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Freshly picked Mother apples, deep red over gold
  • Freshly picked Mother apples, deep red over gold
  • Row of ripe Mother apples at a heritage apple show
  • Young Mother apple tree in summer
  • Mother apples, whole and cut, from The Apples of New York (1905)
  • Freshly picked Mother apples, deep red over gold
  • Row of ripe Mother apples at a heritage apple show
  • Young Mother apple tree in summer
  • Mother apples, whole and cut, from The Apples of New York (1905)
Mother Apple (Spring 2027)

Mother Apple (Spring 2027)

$44.99
Rootstock/Size

Reliable shipping

Flexible returns
Pollination Needs a partner
Bloom group 6 of 7 (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 2 of 4
  • Apple scab : Resistant, 4 of 5
  • Cedar-apple rust : Resistant, 4 of 5
  • Fire blight : Susceptible, 2 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: Mother Apple is an apple tree rated hardy to zone 3b from its historical range (winters to -35°F), not self-fertile, so it needs a different variety nearby as a pollenizer (bloom group 6 of 7, late for an apple or crabapple), and it ripens about Sep 15 to Sep 29 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). 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 6 of 7 (late), late spring here. One source lists it as a triploid and we're treating it that way, so plant two different apple or crabapple varieties with good pollen that bloom in groups 5 to 7, and don't count on Mother to pollenize other trees. Good partners we carry: Brown Snout Apple, Binet Rouge Apple, Black Oxford Apple, Ellis Bitter Apple and 15 more. Apple Pollination Map.
Ripens About Sep 15 to Sep 29 in Missoula (a Missoula estimate 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 Fresh eating (8/10). Scores are our 1 to 10 ratings, but we're still new to this one, so they lean on historical 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.

First year for us, so this is drawn from historical references rather than our own trees. We will update it once we have tasted the fruit here.

Overview

Mother is a dessert apple and nothing else, and it is worth growing for exactly one reason: the flavor. It is one of those old varieties that tastes like something other than an apple, and people who find it tend to plant it for life.

Origin and History

Mother originated in Bolton, Massachusetts around 1844 and is sometimes listed as American Mother, mostly to keep it separate from other apples using the same name in England. It was a favorite of nineteenth century New England orchardists and has hung on ever since, never commercially but always in somebody's backyard.

Fruit and Uses

Medium sized, deep red over a gold background. The flesh is yellow, tender and very juicy, and the flavor is what everybody talks about. The usual descriptions are vanilla, pear drops and a balsam note, all sitting on a lot of sugar. It is not a cooking apple and it is not a keeper. Pick it in the fall and eat it.

Growth Habit and Spacing

On Bud 118 semi-dwarf rootstock. Figure roughly 15 feet between trees, up to 18 feet for more airflow.

Pollination

Read this part before you plant. We are treating Mother as a triploid, which means its pollen is not reliable and it will not pollenize your other apples. It also needs a pollenizer itself. So Mother cannot be one of only two apples in a planting. Put at least two other diploid apples near it that bloom late, and everything works. Arkansas Black, Wolf River, Macoun and most of our crabapples all count.

Cold Hardiness

Listed at zone 3b. That is based on where it has been grown historically in New England and the upper Midwest, not on our own data yet.

Illustration: “Mother” from The Apples of New York by S.A. Beach (1905), via Internet Archive Book Images and Wikimedia Commons. Public domain, no known copyright restrictions.

Photos: “Jablka odrůda Matčino” by František Medek, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; “Mutterapfel jm55049” by joergens.mi, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0; “Matčino stromek” by Bergeron55, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Questions we get about Mother Apple

Does Mother Apple need a pollenizer?

Yes. Mother Apple needs pollen from a different variety that blooms at about the same time. We're treating it as a triploid, so plant two different apple or crabapple varieties with good pollen that bloom in groups 5 to 7, and don't count on Mother to pollenize other trees. Partners we carry include Brown Snout Apple, Binet Rouge Apple, Black Oxford Apple.

How cold hardy is Mother Apple?

We list Mother Apple at zone 3b, which means winters down to about -35°F. That's based on where it has been grown historically in New England and the upper Midwest, not on our own winters yet. We'll update it once we have our own data.

How many chill hours does Mother 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 Mother Apple ripen?

About Sep 15 to Sep 29 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 Mother Apple get?

We graft Mother 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 Mother Apple good for?

Our top use scores for Mother Apple are fresh eating (8/10). Since we haven't tasted our own fruit yet, that score leans on historical descriptions. Anything scored 8 or higher makes our Best Of lists.

Is Mother Apple disease resistant?

For some diseases, yes. It's resistant to apple scab and cedar-apple rust. It's prone to 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 Mother Apple?

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

Pollination partners

Trees that will pollenize Mother Apple

Mother 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.

Sources disagree on whether Mother Apple is a triploid, so plan on it receiving pollen, not giving it.

Bloom group 6 of 7 (Late)
Pollination Needs a partner
Pollen Not confirmed

19 trees we carry will pollenize it. 16 in stock now.

See every pairing on the Apple Pollination Map

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