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Southern Half of U.S. - Place your order by 3/24 to qualify for Raintree Guarantee
Bardsey Apple

Bardsey Apple

$59.99 - $59.99
$59.99
$59.99 - $59.99
$59.99
SKU A105D

Malus domestica 'Bardsey'

This amazing apple comes from the windswept Bardsey Island off the coast of Wales. The tree grows in an area right next to a house where it is protected from sea winds and salt spray. The tree flowers early in the season; the fruit is pink striped over a yellow base and is picked in Wales in late September and stored until November.  These characteristics make it a candidate to do well in maritime climates in the U.S.

Bardsey Island has long been associated with religious activity. Pre-Roman Celts visited the Island to pray and often to die on this most western isle, and during early Christian times Bardsey was a place of pilgrimage. Three trips to Bardsey Island were said to equal a pilgrimage to Rome. Anybody buried on Bardsey was said to be guaranteed eternal salvation. Because of this, some people today think the Bardsey Apple could be connected to the mystical power of the island. Raintree is working with Permacultural landscaper Bruce Weiskotten to introduce this apple to American gardeners. A royalty on each apple sold will be returned to the apple's developers on Bardsey Island.

The fruit appears to be scab free while growing in a very scabby orchard in North Wales.

 

USDA Zone: 5-9

Mature Height: 5' (Mini Dwarf), 12' (Dwarf), 25' (Standard)

Sun: Full Sun

Ripening Time: September

Pollination: Needs a Pollinizer

Mini-Dwarf Rootstock: M27

Dwarf Rootstock: EMLA 26

Standard Rootstock: Antanovka

Read our Apple Growing Guide

 

Size: Dwarf (4'-5')
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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

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  • Are these tree's mature enough that the could produce fruit the first or three second year?

    Yes, second year maybe, but third year is better.

  • Will you be getting the standard size in again soon? I only buy standard size fruit trees b/c I've always read that dwarf ones don't live as long. Thank you

    We may have standard rootstocks again next year, but are sold out for the 2023 season. Regarding longevity, it is true that standard trees live longer than dwarf trees, however keep in mind that apples grafted to standard rootstocks can take up to 10 years to flower (and therefore fruit) after planting.

  • Blooming time ?

    This apple is a bloom group 2 - check out our Apple Growing Guide for more information on apple tree pollination and a bloom time chart!

Customer Reviews

Based on 3 reviews
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E
E.G.&.G.
Bardsey; True Heirloom

I bought Bardsey apple on EMLA26 from Raintree the second year it was available. (Didn't get in line soon enough the first year.) The second year after I planted it a couple dozen blooms opened and set fruit. These must be thinned due to short stems: two on the same spur pushed each other off in a summer wind. The first season produced oddly shaped fruit: lumpy at both ends. In its eighth leaf it bloomed all over & set hundreds of fruits. I live in Spokane where summers are hot and dry. Bardsey fruit is always juicy & carries a lemon overtone, even when baked. Cut & cooked into sauce, the pieces retain a soft shape. Try it slow-baked whole: cut out the core from the top, fill with some flour, sugar, spice and a speck of butter baked at 250°F for 45-60 minutes. Here Bardsey has been a moving target in bloom and harvest times. Winter/spring conditions can move bloom earliest (with Redfield) or later (first lot of mid-season bloom), and summers can move harvest from first to last of September. No disease problems, with maybe light anthracnose some seasons. Attractive to codling moth.

R
Riki L.
East Coast Perfection

New Jersey USA, Jersey shore, I planted the Bardsey Apple tree in March of 2014. Where the other two apple tree varieties are struggling to survive, a winesap, and the St Cecelia, the Bardsey is producing beautiful large delicious apples. It tolerates the nor easters with a little staking for support, and doesn t seem to be affected by the salt air here as well. Highly recommend this tree if you are in a coastal region.

D
Dave L.
Lemons & Wales Meet

I bought Bardsey on EMLA26 in 14, the second year Raintree offered it. It has done well in Spokane, in a climate quite unlike that of Raintree s site, west of the Cascades. It began lightly blooming when young & fully bloomed its eighth leaf. (Mine was a two-year whip at purchase, blooming fully in 2019.) Bardsey & Liberty have been the most attractive to codling moths of those in my care over the past 12 years. As early as possible each season I cover em with orchard sox from Home Orchard Society, but you can get something similar from this company. Bardsey has juicy, good sized fruit with lemon overtone that endures in 10 weeks storage, baked or made into sauce. The flesh cooks to a soft shape. Its bloom time varies with the kind of early spring weather (or length of winter here?) ranging from earliest to mid-season apple bloom, averaging early-mid, as Raintree indicates. One other note: fruit stems are really short, so thin them to a single per spur - on every other if spurs are less than 6 inches from each other - so they don t push