What kinds of apples grow well here in the rainy lower mainland? Do Cox Orange Pippins grow well here? My favourite apples that are commercially available are the crisp, sweet, fragrant ones such as Honey Crisp, Fuji and Cameo. Can anyone recommend a variety that is like these that grow well here? If you have a tree, what kind is it and do you have many problems with it?
I go to the applefest almost every year ;) but this year I'm planning on buying a tree. Just as apple descriptions might say this apple is flavourful and crisp, but not be, I thought descriptions of the tress might be different than what they claim. What I really wanted to know what was what experiences people have with apple tress here on the wet coast, especially with respect to diseases.
There is a fruit research station in Mt. Vernon, WA, that evaluates fruit trees in a similar climate- http://mtvernon.wsu.edu/frt_hort/fruit_horticulture.htm. Honeycrisp and early Fujis (Beni Shogun is recommended) do fairly well here; some scab control needed but easily grown with an organic program. Cox's Orange Pippen do well here as well, also need some scab control. A few good scab resistant varieties are Akane, Liberty, Freedom and Elstar. The old heirloom russet Ashmead's Kernal is also pretty scab resistant. You need two varieties that bloom together for pollination.
Any interest in good cooking apples. A really fail-safe variety is the Yellow Transparent apple. It requires nothing in terms of special care and always produces a heavy crop. The downfall is that they do not store for nearly as long as Granny Smiths. The up side is that there simple is no better cooking apple in terms of flavor.
