Apple (Malus) ‘Newtown Pippin’ Semi-dwarf 7 Gal

Apple 'Newtown Pippin'
Malus 'Newtown Pippin'

Legendary flavor! Treasured dessert and cider heirloom apples from Newtown, Long Island ~1750. Fruits are medium- large, green-skinned, yellow-tinged, slightly russeted with a remarkably balanced sweet-tart flavor & aroma. A winter apple - best flavor after 1-2 months AFTER picking.

This apple is sensitive to soil and is picky about where it is grown, we are very fortunate that Western North Carolina happens to be one of those places.

Reportedly this was a favorite apple of multiple founding fathers including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson grew them at Monticello. When he visited Paris, he wrote "They have no apples here to compare with our Newtown Pippin."

When Benjamin Franklin traveled to England with some Newtown Pippin apples they set off a storm of demand, and by the 1770s large amounts were imported to England. The Queen of England loved them so that they were exempted from British import taxes, growers (especially those in the Blue Ridge Mountains) loved them because they were so incredibly profitable to sell to England.

Disease resistances: moderate resistance to collar rot.

Mid season bloomer. Pollinator required.

Generally agreed to be a 1750s heirloom from Newtown, Long Island. However, Lee Calhoun says: "The original Newtown Pippin tree stood on the farm of the Moore family near Newtown Village, Long Island, New York. It is family tradition that this tree was brought from England and planted about 1666 by the first member of the Moore family in America, but whether as a seed or graft or scion or young tree is unknown. The original tree stood until 1805."

Newtown Pippin has many alternative names, such as Albemarle Pippin, Brooke Pippin, Green Newtown Pippin, Mountain Pippin, Virginia Pippin, Yellow Newtown Pippin, and more.

Zone 4. Cold hardy to -30F.