×
  • Home
  • Daily
    • Buyers Guides
    • Composting
    • Container Gardening
    • Easy Healthy Recipes
    • Food Preservation
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Tools
    • Gardening LIfe
      • Animals in the Garden
      • Funny Business
      • Gardening History
      • Gardening Humor
      • Gardening Mishaps
      • Gardening Poems
      • Gardening Romance
      • Gardening Science
      • Gardening with Kids
      • Healing Gardens
      • Joy of Gardening
      • Mystical Gardens
      • Ornamental Gardening
    • Growing Fruits & Berries
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Pests & Diseases
    • Seeds & Seedlings
    • Soil & Fertilizer
    • Spice & Herb Gardening
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Watering & Irrigation
  • Freebies
  • Videos
  • Magazines
    • Food Gardening Magazine
    • GreenPrints Magazine
    • RecipeLion Magazine
  • Books
    • GuideBooks
    • Cookbooks
      • Beverages
      • Bakery
      • Breakfast
      • Appetizers
      • Salads & Dressings
      • Soups
      • Entrées
      • Side Dishes & Sauces
      • Desserts
    • Story Collections
    • StoryBooks
    • Recipe Collections
  • Kits
    • Garden Calendars
    • Garden Plans
    • Recipe Cards
    • Greeting Cards
    • ArtPrints
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Affiliate Program
  • Sponsor Program
  • Give a Gift
  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use
  • Authors
  • GreenPrints Writer’s Guidelines
  • Keyword Index
  • Join
Celebrating 5 Years of Food Gardening

Food Gardening Network

Growing food, fun & more

Give a GiftJoin
Mequoda Publishing Network
  • Daily
    • Buyers Guides
    • Composting
    • Container Gardening
    • Easy Healthy Recipes
    • Food Preservation
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Tools
    • Gardening Life
      • Animals in the Garden
      • Funny Business
      • Gardening History
      • Gardening Humor
      • Gardening Mishaps
      • Gardening Poems
      • Gardening Romance
      • Gardening Science
      • Gardening with Kids
      • Healing Gardens
      • Joy of Gardening
      • Mystical Gardens
      • Ornamental Gardening
    • Growing Fruits & Berries
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Pests & Diseases
    • Seeds & Seedlings
    • Soil & Fertilizer
    • Spice & Herb Gardening
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Watering & Irrigation
  • Freebies
  • Videos
  • Magazines
    • Food Gardening Magazine
    • GreenPrints Magazine
    • RecipeLion Magazine
  • Books
    • GuideBooks
    • Cookbooks
      • Beverages
      • Bakery
      • Breakfast
      • Appetizers
      • Salads & Dressings
      • Soups
      • Entrées
      • Side Dishes & Sauces
      • Desserts
    • Story Collections
    • StoryBooks
    • Recipe Collections
  • Kits
    • Garden Calendars
    • Garden Plans
    • Recipe Cards
    • Greeting Cards
    • ArtPrints
  • Sign In
  • Search

Types of Apples

Gardening Guide: Audacious Apples

arrow-left Previous
Next arrow-right

Types of Apples

By Norann Oleson

Honey crisp apples in the orchard

Honey crisp apples in the orchard

There are two general categories of apples: dessert or fresh eating apples; and culinary apples for cooking, baking, and canning. There are some apples that are cultivated specifically for making cider, but you can actually make cider from whichever apples you prefer.

Apples grow best in USDA Zones 3 to 8, with some varieties that will grow in zone 9. A given cultivar’s required chill hours are what will determine where a particular apple variety will grow best; this is the amount of time the tree needs to be in a temperature between 32 to 45 degrees F during the winter in order for it to flower in the spring. Most apple trees require at least 900 chill hours.

The other factor you need to consider is your last frost date. Some apples bloom earlier/later than others, and apple trees subjected to a hard frost when they’re flowering won’t produce a crop that season.

Growers break apples into three rough categories, based on when in the growing season they bloom. When exactly the Early, Midseason, and Late time periods are for you depends on where you live; this is just an approximate guide. Here’s a sampling of both dessert and culinary apples and their rough bloom times:

Early Dessert

  • Akane
  • Anna
  • Brookland
  • Carroll
  • Discovery
  • Early McIntosh
  • George Cave
  • Lodi
  • Transparent
  • Vista Bella

Early Culinary

  • Battleford
  • Duchess
  • Early Victoria
  • George Neal
  • Grenadier
  • Parkland

Midseason Dessert

  • Cortland
  • Cox’s Orange Pippin
  • Delicious
  • Ellison’s Orange
  • Empire
  • Fameuse
  • Freedom
  • Golden Delicious
  • Greensleeves
  • King of the Pippins
  • Liberty
  • Macoun
  • McIntosh
  • Ribston Pippin
  • St. Edmund’s Pippin
  • Spartan
  • Spigold
  • State Fair
  • Sunset
  • Wealthy
  • Wolf River

Midseason Culinary

  • Arthur Turner
  • Bismarck
  • Blenheim Orange
  • Collet
  • Cortland
  • Golden Noble
  • Gravenstein
  • Mutsu
  • Norland
  • Peasgood Nonsuch
  • Red Baron
  • Royal Jubilee
  • Sweet Sixteen

Late Dessert

  • Ashmead’s Kernel
  • Cornish Gillyflower
  • D’Arcy Spice
  • Duke of Devonshire
  • Gala
  • Idared
  • Jonagold
  • Jupiter
  • Kidd’s Orange Red
  • Laxton’s Superb
  • Newtown Pippin
  • Orleans Reinette
  • Rome Beauty
  • Rosemary Russett
  • Sturmer Pippin
  • Suntan
  • Winston

Late Culinary

  • Bramley’s Seedling
  • Crawley Beauty
  • Edward VII
  • Golden Russett
  • Granny Smith
  • Haralson
  • Howgate Wonder
  • Melrose
  • Monarch
  • Northern Spy
  • Novaspy
  • Rhode Island Greening
  • Wealthy
  • Winesap
  • Yellow Bellflower

In general, apples classified as dessert apples have a higher sugar content than those apples classified as culinary. However, people’s taste in apples varies widely; one person’s culinary apple is another’s dessert apple. Pick what pleases you. And keep in mind that this is just a tiny sampling of the apple cultivars available. Growers are developing new varieties all the time.

Which type of apples have you grown? Do you have a preference? Please share your opinion.

arrow-left Previous
Next arrow-right

Tags

apple trees, rosemary

Comments

Click here to cancel reply.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Curator’s Corner
  • Introduction
  • Feature Articles

  • Growing Zones for Apples
  • Types of Apples
  • Growing Apples from Seeds, Grafting, or Saplings
  • Where to Grow Apples
  • Planting Apple Trees in the Ground
  • Growing Apple Trees in Containers
  • Nurturing your Apple Trees
  • Harvesting & Storing your Apples
  • Winterizing your Apple Trees
  • Dealing with Apple Diseases
  • Dealing with Apple Pests
  • Essential Tools and Equipment for Growing and Enjoying Apples
  • How to Identify the Worst Apple Diseases
  • Plant Profiles

  • Whitney Crabapple Tree
  • Macoun Apple Tree
  • Gold Rush Apple Tree
  • Enterprise Apple Tree
  • Freedom Apple Tree
  • Cortland Apple Tree
  • Cox’s Orange Pippin Antique Apple
  • Recipes

  • Upside-Down Maple Apple Cake
  • Apple and Cheddar Galette
  • Apple Cinnamon Chia Pudding
  • Apple and Onion Tarte Tatin
  • Caramel Apples
  • Annie’s Apple Crisp
  • Baked Stuffed Apples
  • Apple Cider
  • Baked Apple Chips
  • Waldorf Salad
  • Additional Articles

  • Nutrition Facts about Apples
  • Home Remedies and Health Benefits of Apples
  • Resources about Apples
  • Apple Glossary
  • Related Articles

  • The 10 Most Beautiful Flowering Fruit Trees
  • 7 Foolproof Tips for Pressure Canning Apples
  • How to Dehydrate Apples in the Oven
  • The Easiest Method for Freezing Fresh Apples for Baking
  • Apple-Growing Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change

Enter Your Log In Credentials

This setting should only be used on your home or work computer.

  • Lost your password? Create New Password
  • No account? Sign up

Need Assistance?

Call Food Gardening Network Customer Service at
(800) 777-2658

Food Gardening Network is an active member of the following industry associations:

  • American Horticultural Society
  • GardenComm Logo
  • GardenComm Laurel Media Award
  • MCMA logo
  • Join Now
  • Learn More
  • About Food Gardening Network
  • Contact Us
  • Affiliate Program
  • Sponsor Program
  • Give a Gift
  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

Food Gardening Network
99 Derby Street, Suite 200
Hingham, MA 02043
support@foodgardening.mequoda.com

To learn more about our Email Marketing and Broadcasting Services, Exchange Program, or to become a marketing partner with any of our publications, click here to contact us at Mequoda Publishing Network.

FREE E-Newsletter for You!

Discover how to grow, harvest, and eat good food from your own garden—with our FREE e-newsletter, delivered directly to your email inbox.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Powered by
Mequoda Publishing Network
copyright © 2025 Mequoda Systems, LLC

Food Gardening Network®, Food Gardening Magazine® and GreenPrints® are registered trademarks of Mequoda Systems, LLC.