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

Chivers Delight apple trees

Chivers Delight apples
Chivers Delight is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Late
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Flowering group: 4

An excellent English apple, once grown commercially on a small scale, and worthy of more attention.

Chivers Delight is basically a sweet apple, with a family resemblance to Cox's Orange Pippin, but with some sharpness to the flavour. The flesh is quite dense and crisp.

Although not related at all, Chivers Delight is quite similar to Braeburn in size, flavour, and crispness - if you like Braeburn apples you will probably like Chivers Delight.

Chivers Delight ripens fairly late in the season, and the apples can be stored for about 3 months in a refrigerator without loss of flavour.

Overall a very pleasing well-balanced apple.

Chivers Delight 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£56.50
    Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)

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)
  • BR32-year bush-trained bare-root treeMM106 rootstock£43.00
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  • BR42-year bare-root treeMM106 rootstock£43.00
    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.

Growing and Training

Chivers Delight is a good garden apple, and easy to grow. Cropping is reliable in most situations, but the flavour is at its best in a year with a sunny autumn.

Recommended pollinators for Chivers Delight apple trees

Chivers Delight is not self-fertile, so you will need another different but compatible variety planted nearby in order to produce fruit. The following varieties are good pollinators for Chivers Delight. If you are not sure about pollination requirements don't hesitate to ask us. More pollinators >

  • Pollinator Braeburn
    Braeburn
    Braeburn is one of the best-flavoured supermarket apple varieties.
  • Pollinator Ellison's Orange
    Ellison's Orange
    Ellison's Orange is a well respected Cox-style apple which can achieve very good flavour.
  • Pollinator Gala
    Gala
    Gala is popular supermarket apple - but better when home-grown, with a sweet pleasant flavour.
  • Pollinator Golden Gem
    Golden Gem
    A traditional crab-apple featuring a mass of white blossom in spring, followed by yellow crab apples.
  • Pollinator Golden Hornet
    Golden Hornet
    Malus Golden Hornet is a traditional white blossom crab apple, with persistent yellow fruits.
  • Pollinator Harry Baker
    Harry Baker
    Malus Harry Baker is a popular crab-apple with deep pink flowers and dark red fruits which are very good for crab-apple jelly.
  • Pollinator John Downie
    John Downie
    John Downie is a traditional crab apple for making crab apple jelly. White blossom and orange-red fruits.
  • Pollinator Katy
    Katy
    Katy is an attractive and versatile early apple variety from Sweden, very easy to grow.

History

Developed in the 1920s in Cambridgeshire by Stephen Chivers of the well-known jam manufacturers, unknown parentage but likely to be related to Cox's Orange Pippin.


Chivers Delight characteristics

Growing

  • Gardening skillAverage
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Flowering group4
  • Pollinating othersAverage
  • Fruit bearingSpur-bearer
  • Climate suitabilityTemperate climates

Using

  • Picking seasonLate
  • CroppingGood
  • Keeping (of fruit)3 months or more
  • Food usesJuice

Problems

  • Disease resistanceAverage

Identification

  • Country of originUnited Kingdom
  • Period of origin1900 - 1949
  • Fruit colourOrange flush

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 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

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.


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