Apple Pollination Map

Every apple and crabapple needs a different variety blooming nearby. None of them are truly self-fertile. The good news: most apples bloom within a few days of each other, so most pairings work. The ones to watch are the very early prairie types, the very late cider apples and the triploids.

Every apple needs a partner

Plant two different varieties within about 100 feet, closer if you can. Two trees of the same variety are the same plant genetically, so they can't pollenize each other.

Crabapples make great pollenizers

A crabapple that blooms with your apples is one of the easiest partners there is. Dolgo, Chestnut and the other crabs bloom heavy and carry plenty of pollen.

Triploids can't return the favor

Belle de Boskoop, Gravenstein, Ashmead's Kernel, Baldwin, Stayman Winesap, Roxbury Russet and the other triploids set fruit with a partner, but their pollen is poor. Plant two good pollenizers with each one.

Sports are the same tree

RubyMac, Red McIntosh and Fred's Mac are all McIntosh sports, so they can't pollenize each other. Red Gravenstein is a Gravenstein sport and a triploid too.

Find a partner for your tree

Pick a variety you have or want. You'll see every tree we carry that will pollenize it, with what's in stock first.

The apple pollination map

Find the tree you want fruit on in the left column, then read across. Each column is a pollen source.

Good match (same bloom group)Partial match (one group apart)Bloom too far apartPoor pollen (triploid, pollen-sterile or disputed)Won't work (same clone or incompatible)Same variety
Sort:

* bloom group is our best estimate.

Bloom groups at a glance

2 Early

3 Early-Mid

4 Mid

5 Mid-Late

6 Late

7 Very Late

How to read these maps

Bloom groups

Every variety gets a bloom group from 1 (very early) to 7 (very late). Groups only compare varieties of the same fruit. An apple in group 4 and a plum in group 4 don't bloom at the same time.

Close enough counts

Two varieties in the same group or one group apart overlap enough to pollenize each other, as long as the pollen is good and they aren't the same tree genetically.

Where the groups come from

Published bloom records come first. For apples that's measured bloom dates from the Apple Biodiversity Collection in Nova Scotia, checked against multi-year nursery and extension groupings. Next comes sourced facts, like a sport blooming with its parent. Anything marked * is our best estimate from the variety's origin and relatives.

Your spring will vary

A warm or cold spring shifts every tree earlier or later, but the order stays about the same. If you watch your trees bloom and something doesn't match, tell us. Your notes make these maps better.

More pollination maps