Maine-ly Apples

Current Varieties | Future Varieties | New Plantings | Our Suggestions

Our apple varieties

Maine-ly Apples has 1645 apple trees and 27 pear trees. We grow 48 different varieties of apples, which range from the Maine favorite McIntosh to antique British cider apples as well as classic English desert apples and all the latest popular varieties that can be grown in Maine such as the Honeycrisp and Snowsweet.

Please keep in mind that not all varieties ripen at the same time. See our homepage and our pick-your-own page for the varieties currently available in our farm stand and for pick-your-own.

• September
  • William's Pride – Dark red, firm, juicy, slightly spicy.
  • Sansa – Excellent dessert apple with good keeping quality. Ripens one week before Gala.
  • Ginger Gold – Golden Delicious type, high quality, sweet, early season dessert apple.
  • Zestar – High quality early season crisp, juicy dessert apple developed by the University of Minnesota, the people who brought you Honeycrisp.
  • Paulared – An early, tasty McIntosh cross.
  • Prima – An excellent dessert apple. Sometimes called the "spice apple."
  • Jonamac – McIntosh and Jonathan cross; a dark red apple that is firm, crisp, and on the tart side.
  • McIntosh – The classic Maine favorite.
  • Cortland – A traditional apple that is great for cooking. Has a white flesh that resists browning.
  • Honeycrisp – The increasingly popular, large sized eating apple. Lives up to the name.
  • Gala – A New Zealand apple that is crisp, dense, and mildly sweet.
• Late September / October
  • Fuji – A fine grained, sweet apple with a very good storage life; the most popular apple in Japan.
  • Macoun – A juicy, low acid apple.
  • Spartan – Ripens after McIntosh with all the same snappy flavor.
  • Empire – Medium sized, dark red with firm flesh, stores well.
  • Liberty – A Macoun cross eating apple, it is also good for cooking and cider.
  • Shizuka – A low acid eating apple.
  • Fameuse – An antique apple that is parent of the McIntosh; called the "snow apple."
  • Valstar – Early season European apple with sweet-tart flavor. Good for sauce.
  • Spencer – Good for both eating and cooking. Stores well.
  • Cox's Orange Pippin – An antique English variety with an intriguing aroma and balanced flavor, considered the finest dessert apple grown.
  • Golden Delicious – Pale yellow apple, mild and sweet.
  • Smokehouse – 19^th century apple from Pennsylvania that is good for cooking and stores well.
  • Jonagold – Europe's most popular apple; excellent dessert apple.
  • Snowsweet – Product of the University of Minnesota from the same development program as Zestar & Honeycrisp. Ripens later than Honeycrisp.
  • Red Delicious – The traditional eating apple. Deep red in color with a distinctive shape.
  • Melrose – State apple of Ohio; large dessert apple.
  • Idared – Late maturing variety; Idareds keep extremely well and actually develop a better taste during storage.
  • Cameo – A new variety that is crisp, juicy, has a sweet tart flavor and has outstanding storage quality.
  • Northern Spy – A traditional, firm apple that is great for cooking.
  • Suncrisp – A golden apple with red blush; ripens in the late fall and is very crunchy.
  • Calville Blanc* – Developed in France around 1600; high in vitamin C.
  • Orleans* – Delicious x Deacon Jones; very sweet and crunchy; excellent for making baked apples.
  • Roxbury Russett* – Developed in the 1700s; stays crisp all winter.
  • Spitzenburg* – Also developed in the 1700s; Thomas Jefferson's favorite apple; hard, dense, and crisp with a nut like flavor.
  • Crimson Crisp – PRI 1971 sweet/tart all purpose apple.
  • Mutsu (Crispin) – Golden Delicious x Indo (Japan, 1949); sweet, crunchy, and full of flavor; good for eating and baking.
  • Red Cameo – Van Well Nursery large red sweet/tart late apple.
  • Rubymac – 1999 Comstock Park MI a patented exciting new Macintosh variety.
  • Winesap – 1700s NJ All purpose & cider sweet apple that stores well.

* indicates limited supply

Antique cider varieties

We also have some young plantings of top rated European and American cider apples that are available to craft cider makers in limited supply, ask about availability.

• Arkansas Black – From Arkansas in 1840.
• Foxwhelp – Sharp tasting and one of the most famous English cider apples.
• Harrys Masters Jersey – A bitter-sweet apple that makes very good quality cider.
• Kingston Black – A bitter-sharp apple. One of the best English single varietal ciders.

New plantings

• Canadian Strawberry – Unknown parentage from Solon, Maine. Beautiful, superb tasting desert apple.
• Sweet Sixteen – University of Minnesota Northern Spy cross. Sweet, nutty, spicy fine textured eating apple.
• Wealthy – Excelsior Minnesota 1860. Superb all purpose fall apple. Good eating, even better cooking.
• Windham Russet – Unknown parentage Massachusetts before 1870. Dark brown russet skin excellent desert apple.
• Golden Russet – Upstate New York 1840s. Sweet, spicy, sprightly flavor peaks in December & January excellent keeper.
• Red Rubens – Italy 1988. Elstar/Gala cross. A great European desert apple.
• Gray Permain – Skowhegan, Maine before 1870. An absolutely delicious fresh eating apple.
• Blue Permain – New England early 1800s mild flavor eating apple and great for baked apples.

Apple suggestions

Sometimes you just feel like something different. Here are some suggestions for our newer varieties based on some perennial favorites.

• If you like the tarty taste of McIntosh you might like Macoun, Liberty, or Empire.
• If you like Cortland as a great cooking apple you might like Spencer or Paulared.
• If you like Northern Spy as a great keeping apple you might try Idared.
• If you like Golden Delicious then you might try Jonagold or SunCrisp.