Virginia Beauty

Good Apple Info Snapshot:

Winner across the board. A featured Mid-Season Bloom tree.

Good Apple Info Difficulty Rating:

Easy.

Tree Habit:

Moderately vigorous, spreading, some of the best branching angles. Starts to bear fruit early and produces good harvests.

Apple Color:

Smooth and dark red tending to purple. Russeting in the stem cavity often extends over the shoulder and down onto the sides.

Size:

Medium to large, round, often lopsided.

Flavor:

mildly subacid – flesh is greenish-yellow, fine grained, tender, juicy.

Bloom:

Mid-Season.

Ripe:

October

History:

The original tree grew before 1820 in what is today Carroll County in southwestern Virginia. The name implies an attractive apple, but it is also an excellent eating and dessert apple. In 1914, F. H. LaBaume, a Virginia farmer and fruit grower,  wrote to the United States Department of Agriculture saying of the Va. Beauty; “ It has a distinctive flavor all of its own that clings to the palate and lingers in the memory for a lifetime.”  The tree is known for producing wide branching angles, a trait that aids in producing proper tree structure.

Storage:

Excellent 5 months.

Uses:

Fresh Eating.