Sunrise (Canada) Apple Tree | Bare Root, Zone 3b

Sunrise (Canada) Apple (Spring 2027)

$44.99

Reliable shipping

Flexible returns

Pollination Needs a partner

Bloom group 3 of 7 (Early-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 : Unknown, no published data yet
Cedar-apple rust : Susceptible, 2 of 5
Fire blight : Unknown, no published data yet
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: Sunrise (Canada) Apple is an apple tree provisionally rated hardy to zone 3b (winters to -35°F), and not self-fertile, so it needs a different variety nearby as a pollenizer (bloom group 3 of 7, early-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 3 of 7 (early-mid), late spring here. Plant a different apple or crabapple variety that blooms in groups 2 to 4. It has good pollen, so it can also pollenize other apples blooming at the same time. Good partners we carry: Hewe's Virginia Crabapple, Hyslop Crabapple, Wickson Crabapple, Blue Pearmain Apple and 100 more. Apple Pollination Map.
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 (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 4-6 ft. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

This is our first year growing Sunrise, so everything below is secondhand until we get more long-term data from our own mother trees.

Overview

Sunrise is an August apple from Agriculture Canada's Summerland station in British Columbia. It's crisp, juicy and mild, and it's for eating fresh off the tree, because it doesn't keep.

Origin and History

It was released from Summerland around 1990 or 1991, and nurseries give the parents as McIntosh and Golden Delicious. Agriculture Canada's 1995-96 research directory called it "a high-quality summer apple with superior crispness, juiciness, and taste." There are other apples called Sunrise out there, including a yellow one of unknown parentage that St. Lawrence Nurseries sells, so make sure you're comparing the right one. Ours is the Summerland apple.

Fruit and Uses

The fruit is medium-large and red striped or blushed over yellow. UMass Extension wrote that it "has an extremely mild flavor, and when harvested at the proper time, is very crisp and juicy." It ripens in mid to late August. The big catch is shelf life. UMass said it "has the shortest shelf life" and recommended planting only what you can use within about two weeks. On the other hand, Raintree says it'll hang on the tree for up to four weeks without losing quality, so you can pick as you go.

Growth Habit and Spacing

Ours are on Bud 118 semi-dwarf rootstock. Plan on about 15 feet between trees, up to 18 feet for airflow. Similkameen Nurseries in BC says it's very precocious, bears moderate to heavy crops every year, and needs thinning.

Pollination

It needs a pollenizer and blooms early-mid. Centennial, Parkland, Norkent, Liberty, Snowsweet and Transcendent crab all overlap.

Cold Hardiness

Agriculture Canada described Sunrise as "well adapted to northern climates, comparable to McIntosh and Red Delicious." We rate McIntosh to about -40F, and Red Delicious is less hardy than that, so we've listed Sunrise at zone 3b for now. If you see a -50F rating for "Sunrise" somewhere, that's the other, yellow apple, not this one.

Photo credit: “Cross section of Sunrise (Canada)” by the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Open Government Licence v2.0.

Photo: “Sunrise apple 20240215 173301” by Prosperosity, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Questions we get about Sunrise (Canada) Apple

Does Sunrise (Canada) Apple need a pollenizer?

Yes. Sunrise (Canada) 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 2 to 4. It has good pollen, so it can also pollenize other apples blooming at the same time. Partners we carry include Hewe's Virginia Crabapple, Hyslop Crabapple, Wickson Crabapple.

How cold hardy is Sunrise (Canada) Apple?

We list Sunrise (Canada) Apple at zone 3b for now, which means winters down to about -35°F. Agriculture Canada compares it to McIntosh and Red Delicious, so that's where our estimate comes from. We haven't wintered our own trees yet, so we'll update it once we have.

How many chill hours does Sunrise (Canada) 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 Sunrise (Canada) Apple get?

We graft Sunrise (Canada) 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 Sunrise (Canada) Apple good for?

Our top use scores for Sunrise (Canada) Apple are fresh eating (7/10). Since we're still new to it, that score leans on published descriptions rather than our own harvests.

Is Sunrise Apple disease resistant?

No. It's prone to cedar-apple rust and powdery mildew. Nobody has published solid data on it for apple scab and fire blight yet, so we list those as unknown. Our apple disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Will deer eat Sunrise (Canada) Apple?

Yes, deer love it. Protect Sunrise (Canada) Apple with a fence or a cage, especially while it is young.

What arrives, and when does Sunrise (Canada) 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: 3-4 ft or 4-6 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 Sunrise

Sunrise 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 3 of 7 (Early-Mid)

Pollination Needs a partner

Pollen Good pollenizer

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