Late-season eating apples

If you want to plant an apple tree with the best flavours a late-season one is the best choice. We have a wide range of different varieties and sizes.

Adams Pearmain
Adams' Pearmain is a popular Victorian-era English apple with a distinctive 'pearmain' shape.
£34.95 - £57.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Ashmead's Kernel
A versatile English 17th century russet apple, Ashmead's Kernel is noted for its distinctive pear-like flavour.
£34.95 - £62.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
Ballerina Samba®
One of the best-flavoured Ballerina minarette-type apple varieties.
£34.95 - £61.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Braeburn
Braeburn is one of the best-flavoured supermarket apple varieties.
£34.95 - £61.50buy
- Picking season: Very late
- Self-fertility: Self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
Bright Future
An excellent late-season English apple with a very good sweet/sharp flavour and crisp hard flesh.
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Brownlees Russet
Brownlees Russet is a high quality late-season dessert russet apple.
£34.95buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Chivers Delight
Chivers Delight is an under-rated Cox-style apple from Cambridgeshire. Crisp and sweet.
£34.95 - £43.00buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
Christmas Pippin®
Christmas Pippin is a new high-yielding Cox-style apple, discovered as a chance seedling tree.
£35.75 - £64.00buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
Core BlimeyTM
Core Blimey is a red Cox-style eating apple, suitable for most areas of the UK.
£35.95 - £58.75buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Cornish Aromatic
An attractive late-season apple from Cornwall, with a good aromatic flavour.
£34.95 - £35.75buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 2
Cornish Gilliflower
Cornish Gilliflower is a popular English eating apple with an excellent sweet aromatic flavour.
£34.95buy
- Picking season: Very late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
Court Pendu Plat
Court Pendu Plant is a traditional French apple with an aromatic pear-drop flavour.
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 6
Eden®
A new dual-purpose apple which has a naturally non-browning flesh, ideal for salads and fresh apple juice.
£36.25 - £64.00buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 2
Egremont Russet
Egremont Russet is the most popular English russet variety, and a good apple tree for the garden.
£34.95 - £62.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
- Flowering group: 2
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
Fiesta
Fiesta (or Red Pippin) is one of the best Cox-style apples, easy to grow, with a good aromatic flavour.
£34.95 - £61.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
Golden Delicious
The flavour of home-grown Golden Delicious is far better than its supermarket reputation.
£34.95 - £57.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
- Awards: RHS AGM (former)
Granny Smith
Granny Smith is the world-famous green apple from Australia, a good choice for warmer apple-growing regions.
£34.95 - £57.50buy
- Picking season: Very late
- Self-fertility: Self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Herefordshire Russet
Herefordshire Russet is a modern russet apple variety, with an excellent strong Cox-like flavour.
£35.50 - £62.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Honeycrisp
Honeycrisp is an American cold-hardy disease-resistant apple - it shows just how good modern apples have become.
£34.95 - £57.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
Jonagold
Jonagold is a high quality American apple, with a good balanced sweet/sharp flavor.
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
Jupiter
Jupiter is a popular Cox-style apple with a slightly stronger flavour.
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
Kidd's Orange Red
Kidd's Orange Red is one of the best Cox-style apples, aromatic, sweet, and easy to grow.
£34.95 - £57.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
King of the Pippins
A popular and versatile dual-purpose apple, widely grown in the Victorian era.
£34.95 - £46.95buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
King's Acre Pippin
A traditional late-season English apple with a robust flavour.
£46.95buy
- Picking season: Very late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
Laxton's Superb
Laxton's Superb is a deservedly popular English late-season dessert apple from the Victorian era.
£34.95 - £62.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
Little PaxTM
A new English apple variety, recently discovered on the Isle of Wight - but its appearance and flavour hark back to the Victorian era.
£35.75 - £64.00buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Melrose
Melrose is a well-regarded American apple, with a pleasant sweet flavour.
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Norfolk Royal Russet
Norfolk Royal Russet is a glorious golden-russet apple which tastes as good as it looks.
£34.95buy
- Picking season: Mid
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Orleans Reinette
Orleans Reinette is a traditional French apple variety, and remains popular for its old-fashioned flavour.
£34.95buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
Pitmaston Pine Apple
A small English 18th century apple with a distinctive fruity pineapple-like flavour.
£34.95 - £46.95buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
Pixie
Pixie produces lots of small Cox-style apples, easy to grow and keep well.
£34.95 - £57.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 4
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
Queen of the RealmTM
A new apple variety, released in 2022 to celebrate the Queen's platinum jubilee.
£34.95 - £59.25buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Rainbow®
Rainbow is a very late season apple with a bright white sweet/sharp flesh which does not brown. The apples keep until spring.
- Picking season: Very late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 2
Red Falstaff®
Red Falstaff is one of the best garden apple trees, heavy crops, easy to grow, and very juicy.
£35.50 - £63.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
Ribston Pippin
A handsome English apple from the 18th century.
£34.95 - £46.95buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
Rosemary Russet
A classic English russet apple with excellent flavours, but not as well known as its Victorian contemporaries.
£34.95buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
Spartan
Spartan produces lots of crimson maroon apples, crunchy, sweet, easy to grow, delicate "vinous" flavour.
£34.95 - £62.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Sunset
Sunset is a popular garden alternative to Cox, easier to grow, with a sweet aromatic flavour.
£34.95 - £62.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
Topaz
A modern and reliable disease-resistant variety with a sharp flavour.
£34.95buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
- Awards: RHS AGM (current)
William Crump
A little-known high quality English apple, related to Cox and Worcester Pearmain.
£46.95buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Winter Gem
Winter Gem is a late-season apple variety with a very good aromatic flavour.
£43.00 - £61.50buy
- Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3

How to choose Late-season eating apples

Towards the end of September and into October we see late-season apple varieties beginning to ripen. Their longer ripening period typically means these varieties have the most interesting flavours.

Unlike mid and early season apples which are generally best eaten straight from the tree, many late-season varieties need to be stored in a fridge for a few weeks to mature before their flavours are at their peak. So if you want to be able to eat home-grown apples through the winter then late-season varieties are your best choice.

Some of the most famous English apple varieties fall into this category - including the classic Adams Pearmain, and the ancient Ashmead's Kernel with its peardrop flavours. We also find popular modern varieties such as Spartan, Red Falstaff, Fiesta, and Kidd's Orange Red all coming to perfection at this time of year.