Wise Monkey Apple Tree | Bare Root, Hardy to Zone 4 | Spring 2027

Representative photo of ripe apples on an old orchard tree, not Wise Monkey itself

Wise Monkey Apple (Spring 2027)

$59.99

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)

At a glance: Wise Monkey Apple is an apple tree we've estimated at zone 4 (winters to -30°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 4 to 8. A bare number means the whole of zone 4, colder half included (winters to -30°F). Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator.
Pollination	Needs Cross-Pollination. Bloom group 5 of 7 (mid-late), late spring here. Not self-fertile. Plant a different apple or crabapple variety nearby that blooms at about the same time (bloom groups 4 to 6 on our chart). Good partners we carry: Black Oxford Apple, Honeycrisp Apple, Northern Spy Apple, Oriole Apple and 70 more. Bloom group is our estimate from the variety's origin and relatives. 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 (8/10), cooking and roasting (6/10), winter storage (6/10), pies and baking (6/10), hard cider (6/10). 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.

New to us this year, so the notes below come from other growers and from MORP rather than from our own trees. We will update this once we have fruited it here.

Overview

Wise Monkey is a seedling apple out of southwest Colorado that took a bronze medal for best tasting at the Gnarly Pippins pomological exhibition. That is a competition specifically for seedling apples from around the country, so it is a room full of people whose whole hobby is tasting apples. Placing there means something.

Origin and History

It was preserved and introduced through the Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project in Cortez, Colorado. DNA work puts its parents as Rome crossed with Delicious. The medal came at the fourth annual Gnarly Pippins exhibition, held in Williamsburg, Massachusetts.

Fruit and Uses

The tasting notes from that competition are worth repeating because they are unusually specific. People called it juicy with a rich tartness, and picked out flavors of honey, banana, berry, cookie and grape. It ripens in the fall. With that combination of sugar, acid and aromatics it should do well fresh, hold up in pies, and bring something interesting to a cider blend.

Growth Habit and Spacing

On Bud 118 semi-dwarf rootstock. Figure roughly 15 feet between trees, or 18 feet if you want more room and less annual pruning.

Pollination

Wise Monkey needs a pollenizer, and it blooms mid to late. Northern Spy, Arkansas Black, Macoun and Honeycrisp all overlap with it.

Cold Hardiness

Zone 4 for now. Neither Rome nor Delicious is a hardiness parent, so we are not expecting miracles out of it in a cold site. Give it a warm valley position until we have our own data.

Representative photo of ripe apples on an old orchard tree, not Wise Monkey itself. Photo credit: “Beilstein - Maad - reife Äpfel an einem Baum in einer Streuobstwiese” by Roman Eisele, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Questions we get about Wise Monkey Apple

Does Wise Monkey Apple need a pollenizer?

Yes. Wise Monkey Apple needs pollen from a different variety that blooms at about the same time. Plant a different apple or crabapple variety nearby that blooms at about the same time (bloom groups 4 to 6 on our chart). Partners we carry include Black Oxford Apple, Honeycrisp Apple, Northern Spy Apple.

How cold hardy is Wise Monkey Apple?

We list Wise Monkey Apple at zone 4 for now, which means winters down to about -30°F. That's an estimate. Neither Rome nor Delicious is a hardiness parent, and we don't have our own winter data yet, so give it a warm valley position until we do.

How big does Wise Monkey Apple get?

We graft Wise Monkey 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 Wise Monkey Apple good for?

Our top use scores for Wise Monkey Apple are fresh eating (8/10), cooking and roasting (6/10), winter storage (6/10), pies and baking (6/10). Since we haven't fruited it yet, those scores lean on the Gnarly Pippins tasting notes and other growers rather than our own harvests. Anything scored 8 or higher makes our Best Of lists.

Will deer eat Wise Monkey Apple?

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

What arrives, and when does Wise Monkey 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 Wise Monkey Apple

Wise Monkey 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 Not tested yet

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