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Laxton's Fortune apple trees

Laxton's Fortune
Laxton's Fortune has received the RHS Award of Garden MeritLaxton's Fortune is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Mid
  • Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
  • Flowering group: 3
  • Awards: RHS AGM (current) 1993
A quietly popular Edwardian era Cox-style apple, developed by the Laxton Brothers Nursery.
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Laxton's Fortune apple trees for sale

Bare-root

  • BR12-year bush-trained bare-root tree M26 rootstock £43.00
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
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  • BR21-year bare-root tree MM106 rootstock SALE £30.95(was £34.95)
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  • BR32-year bush-trained bare-root tree MM106 rootstock SALE £39.00(was £43.00)
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
Next deliveries

Order now for delivery from week commencing 25th March onwards where these items are showing as in stock.

Delivery charges

Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95. It is calculated when you add trees to your basket, based on your postcode.

Many growers have attempted to combine the superb flavour of Cox's Orange Pippin with other varieties that are less disease-prone and easier to grow. Fortune, developed by the Laxton Brothers Nursery in the early 20th century is a good example of this, having some of the aromatic richness of Cox but much better resistance to the apple disease scab.

Although not as well known as Laxton's Superb, it remains a popular garden apple variety.

How to grow

If you want to learn about biennial bearing in apple trees, Laxton's Fortune is the example the textbooks usually mention! Biennial bearing is when the tree fruits heavily in alternate years, with a light crop or no crop in the intervening year. Heavy-cropping varieties which are also of low vigour - such as Laxton's Fortune - are most prone to this condition. To prevent this happening, make sure you don't let the tree set too heavy a crop, as this will trigger the cycle. The easiest way to prevent over-cropping is to thin the fruitlets at the start of June after the blossom is over - thin each cluster to one fruitlet per cluster, and then if necessary remove some of the remaining ones as well.

Fortune ripens earlier than Cox but for the best flavour leave it on the tree until the apples start to fall before picking.

Laxton's Fortune performs well in hotter climates, so is a good choice if you want a traditional English-style apple but are living in Spain, Italy, or southern France.

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

History

Developed at the start of the 20th century by the famous Laxton Brothers Nursery in Bedfordshire. Laxton's Fortune (often known simply as Fortune) is a cross between Cox's Orange Pippin and a little-known American variety called Wealthy. It received a first class certificate from the RHS in 1948.

This was not the first time that the Laxton Brothers Nursery had worked with Cox's Orange Pippin - they had previously released Laxton's Superb, another Cox-derived variety.

Laxton's Fortune characteristics

Growing

  • Gardening skillExperienced
  • Self-fertilityPartially self-fertile
  • Flowering group3
  • Pollinating othersAverage
  • Climate suitabilityTemperate climatesMild damp climates

Using

  • Picking seasonMid
  • CroppingGood
  • Keeping (of fruit)2-3 weeks
  • Food usesEating fresh

Problems

  • Disease resistanceAverage

Identification

  • Country of originUnited Kingdom
  • Period of origin1900 - 1949
  • Blossom colourWhite
  • Fruit colourGreen / Red
  • AwardsRHS AGM (current)