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Representative photo of a dark purple apple with a dusty bloom on the branch, not Black Oxford itself
  • Representative photo of a dark purple apple with a dusty bloom on the branch, not Black Oxford itself
  • Black Oxford apples shown whole and cut on a USDA measuring grid
  • Historic USDA watercolor of the Black Oxford apple
  • Representative photo of a dark purple apple with a dusty bloom on the branch, not Black Oxford itself
  • Black Oxford apples shown whole and cut on a USDA measuring grid
  • Historic USDA watercolor of the Black Oxford apple
Black Oxford Apple (Spring 2027)

Black Oxford Apple (Spring 2027)

$44.99
Rootstock/Size

Reliable shipping

Flexible returns
Pollination Needs a partner
Bloom group 5 of 7 (Mid-Late)
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 resistanceResists 3 of 4
  • Apple scab : Resistant, 4 of 5
  • Cedar-apple rust : Highly resistant, 5 of 5
  • Fire blight : Resistant, 4 of 5
  • 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: Black Oxford Apple is an apple tree rated hardy to zone 3b from other growers' reports (winters to -35°F), not self-fertile, so it needs a different variety nearby as a pollenizer (bloom group 5 of 7, mid-late for an apple or crabapple), and it ripens about Oct 11 to Oct 25 in Missoula (our Missoula estimate).

Hardy to Zone 3b to 8. The b means the warmer half of zone 3 only (winters to -35°F). Rod McIver's tree in Kalispell came through -38°F without winter injury. 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 5 of 7 (mid-late), late spring here. Plant a different apple or crabapple variety that blooms in groups 4 to 6. It has good pollen, so it can also pollenize other apples blooming at the same time. Good partners we carry: Honeycrisp Apple, Northern Spy Apple, Oriole Apple, Prairie Spy Apple and 70 more. Apple Pollination Map.
Ripens About Oct 11 to Oct 25 in Missoula (estimated for Missoula from published sources). Real years swing about a week either way. See the date for your town.
Rootstock and size Bud 118: semi-dwarf in our dry Montana soils, semi-standard on paper, about 12 to 18 ft tall unpruned. Stands on its own, few suckers. Plant about 15 ft apart. Our rootstock guide.
Good for Winter storage (9/10), fresh eating (7/10), pies and baking (7/10), sauce and butter (7/10), cooking and roasting (7/10), hard cider (7/10). Scores are our 1 to 10 ratings, but we're still new to this one, so they lean on published descriptions and other growers rather than our own harvests. 8 and up makes our Best Of lists.
Deer A deer favorite. Fence it or cage it.
What you get Bare root, 3-4 ft or 5-7 ft. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

New to us this year, so what follows comes from the historical record and from growers in Maine, New England and Montana rather than from our own trees.

Overview

Black Oxford is the keeper other keepers get measured against. It is a dark purple apple that looks almost black on the tree, and it will sit in a cold room until spring and get better while it does it.

Origin and History

It originated in Paris, Maine, on Paris Hill, around 1790, and it was a staple across Maine and northern New England through the whole nineteenth century. Like a lot of the great old keepers it fell out of commerce when refrigeration made storage quality less valuable, and it survived because Maine growers refused to let it go.

Fruit and Uses

Medium sized, round, with deep purple skin under a heavy bloom. The flesh is firm and dense, tart at harvest and noticeably sweeter after a couple of months in storage. Fresh out of the orchard it is unremarkable. Eaten in February it is excellent, which is the whole point of the variety. It bakes well, holds up in pies, dries well, and it presses into a good cider.

Growth Habit and Spacing

On Bud 118 semi-dwarf rootstock. Plan on about 15 feet between trees, up to 18 feet for airflow. It is a vigorous, long-lived tree.

Pollination

Black Oxford needs a pollenizer and blooms mid to late. Northern Spy, Arkansas Black, Macoun, Wolf River and most of our crabapples overlap well.

Cold Hardiness

Listed at zone 3b based on how far north it has been grown in Maine and the Maritimes. Closer to home, Rod McIver's Black Oxford in Kalispell came through -38F without any winter injury. We have not put our own trees through a Montana winter yet, so give it a decent site while we build our own record on it.

About the photo: this isn’t Black Oxford itself. Photos of Black Oxford are either under copyright or simply unavailable, so we picked the open-source image that looks closest to the fruit. Photo by Marek Studzinski, via Unsplash, under the Unsplash License. Other photo: “PI 157052 Black Oxford fruit (GMAL 794)” by USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System, Plant Genetic Resources Unit, Geneva, New York, via USDA GRIN, public domain.

Questions we get about Black Oxford Apple

Does Black Oxford Apple need a pollenizer?

Yes. Black Oxford 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 4 to 6. It has good pollen, so it can also pollenize other apples blooming at the same time. Partners we carry include Honeycrisp Apple, Northern Spy Apple, Oriole Apple.

How cold hardy is Black Oxford Apple?

We list Black Oxford Apple at zone 3b, which means winters down to about -35°F. That's based on its record in Maine and the Maritimes, and Rod McIver's tree in Kalispell came through -38°F without winter injury. We haven't wintered our own trees yet, so we'll update it once we have.

How many chill hours does Black Oxford 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.

When does Black Oxford Apple ripen?

About Oct 11 to Oct 25 in Missoula, Montana (an estimate built from published sources and our climate). Warmer places run earlier and cooler places later; our ripening map converts the date to your town.

How big does Black Oxford Apple get?

We graft Black Oxford Apple onto Bud 118 (semi-dwarf in our dry Montana soils, semi-standard on paper), which makes a tree roughly 12 to 18 ft tall if you never prune it. Plant about 15 ft apart.

What is Black Oxford Apple good for?

Our top use scores for Black Oxford Apple are winter storage (9/10), fresh eating (7/10), pies and baking (7/10), sauce and butter (7/10). Since we're still new to it, those scores lean on the historical record and other growers rather than our own harvests. Anything scored 8 or higher makes our Best Of lists.

Is Black Oxford Apple disease resistant?

Yes, for the diseases it's been tested for. It's highly resistant to cedar-apple rust, and resistant to apple scab and fire blight. Nobody has published solid data on it for powdery mildew yet, so we list that as unknown. Our apple disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Will deer eat Black Oxford Apple?

Yes, deer love it. Protect Black Oxford Apple with a fence or a cage, especially while it is young.

Pollination partners

Trees that will pollenize Black Oxford Apple

Black Oxford 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 5 of 7 (Mid-Late)
Pollination Needs a partner
Pollen Good pollenizer

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

See every pairing on the Apple Pollination Map

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