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Airlie Red Flesh apples cut open to show their pink flesh
  • Airlie Red Flesh apples cut open to show their pink flesh
  • Airlie Red Flesh apples cut to show the rose-colored flesh inside
  • Airlie Red Flesh apples cut open to show their pink flesh
  • Airlie Red Flesh apples cut to show the rose-colored flesh inside
Airlie Red Flesh Apple (Spring 2027)

Airlie Red Flesh Apple (Spring 2027)

$64.99
Rootstock/Size

Reliable shipping

Flexible returns
Pollination Needs a partner
Bloom group 4 of 7 (Mid)
See trees that will pollenize it Apple Pollination Map
Ripening

Will it finish before your first hard freeze?

Check it on the Ripening Map (opens in a new tab)
Disease resistanceNo strong resistance
  • Apple scab : Moderate, 3 of 5
  • Cedar-apple rust : Unknown, no published data yet
  • Fire blight : Unknown, no published data yet
  • Powdery mildew : Unknown, no published data yet

Scored 1 to 5. Higher resists better, and ? means no published data yet.

See it on our apple disease chart (opens in a new tab)

At a glance: Airlie Red Flesh Apple is an apple tree rated hardy to zone 3b in our ratings (winters to -35°F), and not self-fertile, so it needs a different variety nearby as a pollenizer (bloom group 4 of 7, mid for an apple or crabapple).

Hardy to Zone 3b to 8. The b means the warmer half of zone 3 only (winters to -35°F). Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator.
Chill hours About 1,000 hours (800 to 1,200). Our estimate. No published figure exists for this variety yet. Montana winters give it plenty. In milder climates, make sure your winters average at least this much. Check your chill hours or see our sources.
Pollination Needs Cross-Pollination. Bloom group 4 of 7 (mid), late spring here. Plant a different apple or crabapple variety that blooms in groups 3 to 5. It has good pollen, so it can also pollenize other apples blooming at the same time. Good partners we carry: Otterson Crabapple, Trail Crabapple, Alexander Apple, Burgundy Apple and 103 more. Bloom group is our estimate from the variety's origin and relatives. Apple Pollination Map.
Rootstock and size M26: dwarf to semi-dwarf, about 8 to 14 ft tall unpruned. Stake it the first few years. Our rootstock guide.
Good for Hard cider (8/10), winter storage (8/10), fresh eating (7/10), salads and slicing (7/10), juice and sweet cider (7/10). Scores are our own 1 to 10 ratings; 8 and up makes our Best Of lists.
Deer A deer favorite. Fence it or cage it.
What you get Bare root, 3-5 ft. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

Overview

Airlie Red Flesh is a red-fleshed apple that came up as a chance seedling around Airlie, in Oregon's Willamette Valley, in the mid-1900s (usually dated to the 1960s). Parentage isn't documented. It's also been passed around under the names Newell-Kimzey and Mountain Rose.

Fruit Quality & Uses

Airlie Red Flesh is best known for its striking pink-to-red flesh, which makes it great for fresh slices, salads and anything where color counts. Eating quality lands in the good, crisp, tart-leaning category.

We got our grafting wood from Rod McIver, and the grower he got it from put it this way: it's not anyone's favorite apple, but everyone agrees it's a good apple. Rod says it's like a Granny Smith that actually has flavor, and a quality one at that. Luke thought the flavor was certainly good when he tried it for the first time on October 19th, 2023 at Rod's. The color and acidity make it useful for juice and cider too, though it really shines as a fresh apple that's both a novelty and genuinely good.

Cold Hardiness

Published hardiness for this apple is usually given as a zone range rather than a verified kill temperature, and those ratings tend to sit around zone 4. What matters most for Montana is direct local observation: Airlie Red Flesh came through about −35°F unscathed at Rod McIver's off Rose Crossing in Kalispell, Montana on January 13, 2024. One event doesn't prove a hard lower limit for every site and rootstock, but it does back up treating it as legitimately cold-tolerant in northwest Montana when it's properly acclimated and sited. So we list Airlie Red Flesh as a solid zone 3b apple.

Other Notable Characteristics

First off, Airlie Red Flesh is an excellent keeper. The photo was taken the first week of March, 5 months after the apple came off the tree in Kalispell, and it hadn't shown any sign of breakdown yet.

The red flesh is the headline, but the real value is that it pairs that novelty with good crispness and a tart profile a lot of people enjoy. If you like Granny Smith but want more character (and dramatic color), this one fits that niche. And it's a whole lot hardier than a Granny Smith.

Questions we get about Airlie Red Flesh Apple

Does Airlie Red Flesh Apple need a pollenizer?

Yes. Airlie Red Flesh Apple needs pollen from a different variety that blooms at about the same time. Plant a different apple or crabapple variety that blooms in groups 3 to 5. It has good pollen, so it can also pollenize other apples blooming at the same time. Partners we carry include Otterson Crabapple, Trail Crabapple, Alexander Apple.

How cold hardy is Airlie Red Flesh Apple?

We rate Airlie Red Flesh Apple hardy to zone 3b, which means winters down to about -35°F. Our ratings come from real winters at our two Montana sites and from trusted growers across the North, not from a catalog average.

How many chill hours does Airlie Red Flesh Apple need?

About 1,000 hours of winter chill (we count hours at or below 45°F), likely somewhere between 800 and 1,200. Nobody has published a chill figure for it, so that's our estimate from its relatives and origin. Our chill hours guide has a calculator for your winters, and our research page lists the sources.

How big does Airlie Red Flesh Apple get?

We graft Airlie Red Flesh Apple onto M26 (dwarf to semi-dwarf), which makes a tree roughly 8 to 14 ft tall if you never prune it.

What is Airlie Red Flesh Apple good for?

Our top use scores for Airlie Red Flesh Apple are hard cider (8/10), winter storage (8/10), fresh eating (7/10), salads and slicing (7/10). Anything scored 8 or higher makes our Best Of lists.

Is Airlie Red Flesh Apple disease resistant?

Somewhat. It holds up moderately well against apple scab. Nobody has published solid data on it for cedar-apple rust, fire blight and powdery mildew yet, so we list those as unknown. Our apple disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Will deer eat Airlie Red Flesh Apple?

Yes, deer love it. Protect Airlie Red Flesh Apple with a fence or a cage, especially while it is young.

What arrives, and when does Airlie Red Flesh Apple ship?

A dormant bare-root plant, roots wrapped in moist sawdust with a vapor barrier, shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring. Sizes offered: 3-5 ft. We guarantee our plants bud out. Stone fruits can be slow, so if one still has not budded out by August 15, write to us and we credit you for the following spring.

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Pollination partners

Trees that will pollenize Airlie Red Flesh Apple

Airlie Red Flesh Apple needs a different apple or crabapple nearby to set fruit. Every tree below blooms at the same time and has pollen that works for it. Plant partners within about 100 feet.

Bloom group 4 of 7 (Mid)
Pollination Needs a partner
Pollen Good pollenizer

107 trees we carry will pollenize it. Showing the best matches, in-stock first.

See every pairing on the Apple Pollination Map Airlie Red Flesh Apple's bloom group is our best estimate. Watch it bloom and tell us what you see.

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