RF: Mountain Rose

type: Culinary, Cider, Jelly, Juice, Ornamental, Pie, Pollinization, Sauce

synonyms: Also referred to as Newell-Kimzey and Aerlie Red Flesh ( RF: Airlie Red Flesh Apple ) and Bill's Red Flesh

summary: Please see RF: Newell-Kimzey Apple. Listed as a Newell-Kimzey Apple RF: Newell-Kimzey Apple , also known as Bill's Red Flesh Apple RF: Bill’s Red Flesh . Marketed by Bill Schulz of Airlie.

identification: Medium size, conic and lightly ribbed. The base colour is green maturing to lemon yellow with a faded red blush on the sun exposed face, marked with prominent, tan lenticels. Tender and bruises easily.

characteristics: Yellow to bright red flesh, fine-grained, tender and juicy. Sweet-tart with berry and lemon flavours. Produces green/yellow fruit is sweet, flesh is crisp and dark red. Harvest early in the middle period.

uses: Can be eaten fresh or baked in pies and crisps. Great for colourful apple sauce and jelly.

origins: Found growing as a chance seedling in the area of Mount Hood, in Ashe County, Oregon (U.S.A.). Suggested as a possible mutation of RF: Airlie Red Flesh Apple (Airlie Red flesh). Patented by Eric Schwartz in 2001. Possibly a descendant of a red-fleshed apples discovered growing in an abandoned orchard near the town of Aerlie in the State of Oregon, U.S.A. Found growing as a chance seedling by in an orchard near Airlie, Oregon. Red-fleshed apples were brought to the United States from Europe and Russia in the mid-19th century, and historians hypothesize that the pigmented varieties were planted in the Pacific Northwest through hybrid varieties developed by apple breeder Albert Etter in northern California in the early 20th century. In 1959, ranch owner Lucky Newell was riding his horse on his 80-acre property in Airlie, Oregon, when he noticed a blushed yellow apple on a tree. He bit into the apple and was surprised by its red and pink mottled flesh. Newell commented that the flesh was as “ruby as his wife’s lips” but continued his ride without giving the fruits a second thought. In 1966, Newell sold his ranch, and it wasn’t until the 1980s that the apples were rediscovered. Field Manager of Thomas Paine Farms, Louis Kimzey, found the apples on a stroll through the same orchard and began investigating the fruits to see if they were a new variety. Kimzey partnered with grower Eric Schwartz and began grafting the variety for research and propagation, establishing the first commercial orchard in 1992. The apples were given the trademarked name Hidden Rose® in 2001 and were exclusively marketed by Dragonberry Produce. While Kimzey and Schwartz were developing Hidden Rose® apples, John and Brady Jacobson of Mt. Hood Organic Farms, Randy Kiyokawa of Kiyokawa Family Orchards, and several other apple growers in the region also began cultivating the red-fleshed apples in the early 1990s. These growers were unable to use the trademarked name Hidden Rose®, so they named their pigmented apples Mountain Rose. Today, Mountain Rose apples and Hidden Rose® apples are thought to share the same ancestry and may be natural mutations from the same tree.XXXXXX

cold storage: Keeps up to five months in cool storage. Long storage promotes sweetness and colour.

vulnerabilities: Susceptible to scab.

harvest: Ready for harvest in the middle season.

notes: Bruises easily and sensitive to persistent cold temperatures