If you are new to growing apple trees, Red Windsor is one of the easiest and most reliable of all apple varieties.
It is self-fertile, so there is no need to worry about pollination partners. It grows naturally in a neat and tidy fashion, and crops heavily. The apples can be picked over several weeks so you don't have to deal with a glut. It seems untroubled by the usual diseases of apples, and the blossom also has some resistance to frost.
Red Windsor is a red sport (natural mutation) of a German variety called Alkmene, derived from Cox's Orange Pippin - hence the good flavour. It has a noticeably redder and less Cox-like appearance than Alkmene, although the characteristic Cox flushed striping can usually be discerned.
Perhaps most important of all, Red Windsor has a good robust apple flavour with some aromatic qualities. It is fairly well balanced, both sweet and sharp, perhaps slightly sharper than Cox.
Red Windsor is grown commercially on a small-scale in the UK, and sometimes marketed as Sweet Lilibet.
All pot-grown trees are suitable for planting out in the garden, some are suitable for growing in containers.
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Red Windsor is a great mid-season apple variety for the UK garden. It is easy to grow and crops heavily. As mentioned above, it is self-fertile, a rare feature in apple varieties.
Interestingly, Red Windsor is reasonably disease-resistant - this is despite the fact that neither of its parents have a good track-record in this respect.
The blossom also has some resistance to late frosts.
Red Windsor is a naturally small / weak-vigour tree and grows in a compact style, so it is a good choice if you are short of space. Maiden trees tend to be quite small, without side shoots. If you intend to train the tree as a half-standard then use MM106 or MM111 rootstocks.
Being a mid-season variety, Red Windsor is also a good choice for difficult situations where light is limited, or where the summer growing season is short.
Red Windsor was developed in Herefordshire in the 1980s as a red sport of Alkmene. Its parentage is Cox's Orange Pippin and Duchess of Oldenburg.
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This variety description was researched and written by Orange Pippin staff. Last checked: 2024.