Derry's Orchard & Nursery

But remember, as I stated above, estimating the final size of a grafted tree is a bit of a crap-shoot!!! There are so many variables.

Rootstock characteristics: the following information is from 'Intensive Orchard Management' by Bruce Barritt, Washington State University. 1992.

M9: dwarf, precocious (sets fruit early), brittle roots, must be staked for the life of the tree
Bud 9: dwarf, hardy, precocious, must be staked for the life of the tree.
M26: semi-dwarf, not as precocious as M9, more winter-hardy than M9, susceptible to collar rot.
M7: semi-dwarf, not as precocious as M26, less winter-hardy than M26, better for wet soils.
MM106: 3/4 x standard, no staking needed, not good for wet soils.
MM111: 3/4 x standard, more winter hardy than MM106, best for dry soils, also good for wet soils, no staking needed.
Antonovka: 3/4 x standard, hardy, no staking needed.

Quince A will need an interstem of Old Home or Beurre Hardy between the rootstock and many pear varieties. For a list of pear varieties compatible with quince A rootstock, see the NCGR Corvallis Pyrus Catalogue:

<http://www.ars-grin.gov/cor/catalogs/pyrcompatible.html>

I graft the rootstocks in March and April, put them into one gallon pots in raised beds and fertilize them with Osmocote (slow-release 14-14-14). The raised beds have an automatic watering system. By September, these grafted trees are ready for sale as one-year whips (near right). If I grow it for a second year, it will be branched (far right).

Scionwood

It varies a bit every year, but this scionwood was available in February 2009.

From my orchard: Akane, Alexander, Ananas Reinette, Ashmead's Kernel, Bramley's Seedling, Carmeliter Reinette, Chehalis, Cox's Orange Pippin, Discovery, Esopus Spitzenburg, Florina, Fuji Tak, Fuji B.C. 2, Golden Russet, Grimes Golden, Hudson's Golden Gem, Jefferis, Jonafree, Jonagold (Wilmutta), Karmijn de Sonnaville, King of Tompkins County, Mutsu, Ontario, Orenco, Orin, Pewaukee, Pitmaston Pine apple, Queen Cox, Reinette Simerenko, Schmidbergers Rote Reinette, St Edmunds Pippin, Tumanga, and Yellow Gravenstein.

From orchards of my friends: Astrachan, August Best, Baldwin, Baron Wolsey, Belle de Boskoop, Bismark, Blenheim Orange, Blue Pearmain, Breaky, Burnside Large Cooker, Canada Reinette, Chenango Strawberry, Court Pendu Plat, Democrat, Duchess of Oldenburg, Easter Orange, Ellison's Orange, Emneth Early, Erwin Baur, Freedom, Gala, Gilliflower of Gloucester, Goldgelb, Gloster, Haralson, Heyer 12, Holstein, Hubbardson Nonsuch, James Grieve, Jonathan, Red Karen Schneider, Katja, Kidd's Orange, Lemon Apple (aka Pippin), Liberty, Lodi, Lord Lambourne, Lyman's Large Cooker, Macleod, Macoun, Malling Kent, Mantet, McShay, Margil, Melba, Melrose, Merton Worcester, Northern Spy, Northwest Greening, Nova Easy Gro, Oaken Pin, Pink Lady (Jansen), Puritan, Red Astrachan, Red Beitgheimer, Red Belle de Boskoop, Red Jonathan, Rhode Island Greening, Ribston Pippin, Rosu de Cluj, Roxbury Russet, Scarlet Pippin, Severny Sinap, Silverling, Sinta, Snow, Spartan, Spencer, Spigold, Spy-Double Red, Stark's Earliest, Summer Pippin, Summer Rambo, Suntan, Swiss Orange, Transparent, Twenty Ounce, Tydeman's Late Orange, Tydeman's Red, Tydeman's Sweet, Valle Green (local), Vanderpool Red, Wealthy, Winter Banana, and Wolf River.

Cherry: Montmorency (sour).

Crabapples: Dolgo, John Downie, Kerr, Red Glow (red flesh)

Pears: Anjou, Aurora, Bartlett, Bosc, Clapp, Comice, Conference, Flemish Beauty, Fondant du Therriot, Hard, Jules d'Airoles, Magness, Old Home (for interstem) Maxine, Orcas, Rescue, Santa Maria, Sheldon, and Sierra,

Plums: Brooks, Maglio, Opal, Shiro, Stanley.

Quince: 'round' and 'pear-shaped'.

$4 per scionstick. Each scionstick will have 6-8 buds.

Collecting your own scionwood

The apple tree must be dormant (no leaves) and the buds must not have started to swell – December to February in south coastal B.C.

Ideally, the tree should be free-of-disease.

The earlier you cut the scions, the longer you have to store them so in zones 6-7-8 February is a good time to cut scions and you can graft in March.

Wait for a dry day!

The best scionwood is the wood which grew last year (2009). If you look closely at a branch of an apple tree – start looking at the very tip of the branch! Let your glance move slowly down the branch – first you will see the buds are quite far apart then they get closer and closer together and you will see a ring or rings around the branch. This is the ‘annual ring’(also known as ‘bud scale scar’) and marks the point where growth started last year.

If you continue to glance further down the branch, you’ll see another annual ring - this marks the start of growth in 2008. Keep doing this and you will be able to tell how old the branch is.

Your scionwood should be wood which grew last year (2009). Now some scionwood is better than other scionwood.

The best scionwood is wood which is growing on the sunny side of the tree, up in the canopy, coming UP off the main branch at about 45° to 60°.

Wood hanging down is not good scionwood; wood growing horizontally is not good scionwood; wood growing straight up (water shoots) is not good scionwood.

Last year’s growth should be 6-12” long and about pencil thickness (5/16”)

Cut the scion at the annual ring. Cut off the top bud and discard it. Label the scions with the name of the apple variety (using waterproof ink).

Barely moisten a paper towel – just a few drops of water scattered around the paper towel and wrap the scions in it. Put the wrapped scions in a plastic bag, close the bag tightly with a tie and store the bag in the bottom vegetable drawer of the refrigerator or similar cold, dry environment (1-3°C/33-37°F). Do not store apples or other ripening fruit in the fridge while you are storing scionwood.

Some reasons: watershoots have a lot of auxins and auxins will slow down the fruiting of your new tree plus they are too vegetative and contain too few carbohydrates.

Terminal buds produce auxin (a hormone) so cut off the terminal bud and don’t make it part of your three-bud scion.

Horizontal branches have lots of FRUIT buds and you want LEAF buds to make your new tree grow in the first year.

Wood which hangs down is weak wood.

If the new growth is only two or three inches, this will be weak wood and it is difficult to get a good three-bud scion.

A three-bud scion gives you three chances for success – you only need one bud to grow, so one of the three buds must grow to make your new tree. You can use a two-bud scion, but you’ve reduced your odds for success. You can even use a one-bud scion, but if that bud does not grow you’ve had it!

If your paper towel is wet rather than barely damp, mould will grow on your scion.

The bottom vegetable drawer of the fridge is least affected by the frost-free cycling. An old non frost-free fridge is better for storing scionwood if you have one. The cooler, the better, but don’t store scionwood in the freezer!

Ripening fruit produces ethylene and ethylene will kill the buds on the scionwood. The union will heal, but the buds will not grow.

If you have a friend or a relative who has a really good apple tree, just ask if you can collect some scionwood. Graft the scion on to an apple rootstock and you’ll have a tree which produces apples exactly like the one you admired … and you’ll have a new hobby!

A year in the life of a grafted apple tree.

Following is a description of how I deal with my newly grafted trees. Feedback is welcomed.

I do my grafts and bundle each variety together and store them in damp sawdust out of the sun, out of the wind, out of the rain, ideally at 7-9°C (in a room in the barn). I use the plastic milk cartons/crates 13” x 13” x 10.5” high and put a black plastic bag inside the crate and inside the plastic bag I put my grafted trees upright in bundles packed with damp (not wet!) sawdust.

I tie the black plastic bag over the sawdust so the unions are covered, but the scions are not. This increases the humidity around the unions and also prevents the sawdust from drying out.

I’ve read that some people cover their unions for this first month. There is often not enough depth in the milk crates for the sawdust to cover the unions, but if you found a deeper container, it would be a good idea to cover the unions.

I don’t want them in the dark or the leaves will open up white

I’m in south coastal B.C. and I try to finish my grafting by the end of March.

Before the end of April, I pot the newly grafted dwarf trees into one-gallon pots (larger rootstocks into 2 gallon pots) in a commercially-prepared bark mulch/sawdust/peat mixture (West Creek Farms in Fort Langley) .

I have four raised beds about 12' x 4' x 16" high. These beds were originally made for vegetables and they are in a compound surrounded by deer fencing.

There are about ten raised beds and I have commandeered four of the beds for my grafts. The soil has been removed so my pots are on the ground surrounded by 16" walls. There is an automatic overhead sprinkling system and a layer of metal hardware cloth (1 cm x 1 cm holes) on the ground under the pots to keep the meadow mice (voles) out. The hardware cloth is attached to the sides and a tight hole has been cut for the irrigation risers so the voles cannot get in!!!!

The height of the beds seems to deter the rabbits. I've never had rabbit damage, but I don't leave the pots in the beds over winter (anthracnose canker loves cold wet bark) and rabbits usually do their damage in the winter.

I use slow-release fertilizer.

In 2009, I used 125 gms Osmocote 14-14-14 (3-4 months) for every 10 x one-gallon pots (12.5 gms/pot) and every 6 x 11L pots (20 gms/pot). 12.5 gms is 2.5 teaspoons per one gallon pot. Twenty grams is 4 teaspoons per 11L pot..

This works out to 1.75 gm Nitrogen per one gallon pot and 2.9 gms per 11L pot. I think I'll cut back even more in 2010.

It has been my experience that the root growth is better in pots than in the ground - more fibrous and more roots. In the ground they seem to produce one or two thicker roots and almost no fibrous roots.

In 2007, we had another well drilled so now I can use the automatic watering system for the whole of the summer.

For the last five years, we have had very hot dry summers, so I have put a lot of time into manually watering my nursery trees at least every two days and sometimes daily if it is very hot in July and August.

Bits and pieces: My MM106 and MM111 and M26 go into 11 L (2.5 gallon) pots and produce a very nice root system.

In September I start selling them.

Those that remain in mid-November are moved to my car-port. Here they are out of the rain and away from the rabbits.

In mid-February, I take them out of the carport and water them and start my selling season with Seedy Saturday at VanDusen Gardens. I cut the whips back to 27” from the soil level. The branches should form in the 6-8-10” below the cut. There should be no branches below about 18”.

By early May I am usually almost sold out. The remaining trees are 'potted up' into larger pots and go back into the raised beds, but with more space between them because in the second year they will put out branches.

If I have a grafted tree that I want to plant in my orchard, I have been waiting until they are two-years old. Meadow mice (voles) love the roots of one-year old apple trees. If they happen to run a tunnel next to a young apple tree they will eat absolutely every root and leave only a pointed stick where the roots were.

In November, 2005, I did plant about 15 one-year old trees, but I planted them in an open-bottomed cylinder of hardware cloth. The diameter of the cylinder is about 10”, the depth is about 10”. The holes are 1 cm x 1 cm. I plan to remove this cylinder of wire mesh in about November 2008. This has been well worthwhile. The roots of the nursery trees have not been eaten by the meadow voles. (In December 2009, the wire mesh is still around the whips!).

My hope is that by having the mesh around the roots for three years, some roots will get big enough that the meadow mice won’t eat them. By removing the mesh in November, some small roots will be broken, but they should grow back quickly in the rainy months of November-December-January. Stay tuned to see how it works.

Friends have told me that 'bridging' should occur when the root grows through the 1 cm hole and then it grows thicker. The wire should become surrounded by root and after time, the wire will be embedded in the root. It may not be necessary to remove the wire mesh. I don't know.

If there is a variety you would like, let me know. I can make almost anything if I can get scionwood. The ideal time to let me know is in January so I can find the appropriate scionwood. By mid March, I will have sent almost all of my scionwood over to the BC Fruit Testers Annual Meeting in Victoria, B.C.

The following is a chart giving more information on all of these varieties. The information was taken from Martin Crawford's Directory of Apple Cultivars (references)

Variety	Fruit	Skin	Flesh	Flavour	Vigour	Bloom	Pick	r/s	disease?
Ashmead's Kernel        UK   c1700	medium,     flat-round	greenish-yellow, patches of russet	white, sweet-sharp, juicy, firm, aromatic	strong, acid-drop like?   excellent	also used for cider	mid    Day 14	early Oct	M9	resistant to scab
Belle de Boskoop Holland 1856	large round-conical to oblong	greenish-gold, russeted	pale cream, tinge of green, sharp, juicy, firm, aromatic	sharp, improves with storage	high vigour, good cropper	early   Day 8  *triploid*	early Oct	B9	very resistant to scab,
Bramley's Seedling  Notts  1809	very large	greenish-yellow	white, tinged green, sharp, juicy, firm	sharp, for cooking, juice, and cider	high vigour, heavy cropper	mid      Day 12   *triploid*	early Oct	M9 111	slightly susceptible to scab
Brownlees Russet      UK 1848	medium, short-round-conical	green, russeted grey-brown, sl brown-red flush	cream tinged green, sweet-sharp, juicy, crisp	aromatic, nutty, intense fruit-drop like	moderate vigour, upright, very hardy	mid    Day 9    self-fertile	mid Oct	111 106	res to scab, canker and PM
Chisel Jersey Somerset 19th Cent	medium, conical	red flushed, prone to russeting and cracking	firm	cider= full bittersweet, very astringent	mod vigour, upright, bears young	late     Day 22	November	M26	for cider: good quality, full of body
Cox's Orange Pippin          UK  1825	medium, round-conical	green-yellow/ gold, flushed/ striped red	deep cream, sweet, soft, aromatic, nutty	rich, intense, honeyed, excellent	mod, bears young, spurs freely, good cropper	mid  Day 11 self sterile	late Sept- early Oct	M9 106 111	susceptible to anthracnose
Cranberry Pippin         Ontario 1880	medium	yellow with red stripe	firm, may have pink flesh  (?)	stores until February				M26	cooker - is a 'winter apple'
Dabinett  Somerset, UK	small-med, round	greenish-yellow, flushed dull red	firm, aromatic	cider = full bittersweet vintage	low, shade-tolerant, bears young	mid     Day 15   sf	late Oct-Nov	M26	resistant to scab, for cider
Discovery             UK   1949	medium  round	green-yellow flushed bright red	cream, pink-stained	juicy, crisp, hint of strawberry	mod vigour, good cropper	mid	late Aug	M26	resistant to scab and mildew
Easter Orange       UK 1897	medium, round	orange flushed scarlet, russet dots	deep cream, sweet, chewy, crisp	aromatic, flavour rich, intense	mod vigour, good cropper	mid    Day 12	early Oct	B9
Freyburg      New Zealand   1934	small-med, round	golden yellow, flushed mahogany red	yellow, very sweet, dry, crisp,	aromatic, flavour strong, honeyed	low vigour, spur-bearing	mid      Day 11	mid Oct	M9	C.O. cross
Glockenapfel Europe ancient	medium, conical, bell-shaped	greenish-yellow	crisp, sweet with acidity	keeps shape, translucent	mod, heavy cropper	early   Day 8	mid Oct	M9	Swiss strudel
Goudrenet  Holland  c1850	large,   round-conical	gold, flushed orange, russeted	pale cream tinged green, sharp, juicy, firm	aromatic	high vigour,   good cropper	early    Day 8  *triploid*	early Oct	B9 106	resistant to scab
Gravenstein    Europe      1873	medium-large, oblong	greenish-yellow striped red	cream, sweet-sharp, juicy, melting, crisp	excellent	high vigour, spur-bearing,  often biennial	early   *triploid*	late August	B9 111
Haralson Minnesota 1923	med-large, round-conical	yellow, striped red	white, juicy, crisp	almost orangy	low vigour,  bears young, good cropper	mid    Day 12	mid Oct	MM106	very hardy
Heyer 12  Saskatchewan, Canada	small-med	greenish yellow	sharp, juicy		bears young, good cropper	late	Sept-Oct	M9	very hardy
Holstein  Germany   c1918	medium-large, round-conical	gold flushed orange-red, russet dots	deep-cream, sweet-sharp, firm	aromatic, flavour intense, rich	high vigour, spreading	mid    Day 10    *triploid*	late Sept-early Oct	B9 111	very resistant to scab
Honeycrisp  Minnesota 1991	medium, oblong	lemon-yellow, mottled scarlet red	cream, sweet-sharp, juicy, crisp	slightly aromatic	moderate vigour, hardy	est Day 14-16	late Sept-early Oct	M26 111	resistant to scab
James Grieve Scotland 1890	medium, round-conical	pale greenish-yellow flushed & striped red	pale cream, sharp, juicy, melting, crisp	savoury, mellowing, excellent	mod vigour, hardy, heavy cropper	mid     Day 10  psf	early Sept	M9	tol of late frosts & v cold winters
Jefferis  Penn, USA               c1830	small, round	yellow, flushed and striped dark red	cream, sweet, melting	slightly aromatic, pear-like	mod, hardy, bears young, heavy cropper	early-mid Day 9	mid Sept	M26	very resistant to scab
Jonagold      NY, USA       1943	med-large, round-conical	yellow striped or flushed red	cream, sweet-sharp, juicy, crisp	aromatic, rich, honeyed	high	mid-late  *triploid*	mid Oct	MM 111
Karmijn de Sonnaville Holland 1971	large oblong-conical	yellow-green, flushed carmine red	yellow, quite sharp, juicy, crisp, aromatic	intense, rich, robust, sl honeyed, vg	high vigour, spreading, good cropper	mid   Day 12  *triploid*	early Oct	M9	prone to russeting
Kent,          Kent, UK, 1974	medium, round-conical	yellow, striped red, flushed dark orange red	pale cream, sweet-sharp, juicy, firm	aromatic, flavour good	mod vigour, bears young, heavy cropper	mid    Day 13	late Oct	M26	prone to coarse russeting
Lady (Api)  France    1628	small, flat-round, hangs well	yellow, brightly flushed red	white, sweet, juicy, crisp, aromatic	fruity, also used for cider	low vigour, upright, often biennial	early-mid Day 11	mid Oct	Ant
Macoun       New York 1923	small-med, flat-round	pale yellow w purple flush, bloomy	snow white, very sweet, juicy, crisp	aromatic, hint of strawberry	high vigour, hardy, heavy cropper	mid      Day 11	Oct	M9
Melrose      Ohio           1944	large, flat- round	yellow-green, shiny red flushed and streaked	cream, sweet-sharp, juicy, crisp	flavour brisk, refreshing	mod vigour, bears young often biennial	mid      Day 10	mid Oct	M9	susceptible  to scab
Merton Beauty  London 1932	medium, flat-round	yellow, flushed and striped bright scarlet	cream, sweet, melting, crisp	aromatic, flavor strongly aniseed	mod vigour, upright, good cropper	mid      Day 14	mid Sept	M9	very rich flavour, excellent
Orleans Reinette France 1776	medium, flat-round	gold, short red stripes, flushed orange-red	pale cream, sweet, dry, firm	aromatic, nutty, flavour rich	mod vigour, upright, bears young,	late      Day 16   psf	mid Oct	B9	resistant to scab
Pewaukee Wisconsin 1870	medium-large, irregular	yellow, striped red, mottled orange-red	cream, sweet	light, fruity	moderate vigour, bears young	mid      Day 9	early Oct	M9
Pitmaston Pine Apple  UK 1785	small, oblong-conical	golden, russet dots	yellow, sweet-sharp, crisp	nutty, intense, rich, honeyed, pineapple	moderate vigour, upright, heavy cropper	mid      Day 12	early Oct	B9	resistant to scab
Ross Nonpariel Ireland 1802	medium, flat-round	pale yellow flushed deep orange, russeted	cream, sweet-sharp, flavour intense, very good		mod vigour, upright, good cropper	early    Day 8	late Sept	MM111	very resistant to scab
Suntan     Kent           1956	medium, flat-round	gold flushed orange-red, striped red	deep cream, sweet-sharp, juicy, firm	aromatic, rich, very good	high vigour, spreading, good cropper	late     Day 20 *triploid*	early oct	M9  M26	scab-free
Swayzie Niagara    1872	small to medium, oblong-conic	golden, some russeting and russet spots	white tinged with pale yellow, fine-grained, crisp	highly aromatic, very good to best	mod vigour, upright		mid Oct	M9 M26
Yarlington Mill Somerset	small-medium, conical	pale yellow	firm	medium bittersweet, sl astringent	mod vigour, upright, heavy cropper	mid      Day 15	late Oct-early Nov	B9	cider apple

Recommended List of Cider Apples from my Langley, B.C., experience

by Derek Bisset phone: 604 888 7867
e-mail: 'derek_bisset' and the symbol for 'at' plus 'shaw.ca'

Yarlington Mill
Somerset vintage late mid season bittersweet cider apple.grown in modern bush cider orchards.
Fruit medium-large , conical , yellow with dull red flush here in BC.
Blossom mid to late May (Day 15).
Tree has moderate vigour making a mid size tree on M26. Growth is spreading with strong side branches which can easily overtake leader . Heavy crops every year .
Relatively disease-free with no evidence of scab . Some resistance to canker.
Fruit drops in early to mid October but can hang later . Can be milled immediately but stores into November
Juice is superior for cider with good sugar , mild tannin and earthy aroma for those who like a very full, strong flavour.

Dabinett
Somerset vintage late bittersweet cider apple highly recommended for modern bush orchards
Fruit medium but can be small, flattened round always coloured dark red .Regular crops
Blossom mid to late May (Day 15 self-fertile).
Tree is a very weak grower and needs at least MM106 to make a moderate size tree .Trees have spreading branches and leader can be lost .Potash fertilizing recommended .
Disease free with some resistance to canker .
Fruit is late dropping mid to late October and stores well for milling later in November .
Juice is excellent for cider , fruity with good aroma and pleasant , mild tannin. Low acid needs to be blended with sharp juice for balanced cider. Cider is light, soft,and with a fruity aroma .

Chisel Jersey
Somerset vintage late bittersweet cider apple grown extensively in modern orchards .
Fruit is small to medium, conical with bright red colour . Heavy, regular crops.
Cracking and russetting reported in England not observed here .
Blossom mid to late May (Day 22).
Excellent tree form , mid size on M26 with upright growth making a neat christmas tree shaped centre leader tree with very little pruning or shaping required. Good for hedgerow .
Disease free with some resistance to canker .
Late fruit drops in late October, can hang later and stores very well for milling in November.
Juice has a pleasant tannin and produces cider with a light floral aroma .

Other Varieties:

Muscadet de Dieppe is commonly available It produces well for me although there are numerous reports of poor productivity.It blooms early (Day 5). It makes good full, astringent cider although it has a couple of drawbacks ; it is very biennial , alternating heavy crop with no crop at all ; it is ready in August and doesn't store so that fermentation must take place fast in warm conditions , not the best for good cider .
Michelin and Tremlett's Bitter are available and often recommended as good producers . I have found disease to be a problem with both . Michelin blooms Day 15 and produces very well but is a weak grower and has been canker prone The juice is good for blending although not considered vintage .Tremlett's Bitter blooms early (Day 5) and is reported by others to produce well but without spraying develops severe scab to the point that all leaves are lost midsummer and the tree weakens . The juice has a hard tannin suitable for blending .
Stoke Red looks promising . It blooms late (Day 25). It is a vigorous grower with large crops of small to medium fruit of vintage quality .
Marechal blooms late (Day 25) and is turning out to be a large, vigorous tree also with heavy crops and with fair resistance to disease.
Kingston Black blooms Day 15 and produces what is considered the most valuable juice. It has a reputation as a canker-prone variety but avoided disease for a surprising length of time
Brown's Apple (blooms Day 18) and Sweet Coppin (blooms Day 15) so far have not grown well .
Foxwhelp as it appears locally has come to be called Fauxwhelp as it bears no resemblance to the true English variety which is a small , red, early apple. Fauxwhelp is early, but is large, green-yellow with some red striping . One suggestion is that it is from an interstem variety which got out of control and came to be propagated as Foxwhelp

Notes:

cider – is apple juice fermented somewhat in the manner of a white wine. It can be made with any apple, but traditional cider varieties give special qualities to the cider.
bitter - tannin in juice from these apples gives cider with good colour and a fullness to taste not found in cider made from dessert apples only.
bittersweet – has high sugar content as well as high tannin. Most of the best cider apples are in this group but juice requires blending with sharps to produce a balanced cider .
sharp – often cooking or crab apples are used to blend and provide sharp flavour in cider since many of the best cider apples lack acidity, Acidity gives cider a brisk, refreshing quality and helps with preservation. It can be overpowering in new cider but reduces over time and what was thought to be an unpleasant sour apple cider kept for two or three years can improve remarkably.
bittersharp - relatively uncommon has bitterness and acidity
hard/soft tannin – differentiates between qualities of tannin in different apples . Dabinett has a full, soft pleasant tannin while Tremblett's Bitter tannin is is harsh and has to be used carefully .
Early/mid/late – is used to refer to blossom, picking and ripening dates .
biennial - older varieties of cider apple all tend to become biennial bearing heavy crops one year and none the following. Unfortunately this appears to be related to climate and all varieties with the tendency will come into phase over time with the same on and off years. In most cases experiment has shown that thinning does little to help. Modern varieties mentioned as being suitable for bush orchards are chosen to avoid biennialism .
blossom - most cider apples blossom around mid-May in the Lower Mainland
falling date - most cider apples unlike dessert apples are not picked from the tree, but are allowed to fall or are shaken down and picked from grass sward..To do this a date when most apples drop is useful.
ripening date – may not coincide with picking. It is important to allow maximum sugar to develop before milling and late varieties are stored until testing shows full ripeness.Dabinett may drop in October and be kept several weeks into November before milling. Waiting may also be useful to cool cider-making conditions since most cider makers want slow fermentations .
tree size - results from a combination of rootstock effects and vigour . Thus a weak grower like Dabinett produces a very small tree on M26 and a moderate size tree on MM106 while Yarlington and Chisel Jersey produce moderate size trees on M26 . Larger trees are recommended for cider apples since the fruit tend to be numerous and smaller to be shaken down for picking They require less pruning since size and appearance of fruit is less an issue compared to dessert apples.
disease – canker is the main concern because of tree losses. All the cider apple trees get canker and none have complete resistance . However some trees like Michelin become cankered very quickly in our conditions while Chisel Jersey and Dabinett appear to resist infection for longer . Yarlington has avoided infection longest for me . Scab is less of a concern although I have found I could not grow Tremblett's Bitter well because scab caused it to lose leaves so badly it went into decline . Presumably spraying would correct this although clean culture alone did not .
single variety – none of the cider apples used alone produces a rounded, full cider. They are best in a blend which has juice with tannin acid and sugar in balance as well as some apples chosen for aroma .
blending - is required to produce a balanced cider with suggested one third of each : cider apples for bitterness , crab or sharp cooking for acid , and dessert for sweetness and aroma .
milling – apples varieties selected for cider have milling qualities not found in dessert or dual purpose apples . Unlike most apples which tend to mush to a puree when milled, these apples come out of the mill as chips with almost a sawdust consistency . A puree is very hard to press since there are no channels for the juice . Think of trying to press applesauce . Cider apple pulp appears to be drier but actually produces more juice because it runs more freely .

Blueberry plants. February 2010.
.

When I was selecting these varieties to sell, I focussed on:

1) excellent flavour
2) large size
3) good yield
4) good Autumn colour.

in this order!

When selecting blueberry varieties always choose at least two different varieties to optimize pollination.

Blueberries all bloom at approximately the same time so you don't have to bother about bloom dates. Any two varieties will have overlapping blooming periods.

BlueRay (NJ 1955) Zones 5-7. Blooms early, harvest mid-season (July 25). An old favourite, self-fruitful, outstanding dessert quality , consistent yield, very large berries (60 per cup), 10-20 lbs/bush, will grow to 5'. Good pollenizer for Patriot. Upright bush,rosy pink flowers turn astunning bright white in full bloom, burgundy leaves in the Fall. One gallon $14.

Hardyblue (USA) Zones 4-7. Blooms mid-season, harvest mid-season (late July-early August), medium-sized, very sweet, superior flavour, very productive. More adaptable to heavier soils. Bright red fall colour. 4-6’. 1 gallon $14, 2 gallon $18 each.

Patriot: (U Maine), Zone 3-7. Blooms early, harvest early season (July 10), highly flavoured, will perform better in wet soils, very large berries (50-60/cup), consistent crop, 10-20 lbs/bush, tolerates less than ideal growing conditions such as wet or heavy soil, fiery orange-red fall colour, excellent landscape plant, shorter i.e. to 4’ and spreads to 4’. One gallon $14 each.

Reka: (New Zealand). Zone 4-6. Blooms mid-season, harvest early season (July 10). One of the fastest growing most adaptable varieties evaluated by Fall Creek Nurseries in Oregon. Reka grows well in a number of different soil types and is more tolerant of wet, heavier soil than many other varieties. Growers are especially enthusiastic about Reka’s extreme production. The yield curve is quite steep out-producing most others in the early years and surpassing most at maturity. Red burgundy fall colour. 2 gallon $18 each.

Spartan: (Oregon 1981). Zone 5-7. Blooms mid-season, harvest early season (July 15) and is frost-resistant. Very large berries, medium blue, superb flavour, upright, vigorous 5-6’, orange-yellow Fall colours. Spartan’s flavour makes it a front-runner of all Highbush varieties. Spartan prefers light, well-drained soil. Do not grow on heavy clay! Once established in a favourable site it can be hard to beat. Spartan needs a pollenizer. 1 gallon $14 each

The variety information above comes from the Fall Creek, Oregon, catalogue

http://fallcreeknursery.com/Nursery/VarietyChart/index.htm