Late-Blooming Apple Trees

Apple trees that bloom late in apple season. If spring frost keeps taking your apple crop, these give you the best odds of the blossoms opening after the last cold snap.

More about late-blooming apples

For the coldest country, Wealthy and Oriole are hardy to zone 2, and Honeycrisp to zone 2b. Arkansas Black, Spencer, Prairie Spy, Sandow, Sweet Sixteen and MN 1628 take zone 3.

Northern Spy is the classic late bloomer and one of the best pie apples there is. Black Oxford and Roxbury Russet are great keepers, and Ashmead's Kernel is about as good as an eating apple gets. For cider, Binet Rouge, Brown Snout and Ellis Bitter are all late.

Late bloomers need late-blooming partners, since an early apple may be done before these open. Pick two or more from this list, or a crab that blooms late. The apple pollination map lines up bloom times, and our microclimate maps help you find the frost-prone spots on your place.

Questions we get

What apple tree blooms the latest?

Binet Rouge and Ellis Bitter bloom very late. For eating apples, Northern Spy, Wealthy, Arkansas Black and Black Oxford are among the latest.

What's a good late-blooming apple for zone 2 or 3?

Wealthy and Oriole are hardy to zone 2, Honeycrisp to 2b, and Arkansas Black, Prairie Spy and Sweet Sixteen to zone 3.

What do I pollenize a late-blooming apple with?

Another late bloomer. Two from this list that bloom together will pollenize each other.

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