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Surprise (Veitch) @6223
type: Cooking, Eating, Pie
synonyms: Bill's Red Flesh, Yellow Surprise, Red Core. The Landsberger Reinette ( Landsberger Reinette (@3860) ) is also referred to as "Surprise." There is a red-fleshed North American variety named Surprise (Etter) which was developed by Albert Etter. The name "Surprise" generally refers to chance seedlings, volunteers and mutations found growing of their own accord in deserted orchards and so there are many varieties that go by this catch-all name. The Landsberger Reinette ( Landsberger Reinette ( Landsberger Reinette (@3860) ) ) apple is also referred to as "Surprise.
summary: Small to medium size (maximum tennis ball size). Tapered, conical shape and lightly ribbed. Sometimes lightly russeted. Skin colour at full ripeness is yellow, often marked with daubs of pale orange. The pale tan base colour is partly covered with an orange-red wash that can have patches of russet at times.
Conic, lightly ribbed. The faded tan base colour is partly covered with an orange-red wash that can be marked with thin russet patches around the stem. Can be sparsely covered with scattered, slightly-raised lenticels.
identification: Small, round. Base colour is yellow, sometimes with a pale red blush on the sun-exposed face. Marked with small brownish lenticels. The stem is stout and short, rising well above the shoulders of its shallow and wide, pleated cavity. Conic, lightly ribbed
characteristics: The flesh is cream-coloured, tender and coarse-grained. Juicy, sweet-tart with developing pear flavours at maturity. The flesh colour may take on a red stain when grown at cooler, higher elevations.
The flesh is a cream colour. Granular, tender. Mildly sweet.
uses: When left to mature, it becomes a mildly sweet and flavourful eating apple, but it is often harvested slightly green for baking. A sweet pear flavour emerges when it is cooked and the apple holds its shape for pies and tarts.
origins: Described briefly by American pomologist A.J. Downing in his 1847 edition of "The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America" as "a small, round, whitish-yellow apple, of little or no value, but admired by some for its singularity—the flesh being stained with red." Generally considered a North American-bred apple, but it likely originated in England where it was listed by the Exeter nursery of R. Veitch & Son. According to Tom Burford in his "Apples of North America" (published 2013) the Surprise originated in Britain and was first noted in 1831. It was carried to North America by German settlers in 1840 and was being offered by nurseries in Virginia and Kentucky for about 30 years.
cultivation: Vigorous, upright spreading tree. Bears fruit on spurs. Produces light crops which are ready for harvest in the middle harvest period.
cold storage: Up to two months
notes: Andrew Jackson Downing (Thomp.) describes the Surprise in the 1865 edition of "The fruits and fruit trees of America" as being a "small, round, whitish-yellow apple, of little or no value, but admired by some for its singularity—the flesh being stained with red."
(The name of this apple is often written with the name Veitch in parenthesis at the end. This refers to the name of the individual or organization responsible for the particularly breeding of the apple variety, in this case Robert Veitch Company.)
pollination group: D
pollination peak: 15
ploidism: Diploid. Self sterile.
cold storage weeks: 8
harvest period: 4
hardiness: 4
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