Apple Tree - 'YELLOW DELICIOUS' aka 'Golden Delicious' (Plu 13053)

SIZE: 5 ft. high plus, in 7 gallon pot

Limited self-pollination. Best planted with a suitable pollinator such as: Honeycrisp; McIntosh; Empire; Cortland; Northern Spy or Spartan.

A large, golden apple that ripens late in the season (late September - early October) with a firm feel and a sweet flavour. Excellent home use for fresh eating, pies, sauces and preserves. Tree will grow to about 15 ft. high and wide. Perfectly suited to growing in Ontario. Very hardy. Zone 5

SIZE:

Height:  20 feet

Description:

Probably the most popular yellowish-green apple, crunchy with a sweet flavor, late harvest; eating apples are high maintenance and need a second pollinator; the perfect combination of accent and fruit tree, needs well-drained soil and full sun

Edible Qualities

Golden Delicious/Yellow Delicious Apple is a small tree that is commonly grown for its edible qualities. It produces large chartreuse round apples (which are botanically known as 'pomes') with yellow overtones and white flesh which are usually ready for picking from early to mid fall. The apples have a sweet taste and a crisp texture.

The apples are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Cooking
• Baking
• Sauces

Features & Attributes

Golden Delicious/Yellow Delicious Apple features showy clusters of lightly-scented white flowers with shell pink overtones along the branches in mid spring, which emerge from distinctive pink flower buds. It has forest green foliage throughout the season. The pointy leaves turn yellow in fall. The fruits are showy chartreuse apples with yellow overtones, which are carried in abundance in mid fall. The fruit can be messy if allowed to drop on the lawn or walkways, and may require occasional clean-up.

This is a deciduous tree with a more or less rounded form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition. This is a high maintenance plant that will require regular care and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed.

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Golden Delicious/Yellow Delicious Apple is suitable for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Shade
• Orchard/Edible Landscaping

Planting & Growing

Golden Delicious Apple will grow to be about 20 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 20 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 4 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more. This variety requires a different selection of the same species growing nearby in order to set fruit.

This tree is typically grown in a designated area of the yard because of its mature size and spread. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.