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Expert help available for Spartan apple trees

Spartan apple trees

Pick: Late-season    Flowering group: 3       Uses: Eat fresh | Juicing 
  • Spartan apple tree
  • Spartan apple tree

Spartan is a deep marroon-coloured apple with an excellent refreshing sweet flavour. Apple text books often describe the flavour as "vinous" and it can indeed have a wine-like quality, although this is first and foremost a crisp sweet juicy unpretentious apple.

That flavor, and the crimson skin, are an easy clue that Spartan is related to the famous Canadian McIntosh apple. Spartan is undoubtedly one of the best of the many varieties which trace their ancestry back to McIntosh. It is also one of the few that have made it across the Atlantic to the UK, where it is widely grown and well-suited to the temperate UK climate.

Spartan ripens quite late in the season, usually around early October. The apples will remain on the tree over a 2-3 week period, which means you can pick a few at a time rather than have to deal with a glut. This is also the best way to enjoy them because although they keep fairly well, the flavour and crispness fade in storage.

Spartan is also a very good pollinator of other apples, producing large quantities of compatible pollen.

Spartan is a simple unpretentious apple, and when eaten straight from the tree on a crisp cold morning is a real delight.

Order now for delivery September 2013 onwards

Spartan apple trees for sale

Mature height*Supplied asPrice**
inc. delivery		Quantity
required

Pot-grown fruit trees (Delivery start September 2013)

Medium (2.2m - 3m)2-year bush-trained - 12L pot - M26 rootstock £38.00
Large (3m - 4m)2-year bush-trained - 12L pot - MM106 rootstock £38.00

Bare-root fruit trees (Deliveries start November 2013)

Small (1.8m - 2.5m)1-year - Bare-root - M9 rootstock £29.00
Small (1.8m - 2.5m)2-year bush-trained - Bare-root - M9 rootstock £32.00
Medium (2.2m - 3m)1-year - Bare-root - M26 rootstock £29.00
Large (3m - 4m)1-year - Bare-root - MM106 rootstock £29.00
Large (3m - 4m)2-year - Bare-root - MM106 rootstock £36.00
Large (3m - 4m)Half-standard - Bare-root - MM106 rootstock £35.00

**All prices include delivery. We offer a discount on orders of multiple bare-root trees for delivery at the same time - this will be shown at the checkout.

Delivery period: Pot-grown trees can be delivered from September onwards. Bare-root trees can be delivered from mid-November onwards. Within those periods you can specify your preferred month of delivery during the checkout process. It is best to order as soon as you can to ensure items are reserved for you.

*Mature heights: Height shown is the approximate height of the tree when mature (after 5-10 years), not the height when supplied. See photos of trees as supplied. Actual mature heights may vary considerably dependent on your local conditions and training and pruning regime - see our Tree Height Calculator.

Fruit tree guarantee

Stock availability: Items showing as 'sold out' will probably be available again next season. Click here to be notified when we get more trees of this variety.



Alternatives to Spartan apple trees

Alternative fruit trees - Fameuse apple trees
Late-season  (2)  
Eat | Juice 

Fameuse apple trees

The probable grand-parent of Spartan, from which it gets its distinctive flavour.




Summary features of Spartan

Growing

Uses

Identification

  • Country of origin: Canada
  • Period of origin: 1900 - 1949
  • Fruit colour: Crimson
  • Blossom colour: White
  • Leaf colour: Green
  • Popular variety

Climate



Pollination guide for Spartan

Spartan is in flowering group 3. Spartan is partially self-fertile, but fruiting will be improved if there is a compatible tree of a different variety nearby. Since it flowers in the middle of the blossom season it can be pollinated by most other apple trees.



How to grow Spartan apple trees

Although it originates from Canada, Spartan has long been a favourite in the cool temperate climate of England, and as might be expected from a Canadian variety, it is naturally cold-hardy. Whilst it will grow throughout the UK, it is generally happier in areas with drier climates.

It crops reliably and heavily. The fruit tends to be small but moderate thinning is very effective and the remaining apples will be a good medium/large size.

There are few disease problems, and birds and aphids are not often an issue either. It appears to be somewhat susceptible to scab in areas with damp climates, but unaffected in areas with dry climates.

Spartan also tends to produce a neat and attractive tree.

The large quantity of blossom makes it a good pollinator for other apple varieties. The pollen is also viable at lower temperatures (10C rather than 15C-20C) than most other apple varieties, making it a useful variety to grow if your orchard is in an area with cold spring weather.



Varieties with similar picking times to Spartan

<== Pick slightly earlierAbout the same timePick slightly later ==>
Adams Pearmain
Barnack Beauty
Calville Blanc
Claygate Pearmain
Cornish Aromatic
Cornish Gilliflower
Court Pendu Plat
Edward VII
Elstar
Fiesta
Freyberg
Herefordshire Russet
Idared
Jonagold
Kidd's Orange Red
Lane's Prince Albert
Lemon Pippin
Newton Wonder
Orleans Reinette
Red Falstaff
Tydeman's Late Orange
Zabergau Reinette

Ashmead's Kernel
Keepsake
Mutsu (Crispin)
Sturmer Pippin
Winter Gem
Yorkshire Greening

Bright Future
Winter Banana



Historical details

Spartan is one of the most widely-grown of the McIntosh family of apples, which are characterised by their deep maroon skinand bright white flesh. Spartan was developed at the Canadian Apple Research Station in Summerland, British Columbia, in the 1920s. The female parent is McIntosh, and the male parent is thought to be the popular American variety Newtown Pippin although this is not certain.



Botanical name

Malus domestica Spartan



Related variety collections

UK dessert apple orchard collection, Small orchard selection, Supermarket favourite apple varieties, Easy apple trees for the UK garden, Apple varieties suitable for organic culture


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