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Sunset apple trees

Sunset has received the RHS Award of Garden MeritSunset is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Late
  • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
  • Flowering group: 3
  • Awards: RHS AGM (current) 1993
Sunset is a popular garden alternative to Cox, easier to grow, with a sweet aromatic flavour.
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Sunset apple trees for sale

Pot-grown

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

  • PG12-year bush-trained 11.5L pot-grown tree M27 rootstock £59.00
    Very small tree (< 1.7m after 10 years)
  • PG22-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree M26 rootstock £55.00
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  • PG32-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree MM106 rootstock £55.00
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  • PG4Premium half-standard 12L pot-grown tree MM106 rootstock £60.00
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)

Bare-root

  • BR11-year bare-root tree M9 rootstock £38.25
    Small tree (1.5m-2.5m after 10 years)
  • BR22-year bush-trained bare-root tree M9 rootstock £44.75
    Small tree (1.5m-2.5m after 10 years)
  • BR31-year bare-root tree M26 rootstock £34.95
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  • BR42-year bush-trained bare-root tree M26 rootstock £43.00
    Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  • BR51-year bare-root tree MM106 rootstock £34.95
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  • BR62-year bush-trained bare-root tree MM106 rootstock £43.00< 5 in stock
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  • BR72-year bare-root tree MM106 rootstock £43.00< 5 in stock
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
    Out of stock
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Next deliveries

Order now for delivery from week commencing 11th December 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.

Sunset is a popular Cox-style apple, which we recommend as one of the best alternatives to Cox's Orange Pippin as it is much easier to grow. The parentage is not known but it is almost certainly a seedling of Cox. Disease resistance is far better, cropping is good and reliable, and it is self-fertile.

The flavour is balanced and sweet, with many of the aromatic qualities of Cox's Orange Pippin. Sunset also has the attractive orange-flush so characteristic of Cox and other traditional English apples.

Sunset ripens in mid-September.

How to grow

The main horticultural problem with Sunset is that the apples tend to be quite small, but this is easily corrected by thinning the fruitlets thoroughly in May and early June.

Sunset can be grown reliably throughout much of the UK. It is one of the most disease-resistant of Cox-style varieties.

It is a neat and compact tree, and a good variety for growing in a patio container.

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

History

Introduced in 1918, unknown parentage but assumed to be a seedling of Cox's Orange Pippin.

Sunset characteristics

Growing

  • Gardening skillBeginner
  • Self-fertilitySelf-fertile
  • Flowering group3
  • Pollinating othersAverage
  • PloidyDiploid
  • Fruit bearingSpur-bearer
  • Climate suitabilityTemperate climatesMild damp climates
  • WildlifeRHS Plants for Pollinators

Using

  • Picking seasonLate
  • CroppingHeavy
  • Keeping (of fruit)2-3 weeks
  • Food usesEating freshJuice
  • Flavour style (apples)Aromatic

Problems

  • Disease resistanceGood
  • ScabSome susceptibility
  • CankerSome resistance

Identification

  • Country of originUnited Kingdom
  • Period of origin1900 - 1949
  • Blossom colourWhite
  • Fruit colourOrange flush
  • AwardsRHS AGM (current)

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  • Late-season eating apples
    Sunset

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