Red Sparkle Apple Tree | Bare Root, Zone 2b

Representative photo of red-blushed McIntosh apples on the tree, not Red Sparkle itself

Red Sparkle Apple (Spring 2027)

$49.99

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 resistanceNot tested yet

Apple scab : Unknown, no published data yet
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: Red Sparkle Apple is an apple tree rated hardy to zone 2b in our ratings (winters to -45°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 2b to 7. The b means the warmer half of zone 2 only (winters to -45°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. Not self-fertile. Plant a different apple or crabapple variety nearby that blooms at about the same time (bloom groups 3 to 5 on our chart). 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	Dolgo: full size, about 20 to 30 ft tall unpruned. Very hardy and well anchored. Plant 18 to 20 ft apart. Our rootstock guide.
Good for	Fresh eating (7/10), winter storage (6/10). 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 or 5-7 ft. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

This one is new to our lineup, so what follows comes from the prairie nurseries and growers who have had it a lot longer than we have. We will update it once we have fruited it and taken it through a few Montana winters.

Overview

Red Sparkle is a Morden apple, which is shorthand for it will take a prairie winter. What makes it worth a spot is that it is also a genuinely good apple, which is not always true of the very hardy ones.

Origin and History

Bred at the Morden research station in Manitoba and released in 1990, out of the same program that gave us Goodland and Mantet. McIntosh sits in its background, which is true of a remarkable number of the northern apples worth growing. Growers who have had Red Sparkle for a while tend to argue it improved on the Mac rather than just inheriting from it, which is a bigger compliment than it sounds.

Fruit and Uses

Medium sized fruit, bright red washed over a green underlay, with clean white flesh. Crisp and juicy, and the flavor gets described as nutty and fruity rather than straight sweet-tart. Good fresh, good for baking, and it stores for a couple of months, which is unusual for an apple that comes off in early to mid September. Reports from the prairies say the fruit will hang on the tree in good shape into late October.

Growth Habit and Spacing

Ours are grafted on Dolgo full size rootstock, so give it room. Plan on 18 to 20 feet between trees. You can go tighter if you are willing to prune it hard every year.

Pollination

Red Sparkle needs a pollenizer. It blooms mid-season, so most of our apples and crabapples in that window will work. Dolgo, Chestnut, Centennial, Honeycrisp and Liberty are all reasonable pairings.

Cold Hardiness

We are listing it at zone 2b. Morden material has a good track record in Montana, and this one was bred squarely for the coldest end of the apple range, but we have not personally taken it through a bad winter here yet.

About the photo: this isn’t Red Sparkle itself. Photos of Red Sparkle are either under copyright or simply unavailable, so we picked the open-source image that looks closest to the fruit. Photo: “Apples on tree 2021 G3” by George Chernilevsky, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Questions we get about Red Sparkle Apple

Does Red Sparkle Apple need a pollenizer?

Yes. Red Sparkle Apple needs pollen from a different variety that blooms at about the same time. Not self-fertile. Plant a different apple or crabapple variety nearby that blooms at about the same time (bloom groups 3 to 5 on our chart). Partners we carry include Otterson Crabapple, Trail Crabapple, Alexander Apple.

How cold hardy is Red Sparkle Apple?

We rate Red Sparkle Apple hardy to zone 2b, which means winters down to about -45°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 Red Sparkle 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 Red Sparkle Apple get?

We graft Red Sparkle Apple onto Dolgo (full size), which makes a tree roughly 20 to 30 ft tall if you never prune it. Plant 18 to 20 ft apart.

What is Red Sparkle Apple good for?

Our top use scores for Red Sparkle Apple are fresh eating (7/10), winter storage (6/10).

Is Red Sparkle Apple disease resistant?

We don't know yet. Nobody has published solid disease data on Red Sparkle Apple for apple scab, cedar-apple rust, fire blight and powdery mildew, so we list it as unknown instead of guessing. That doesn't mean it's weak. Plenty of the plants we grow have never been through formal disease trials. Our apple disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Will deer eat Red Sparkle Apple?

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

What arrives, and when does Red Sparkle 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 or 5-7 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.

Pollination partners

Trees that will pollenize Red Sparkle Apple

Red Sparkle 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 Not tested yet

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