hoosier:

I'm afraid you are stuck with Dorsett or Einshemer as a pollinator for Anna. That is unless you can find another very early blooming variety. The standard apples like Fuji and Pink Lady will bloom a couple months after Anna.

Ask the nursery what will bloom with Anna.

fruitnut,
I did ask that, and they suggested a Pink Lady. That sort of surprised me, since they don't bloom at the same time!?! The standard pollinators for Anna are Dorsett Golden (1st choice), and then Einshemer (2nd choice). Well, not exactly what I wanted to hear. Guess I'll snag a Dorsett Golden when I'm down there, and I think I'm going to try a Pink Lady since they have it on EZ-Pick rootstock. And if they've got something also on EZ-Pick that would be a good cross for Pink Lady, even though it's supposed to be self-fruitful, that should give me early and late apples. I'll be in bushels of apples, then ;-)

Patty S.

Patty:

I like Pink Lady but it's not a sweet apple. It's sweet tart. Fuji is a sweet apple, it's late, and stores well. Just a thought.

I thought about Fuji, since it is my very favorite grocery store apple, but the chill hours may be too high for my area. I'm only about 6 or 7 miles from the ocean. What about a cross pollinator for Pink Lady? I know it's supposed to be self-fruitful, but so is Anna, and Anna just doesn't really produce well for me right now, and I think that's partly due to not having a cross pollinator (and the shade). Is Fuji late enough for Pink Lady? I thought about HoneyCrisp, too, but same deal with the chill hours.

Patty S.

Dorsett Golden
Ein Shemer
Pettingill
All these will be you best choice for pollinating Annas and are proven performers in your area.
The "EZ Pick" is a sales/trade name that Ron called their bare root trees for retail sales help, it won't affect the size of your tree. The rootstock your going to find in your area is M-27 for dwarfing your pollinator

Thanks, turtleman, that's what I needed to know, the actual rootstock info. Bonita Creek Nursery in Bonita was telling me I had a choice between M-111 and "EZ-Pick". In our area, M-111 isn't really going to make the tree much smaller, maybe 80% of a standard, and I'd like to keep the trees smaller. I know I can always prune the tree down, too, so probably not such a big deal. I'll check out both rootstocks and see which might be better for my area. Appreciate the info. Have to see which of the two cross-pollinators sounds more tasty to me :-)

Patty S.

Patty:

Don't rule out Fuji because of a chilling hrs number. It won't be totally happy in your area but it will bloom and fruit. With both Fuji and Pink Lady, bloom will be delayed and spread out. But the delayed bloom will delay maturity until the best time for making good tasting apples. They may not be ripe until Dec to Jan. But that's good. Pink Lady doesn't ripen here until well into Nov. I picked this year early Dec, maybe a little late.

Apples are really different than most fruits. Many like lots of chilling but will fruit with much less.

Dorsett Golden is the only pollinator for Anna; Ein Shemer blossoms two weeks later and I don't know why it still exists, as the fruit quality is lousy. EZ Pick is usually Bud 9 or M27, typically too wussy for our climate; you will probably have wooly aphid, and so the M111 is your best bet; in your climate the growth is stunted and they're easy to keep small. On the multi-graft trees the higher-chill graft usually won't fruit; better to get three seperate trees. Fuji will fruit anywhere and is self-fertile; they require very little care.

Applenut

Okay, wow, such great info! Turtleman, Applenut and Fruitnut, you're awesome. Okay, it's M-111 rootstock. A Dorsett Golden, a Fuji (yay for me!!) and I'm going to snag a Pink Lady just because it's not all about me, here. I do have a husband and a daughter that have an opinion, and they tend to like more tart apples (although **I** am the only taking care of them all.) And, the multi-graft tree would only be something that had low chill varieties, Dave is pretty savvy at Bonita Creek. He will not grow or carry anything that isn't going to be successful in our area. If it's less than 400 chill hours, I think I'll be okay, and I know most of the low chill varieties. If I am unfamiliar with the name, it's probably not low chill. Thanks, and I'll let you all know what comes home with me tomorrow! Last question: What do you think about transplanting my Anna next December? I know it's just not getting enough sun. I think it's been in the ground at least 4 years, now. It's about 6' tall and espaliered.

Patty S.

Patty:

I've moved some pretty big trees and none have died. Just move as big a rootball as possible. December sounds like the right time for you. But it might be better to just pick up another Anna while you are shopping.

On the apples ignore the chilling hours and plant what you want; just don't mix them on a multi-graft tree. Most nurseries will be ignorant about apple varieties growing there except for the few low-chill ones they've carried for years, but many (if not all) high-chill eastern varieties grow just fine in low-chill areas. If Anna hasn't blossomed yet go ahead and move it, otherwise you can wait until next year; its pretty hard to kill it.

Applenut

Okay, just got home from Bonita Creek Nursery. Came home with another Anna, a Dorsett Golden, a Pink Lady and a Red Fuji. All are on M-111 rootstock, and the Dorsett Golden is EZ-Pick on M-111. So, hopefully, this will give me a nice little orchard. All are going down on the southern part of my lot on the east side, so they'll all sun just about all day, except the late afternoon (as the sun goes down over the danged Princess trees). I also came home with a Prime-Jim Blackberry that's going to go into a big pot so it stays contained. Will see how that fares, too. Thanks all for your help. I'll see about moving my little espaliered Anna somewhere more sunny, too. Don't think I have enough room down on the south part of my yard, but I might be able to squeeze it up on the north side of my lot, on the fence on the east side of the yard. It will actually get more sun than the south side of the lot due to the tree canopy down there. So, maybe I'll get some decent apples.

Patty S.

For future reference, you might check out this link for some other apple varieties that might do well in your area - http://www.kuffelcreek.com/favorites.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: DallasFruitGrower

Dallas,
Have Kevin's website bookmarked and have his really great book, too :-) In fact, it was his book and site the made me decide to pick a Dorsett Golden. Since I have such limited space, I opted for some safer choices - Anna, Dorsett Golden, Pink Lady and Red Fuji. I also read Tom Spellmen's recommendations on Dave Wilson's website, too. So, hopefully I'll have some yummy apples this year! Both my Anna's are absolutely covered with blossoms right now, but the Dorsett's blossoms haven't opened, yet, so hopefully, as the trees mature, their blossom times will be more in line with each other. My new cherries are also getting ready to bloom, so excited about those, too! They will all go in the ground in about 2 months, after they've had a chance to develop some roots. Dave at Bonita Creek had just potted some of them up from bare root about a week before I bought them, so I have to wait a wee bit. Gives me time to get the area prepped. I have to dig out some obnoxious freeway ice plant, and get some mulch down there.

Patty S.

I read somewhere, while doing research myself for some apple varieties, that Anna is one of the rare apples that blooms almost continuously through out the growing season...so if that's true..Wouldn't Anna be pollinated by just about *any* other apple?

I have never heard this about an Anna. My Annas don't bloom continuously, nor do any of the Annas in my area (N. San Diego County, California). In fact, I am not aware of any apple tree variety that will bloom almost continuously. Lemon trees will do this, but not apple trees. I'd love to know where you read that, I have never come across any info that describes Annas this way. Annas are very early, though (in full bloom at my house right now). And, in very low chill areas like where I live, I have found out that they can often have a second, smaller bloom break in the late Fall/eary Winter. This happened to me with my Anna which had 3 tiny little apples ready to pick in December (and were really, really sweet). For me, my Annas are a wee bit earlier than the Dorsett Golden I have, but hopefully as they both mature, they'll bloom closer together. Anna is self-fruitful, but it will bear more heavily and the apples will be rounder and fuller with a cross-pollinator. So, don't really need a cross-pollinator, I was just hoping my existing Anna that is in a really bad location (way too much shade) would have a larger crop with a cross-pollinator. I'm going to move it this December - I waited too long to move it as it is now in bloom - so it will eventually provide more fruit once it gets more sun.

Patty S.