Roxbury Russet Apple

bare-root trees
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Malus spp.
Winter, russeted green skin.

Roxbury, Mass., early 1600s.

Said to be the first named American apple variety. One of the best late-winter dessert apples—it would be hard to live without a stash of them in our root cellar. Our favorite for winter sauce.

Hard medium-large patchy green and russeted fruit not uniform in size, shape or color. Rich, spicy and juicy. Dried, it’s nice and tart with a pleasant first sensation and a lingering good aftertaste. The aromatic juice has potential for cider, fresh or fermented.

Medium-to-large vigorous spreading tree. One of the most popular commercial apples of the 19th century, largely because it can store until summer. Scab resistant. Blooms midseason. Z4.

(Standard: 3–6' bare-root trees, semi-dwarf: 2½–5' bare-root trees)

Maine Grown.
ships in spring

Also Available As

Roxbury Russet Apple
scionwood
ships in early spring

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Quick Details
Harvest Season
winter
Uses
all-purpose, fresh eating, storage, cooking, high flavor
Maine Grown
Yes
Skin Color
russeted green
Hardy to Zone
4
Compare
Apples with Harvest Timing Similar to ‘Winter’
Variety Product Type Harvest Season Maine Grown Skin Color Hardy to Zone
Api Etoile bare-root trees winter Yes red-blushed 4
Ashmead’s Kernel bare-root trees winter Yes russeted golden-orange 4
Baldwin bare-root trees winter Yes red 4
Belle de Boskoop bare-root trees winter russeted green 4
Black Oxford bare-root trees winter Yes deep purple 4
Blue Pearmain bare-root trees fall-winter Yes russeted purplish red 4
Calville Blanc d’Hiver bare-root trees winter Yes pale green-yellow 4
Cherryfield bare-root trees fall-winter Yes pinky-red washed 4
Cortland bare-root trees fall-winter Yes purple-blushed red 4
D’Arcy Spice bare-root trees fall-winter Yes russeted yellow-green 4
Enterprise bare-root trees fall-winter Yes orange-red 4
Esopus Spitzenburg bare-root trees fall-winter Yes bright red 4
Frostbite bare-root trees fall-winter Yes purple-striped red 3
Golden Russet bare-root trees winter Yes russeted yellow 4
GoldRush bare-root trees winter Yes golden 4
Gray Pearmain bare-root trees fall-winter russeted yellow-green 4
Haralson bare-root trees winter Yes red 3
Honeycrisp bare-root trees winter Yes red-striped 3
Idared bare-root trees winter Yes red 4
Keepsake bare-root trees winter Yes red-washed and striped 3
King David bare-root trees fall-winter Yes dark maroon 4
King of the Pippins bare-root trees fall-winter Yes orange and red-flushed yellow 4
Milo Gibson bare-root trees late fall-winter Yes orange-russeted greenish yellow 4
Northern Spy bare-root trees winter Yes red-striped 4
Rhode Island Greening bare-root trees fall-winter green 4
Ribston Pippin bare-root trees fall-winter Yes russeted red 4
Roxbury Russet bare-root trees winter Yes russeted green 4
Shizuka bare-root trees fall-winter Yes yellow 4
Starkey bare-root trees fall-winter Yes rosy red 4
Tumanga bare-root trees fall-winter Yes blushed yellow 5
Winter Banana bare-root trees fall-winter bright red-blushed 4
Yellow Bellflower bare-root trees winter Yes yellow 4
Zabergau Reinette bare-root trees winter Yes russeted greenish bronze 4
Additional Information

Apples

Choosing the Right Apple

Not sure where to start? Check out our Apple Chart!

Choosing a variety: Not every variety may be right for you. All-purpose apples are just that—they’re good for a bunch of jobs. If you're planting just one tree, perhaps start there. However, if you’re a history buff, consider the historical varieties and maybe plant one that originated nearby. If you don’t eat many apples but love pies, go for the pie apples. If you’re a dessert connoisseur, skip all the others and go for the highly flavored dessert varieties. Some are strictly for cider. Some are great to put out at the camp for summer use. Some are perfect for those who want fall fruit but don’t have a root cellar. Others keep all winter and into the following summer.

  • Summer apples ripen in summer, are generally crisp only for a short period, do not store well, and are often best for cooking.
  • Fall apples store longer and are useful for a wide variety of purposes.
  • Winter apples ripen mid to late fall, store well, and reach their best flavor after weeks, or even months, of storage.
  • Dessert apples are delicious eaten raw.
  • Crabapples are less than 2" in diameter. Some crabs bear edible or culinary or cider-making fruit. Some have persistent wildlife fruit that hangs on the tree for weeks or even months. Others have hardly any fruit at all. Some are beautiful ornamentals.
  • Cider apples are especially suited to making fermented “hard” cider. Some cider apples are also good dessert fruit, but most are not.
  • Subacid means tart!
  • Russet or russeting is a skin texture (fairly common on apple varieties and on a few pears and potatoes) which looks and feels somewhat like suede.
  • Bloom is a naturally occurring dust-like yeast film on the skin of some varieties of apples, plums, grapes and blueberries.

Cider Apples

Each year we offer a different assortment of the best European and American cider varieties, including new wild apple introductions from local fruit explorers and cidermakers. Many of these are NOT for fresh eating. They do however possess qualities that make them very desirable for fermented cider production.

Seedling Apples

These trees were grown from seeds, rather than grafted onto rootstock like the other apple varieties we offer. These standard-sized trees will grow to 20–30'.

Flowering and Culinary Crabapples

A crabapple is any apple with fruit smaller than 2" in diameter. All crabs bear edible fruit, some more favorable for culinary use than others. Some fruits are persistent, hanging on the branch through winter and providing forage for robins, jays and waxwings in the early spring. The flowers, tree form and even the shape of the leaves can vary subtly or profoundly. Most are magnificent in bloom and ornamental year round, especially in winter when the leaves drop and the trees show off their interesting forms.

Growing Apples

  • Soil: Adaptable, but prefers well-drained fertile soil.
  • Sun: Full.
  • Pollination: Requires a second variety for pollination. Any apple or crabapple blooming within a quarter mile will probably do.
  • Planting and Pruning: See our planning and planting and pests and diseases pages for more information about soil prep, planting, pruning, and pest control.
  • Spacing:
    • For trees on Malus domestica (standard) and Bud 118 rootstock, 20–25' apart.
    • M111 semi-dwarf, 15–20' apart.
    • G890 semi-dwarf, 10–15' apart.
    • Bud 9 dwarf, 5–10' apart.

Choosing an Apple Rootstock

Rootstock determines the size, longevity, hardiness and growth habits of a tree. After enthusiastic response from customers, we continue to offer an assortment of dwarf and semi-dwarf rootstocks in addition to the standard.

Looking for rootstock to graft your own trees? See: Rootstock for grafting.

  • Standard rootstock: Standard trees are now grafted onto Malus domestica. (We can no longer get Antonovka because of the war in Ukraine). Standard trees have deep, substantial—and therefore hardier—root systems. By selecting the varieties appropriate to your district, grafted on standard rootstock, you may well be planting a tree that will be picked by your grandchildren’s grandchildren. Standard trees will grow to be large, but you can manage the size with pruning. The largest trees in our orchards are now about 30 years old, yet the tallest are well under 20' due to careful pruning. Although standard-sized apple trees may be planted as close as 10–15' apart, they were typically planted 30' apart in 19th-c. orchards. We generally plant standard trees 20–25' apart with good results. (Trees on standard stock are shipped at 3-6'.)
  • Semi-dwarf and dwarf rootstocks: We offer an assortment of semi-dwarf and dwarf apple trees on Bud 118, M111 and Bud 9 rootstocks. Each has great advantages for some growers, but these size-controlling rootstocks also have their limitations. Please read on and decide if they are what you want. If you are uncertain, stick with the good old standards, which are extremely rugged, hardier, more tolerant of drought and poor soils, very long-lived, and more capable of thriving under a regime of benign neglect.
    • Bud 118 semi-dwarfing rootstock produces a tree about 85–90% of standard size or even larger. Sometimes Bud 118 trees are called semi-standards or even standards. Considered to be more precocious (fruiting at a young age) than standards, and probably more productive. Very hardy, though not as hardy as a standard. Plant about 20–25' apart.
    • M111 semi-dwarfing rootstock produces a tree about 65–80% of standard size. Sometimes M111 trees are called semi-standards. More precocious than standards. M111 has a relatively shallow spreading root system, does well in light soils, and is relatively drought tolerant. Prone to suckering; not as long-lived or hardy as a standard tree. You can plant them closer together than standards, about 15–20' apart.
    • G890 semi-dwarfing rootstock produces a tree about 55–65% of standard size. Adaptable to different climates and soil types, deeply rooted and hardy. Highly resistant to fireblight—the varieties we offer on G890 are ones we’ve found to be susceptible to fireblight in some locations. Plant trees 10–15' apart.
    • Bud 9 dwarfing rootstock produces a small dwarf tree, 25–55% of standard size. This makes it easy to spray, prune and pick. It requires less space in your yard and will fruit at an early age. Trees should be staked or trellised for support. These trees are hardy, though not as hardy as a standard, and they won’t live as long. You can plant trees 5–10' apart.

Shipping

Items from our perennial plants warehouse ordered on or before February 20 will ship from March through early May, starting with warmer areas and finishing in colder areas.

Orders placed after February 20 will ship from April to May.