Spring / Summer 2025Pre-order now for delivery September onwards.
Tel. 01759 392007

Hidden Rose® apple trees

Malus domestica
Hidden Rose apples
Hidden Rose is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Very late
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Flowering group: 2

Hidden Rose is named for the surprising pink flesh concealed behind the plain green skin.

It is one of the best flavoured of the American red-fleshed apple varieties, and (perhaps no coincidence) also one of the latest ripening. It can be stored for a few months too.

The flowers are a pretty candy-floss pink, similar to pink-blossomed flowering cherries, and the leaves are a conventional green colour. This puts Hidden Rose in the middle of the spectrum which runs from regular mainstream apples with white or light pink blossom, green leaves, and white or cream flesh, to the dark-fleshed crab apples which usually have very dark pink blossom and bronze leaves. 

Hidden Rose apple trees for sale

Bare-root

  • BR11-year bare-root treeM26 rootstock£34.95
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  • BR21-year bare-root treeMM106 rootstock£34.95
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)

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.

Recommended pollinators for Hidden Rose apple trees

Hidden Rose is not self-fertile and is also a poor pollinator of other varieties. Ideally you need two other different but compatible varieties planted nearby in order to produce fruit, or one compatible self-fertile variety. The following varieties are good pollinators for Hidden Rose. If you are not sure about pollination requirements don't hesitate to ask us. More pollinators >

  • Pollinator Red Windsor
    Red Windsor
    Red Windsor is one of the easiest to grow of all dessert apple trees, and with a pleasant apple flavour.
  • Pollinator Egremont Russet
    Egremont Russet
    Egremont Russet is the most popular English russet variety, and a good apple tree for the garden.
  • Pollinator Greensleeves
    Greensleeves
    Greensleeves is a reliable and popular mid-season green/yellow apple, easy to grow and productive.
  • Pollinator Red Sentinel
    Red Sentinel
    Malus Red Sentinel has classic white blossom and a profusion of tiny scarlet persistent fruits.
  • Pollinator Keswick Codlin
    Keswick Codlin
    Keswick Codlin is a popular early-season cooking apple, easy to grow, and productive in most climates.
  • Pollinator Bardsey
    Bardsey
    A hardy disease-resistant apple, discovered growing on an island off the west coast of Wales.
  • Pollinator Bountiful
    Bountiful
    Bountiful is an easy-to-grow cooking apple, it retains its shape when cooked, fairly sweet for a cooker.
  • Pollinator Stirling Castle
    Stirling Castle
    A traditional Scottish cooker from the Victorian era, with a good sharp flavour.

History

Hidden Rose was named in 2001, but was discovered in the 1960s growing as a seedling tree near Airlie in Oregon, USA. It is still widely known by its original name - Airlie Red Flesh.


Hidden Rose characteristics

Growing

  • Gardening skillAverage
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Flowering group2
  • Pollinating othersPoor
  • Fruit bearingSpur-bearer
  • Climate suitabilityMild damp climates

Using

  • Picking seasonVery late
  • CroppingLight
  • Keeping (of fruit)1-2 months
  • Food usesCulinaryJuice

Problems

  • Disease resistancePoor
  • Scab (Apple and Pear)Some susceptibility

Identification

  • Country of originUnited States
  • Period of origin1950 - 1999
  • Blossom colourPink
  • Fruit colourGreen - light
  • Flesh colourPink / Red

Similar varieties

  • Pendragon
    Pendragon is a red-fleshed dual-purpose apple from Cornwall.
  • See also Rosette
    Rosette
    Probably the best-flavoured of the pink-fleshed apple varieties, and produces lovely pink juice.
  • See also Surprize
    Surprize
    An unusual new apple variety with a unique combination of orange skin and pink flesh.
  • See also Tickled Pink
    Tickled Pink
    A new red-fleshed apple variety, with attractive crimson blossom, also known as Baya® Marisa.

British-grown trees Trees grown in the UK.

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 whilst 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.


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