Apple (Malus) Worcester Pearmain M26

Introduced in 1874 and still holding the RHS Award of Garden Merit, 'Worcester Pearmain' is a beloved early dessert apple famous for its glossy scarlet skin and distinctive strawberry-like flavour when fully ripened. Grafted onto the semi-dwarfing M26 rootstock, it makes a compact, manageable tree reaching around 3m in height and spread, ideal for the average garden.

Pink blossom appears in April and May, followed by medium-sized fruit ripening to scarlet with an intense, sweet strawberry flavour at its best. Heavy, regular crops are the norm, harvested from late August into October depending on the season, with the fruit best used within a few weeks.

'Worcester Pearmain' is partially self-fertile and will crop reasonably alone, though it fruits better with a pollination partner in the same period (Group 3) or an adjacent group (2 or 4). It's a tip-bearer, meaning fruit forms mainly at the tips of shoots rather than on spurs, so pruning is a little lighter-touch than for spur-bearing varieties, aimed at preserving those fruiting tips. M26 typically needs staking for the first few years while the root system establishes, and trees usually begin cropping within a year or two.

Plant in full sun or partial shade in moist, well-drained soil. As with all apple varieties, the pips contain small amounts of naturally occurring toxins, so they're best removed if the fruit is being used for cooking with children in mind.

Each tree is hand-selected before dispatch. Available from Pengelly Garden Centre.