    • Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile

    Climate

    • Frost resistance of blossom: Good resistance
    • Cold hardiness (USDA): Zone 5 (-29C)
    • Cold hardiness (USDA): Zone 6 (-23C)
    • Cold hardiness (USDA): Zone 7 (-18C)
    • Cold hardiness (USDA): Zone 8 (-12C)
    • Climate suitability: Temperate climates
    • Climate suitability: Mild damp climates
    • Summer average maximum temperatures: Cool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)
    • Summer average maximum temperatures: Warm (25-30C / 76-85F)
    • Summer average maximum temperatures: Cold (< 20C / 67F)

    Other qualities

    • Disease resistance: Good
    • Canker: Some resistance
    • Scab (Apple and Pear): Some resistance
    • Powdery mildew: Some resistance

    Where to buy trees

    The following tree nurseries offer Annie Elizabeth apple trees for sale:


    Where to buy fresh fruit

    The following orchards grow Annie Elizabeth:

    United States




    References

    • Apples of England (1948)
      Author: Taylor
    • Fruit Expert
      Author: Hessayon

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