Apple (Malus) Blenheim Orange — Bush, 12L Container, M26

A true English classic, Blenheim Orange was found around 1740 as a seedling growing against the boundary wall of Blenheim Park in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, and has been treasured by gardeners ever since. Its large, flattened fruits are golden-yellow striped with orange-red and lightly russeted, with creamy flesh and a rich, distinctively nutty flavour. A superb dual-purpose apple, it can be used for cooking from early October, when it softens to a thick purée perfect for pies and Apple Charlotte, or left to sweeten in store for eating through to January, where it makes a fine partner for cheese.

Grown as a bush on semi-dwarfing M26 rootstock, it makes a more compact tree of around 3m, which helps tame this naturally vigorous variety and brings it into fruit sooner. Plant in a sunny, sheltered spot in well-drained soil and provide a permanent stake for support. It may fruit more heavily in alternate years, so thinning young fruits helps keep yields steady. Blenheim Orange is a triploid and self-sterile, so it needs two different pollination partners from groups B, C or D nearby, which must also be able to pollinate each other.

Each tree is hand-selected before dispatch.

Available from Pengelly Garden Centre.