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A Red Wealthy apple ripening on the branch
  • A Red Wealthy apple ripening on the branch
  • A Red Wealthy apple ripening on the branch
Red Wealthy Apple

Red Wealthy Apple

$34.99
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 resistanceNo strong resistance
  • Apple scab : Susceptible, 2 of 5
  • Cedar-apple rust : Highly susceptible, 1 of 5
  • Fire blight : Susceptible, 2 of 5
  • Powdery mildew : Susceptible, 2 of 5

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 Wealthy Apple is an apple tree rated hardy to zone 3 in our ratings (winters to -40°F), and 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).

Hardy to Zone 3 to 8. A bare number means the whole of zone 3, colder half included (winters to -40°F). Our notes have it taking near -40°F. Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator.
Chill hours About 1,050 hours (800 to 1,200). Same as its parent, Wealthy. 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, such as Kerr Applecrab, Honeycrisp or Haralson. It has good pollen, so it can also pollenize other apples blooming at the same time. Good partners we carry: Honeycrisp Apple, Freedom Apple, Frostbite Apple, Haralson Apple and 69 more. Apple Pollination Map.
Rootstock and size Dolgo: full size, about 20 to 30 ft tall unpruned. Very hardy and well anchored. Our rootstock guide.
Good for Fresh eating (7/10), pies and baking (7/10), sauce and butter (7/10), cooking and roasting (7/10), juice and sweet cider (6/10), canning and freezing (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, 2-3 ft or 3-5 ft. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

Overview

Red Wealthy is a cold-climate American apple with bright, classic “old orchard” flavor, known for its hardiness and for ripening early enough to succeed in a shorter growing season (may still not be short enough for some growers in AK). A good mid season apples (in Missoula, MT), ‘Wealthy’ was planted all over Montana over 100 years ago.

Origin and History

Wealthy was developed in Minnesota by horticulturalist Peter M. Gideon, with the cultivar first grown/introduced in 1868 after years of failed attempts to grow standard apples in Minnesota’s winters. (Minnesota Historical Society) It became an important milestone apple for the Upper Midwest because it proved that quality dessert and cooking apples could be grown reliably in cold continental climates. “Red Wealthy” is a sport of selected for improved red coloration and later keeping. Recent genetic fingerprinting has revealed that it’s actually a cross between ‘Duchess of Oldenburg’ and ‘Jonathan’, which makes sense given its look-a-like with ‘Duchess’.

Fruit & Uses

Red Wealthy is a medium-sized, bright red apple with juicy flesh and a lively sweet–tart balance, making it a strong dual-purpose apple for fresh eating and kitchen use (sauce, pies, baking). This is the same “Wealthy-style” profile long associated with the original cultivar in cold-region orchards.

Wealthy is a mid-season apple in Missoula, MT. in 2025, Farmer Fred at Green Bench Orchard had Wealthy on the trees and ready to be picked from Sept. 4th-Sept. 18th. This window shifts on a year to year basis, but this was pretty early for them in 2025. We wouldn't say this is a late apple for us, though, in Missoula. Curious if Wealthy could ripen in time in places like Anchorage (if any growers in Anchorage are reading this, let us know).

Growth Habit & Spacing

Wealthy is widely grown in heritage orchards as a reasonably vigorous, durable tree. Spacing on Dolgo (what we currently offer) is in the 18-20 ft. range. Tighter spacing could be applied for a more intensive pruning regiment.

Pollination

Red Wealthy (like Wealthy) is not self-fertile and needs a different apple variety nearby for reliable fruit set. As a diploid apple, it also provides viable pollen to other diploid apples when bloom overlaps. Examples we offer of what to plant with Red Wealthy for cross pollination include: McIntosh, Kerr, Honeycrisp, Haralson, Frostbite, Freedom, and Chestnut

Cold Hardiness

Going off of Wealthy's hardiness, Red wealthy is a solid zone 3 apple and should survive at least down to -40F. From our Montana observations and grower reports: Bruce Benson’s Red/Wealthy-type trees reportedly withstood -30°F-range events in Missoula back in the 1980s without winter injury and are still going strong today. There are also reports from the coldest parts of the Bitterroot (colder microclimates around Stevensville and Hamilton) of Wealthy-type trees seeing near -40°F and appearing fine afterward. That said, we do not yet have solid, well-documented evidence in our network of this variety surviving cleanly well into the -40s or -50s (it may be capable, but we’re not going to claim this without better documentation). Zone 3.

Questions we get about Red Wealthy Apple

Does Red Wealthy Apple need a pollenizer?

Yes. Red Wealthy 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, such as Kerr Applecrab, Honeycrisp or Haralson. It has good pollen, so it can also pollenize other apples blooming at the same time. Partners we carry include Honeycrisp Apple, Freedom Apple, Frostbite Apple.

How cold hardy is Red Wealthy Apple?

We rate Red Wealthy Apple hardy to zone 3, which means winters down to about -40°F. Our notes have it taking near -40°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 Wealthy Apple need?

About 1,050 hours of winter chill (we count hours at or below 45°F), likely somewhere between 800 and 1,200. It's a sport of Wealthy, so it needs the same chill. Montana winters supply that easily. Our chill hours guide has a calculator for your winters, and our research page lists the sources.

How big does Red Wealthy Apple get?

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

What is Red Wealthy Apple good for?

Our top use scores for Red Wealthy Apple are fresh eating (7/10), pies and baking (7/10), sauce and butter (7/10), cooking and roasting (7/10).

Is Red Wealthy Apple disease resistant?

No. It's very prone to cedar-apple rust, and prone to apple scab, fire blight and powdery mildew. Our apple disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Will deer eat Red Wealthy Apple?

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

What arrives, and when does Red Wealthy 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: 2-3 ft or 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 Red Wealthy Apple

Red Wealthy 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

73 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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Not available for spring 2027. Here's what we'd plant instead.

Red Wealthy Apple is off the list this season. These are in stock now, and the full apple trees collection has the rest. Everything on our zone 3 page is rated for the same winters.