Howgate Wonder apple trees

• Picking season: Late
• Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
• Flowering group: 3
• Awards: RHS AGM (current) 2014

Howgate Wonder is a traditional very large English cooking apple, which has been popular amongst gardeners since its introduction at the start of the 20th century. It is easy to grow, and produces good crops of large sharp-flavoured cooking apples. It's a great alternative to Bramley.

The flavour has plenty of tangy acidity, but it is not quite as sharp as a Bramley. When cooked it produces an attractive lumpy puree, and it can also be used for juicing. If you like an acidic apple Howgate Wonder can also be eaten fresh.

Howgate Wonder apples can be stored in a cold shed and will keep until the following spring.

 

 

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Howgate Wonder apple trees for sale

Pot-grown

All our pot-grown trees are grown for us to our specification by the Frank P Matthews nursery.

All pot-grown trees are suitable for planting out in the garden, some are suitable for growing in containers.

• PG12-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree, M26 rootstock£57.50
  Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
  Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  

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• PG22-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree, MM106 rootstock£57.50
  Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

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Bare-root

• BR12-year bush-trained bare-root tree,M9 rootstock£43.00
  Small tree (1.5m-2.5m after 10 years)
  

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• BR21-year bare-root tree,M26 rootstock£34.95
  Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  

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• BR32-year bush-trained bare-root tree,M26 rootstock£43.00
  Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  

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• BR41-year bare-root tree,MM106 rootstock£34.95
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

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• BR52-year bush-trained bare-root tree,MM106 rootstock£43.00
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

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• BR62-year bare-root tree,MM106 rootstock£43.00
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

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• BR72-year half-standard bare-root tree,MM106 rootstock£46.50
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

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• BR81-year bare-root tree,M25 rootstock£35.75
  Very large tree (4m-7m after 10 years)
  

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• BR92-year (1.75m) bare-root tree,M25 rootstock£46.95
  Very large tree (4m-7m after 10 years)
  

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Need help? Ask our fruit tree experts

Call us on 01759 392007 or fill in our contact form.

Tree specification

Photos of trees as supplied | Tree sizes and forms

Pre-ordering

Pre-order now for delivery in September 2025

Delivery charges

Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.

Growing and Training

One of the key attributes of a good cooker is that it should produce plenty of large apples, and Howgate Wonder is a naturally vigorous variety that grows into a fairly large tree - choose a smaller rootstock if space is an issue. 

Howgate Wonder is easy to grow and fairly disease resistant. It is also a tough tree and tolerates difficult or exposed situations fairly well. The apples ripen quite late, and will hang on the tree into late autumn if you don't pick them.

Unlike a Bramley, Howgate Wonder produces viable pollen which will cross-pollinate other nearby apple trees flowering at the same time. It is also partially self-fertile, and in most areas will produce a reasonable crop of apples even if there are no other apple trees nearby.

History

Howgate Wonder is a cross between two traditional English cookers, Blenheim Orange and Newton Wonder - both large apples in their own right.

British-grown trees

Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK. Find out more.

In addition, all our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance. Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS. The scheme aims to improve UK biosecurity by setting standards for all growers and retailers involved in selling plants in the UK. Find out more.

Guaranteed fruit trees

When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden while it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund, subject to some conditions. Find out more.

More about apple trees

There is no doubt that the famous Bramley's Seedling still rightly reigns supreme. Characterised by its copious rich juicy acidity it quickly renders to stiff puree in the kitchen, and is the benchmark for English apple cookery. However we have noticed a real resurgence in interest in the humble cooking apple in recent years, with cooks looking beyond Bramley for other qualities and textures.

Look out for cooking apples which ripen earlier than Bramley, such as Grenadier or Keswick Codlin.

Scotland also has a strong tradition of cooking apples - Galloway Pippin, Scotch Bridget, Scotch Dumpling for example. This also illustrates another useful quality of cooking apples - they can be productive even in climates where grey skies and rain are more frequent than sun and blue skies.

Many cooking apples are also great for juicing, especially if you like your apple juice to have a bit of an acidic kick.