19 Best Apple Tree Varieties (with a Guide to Flowering Groups) | Gardener's Path

If you’ve planted an apple tree and wondered why it never produced more than a few beautiful blossoms, you’re in good company.

Many of us will head out to the garden centers in springtime, purchase our favorite type of apple tree, and rush home to plant it.

We tend to these new plantings with love and attention, and we even understand that it could take a few years before we see a single fruit.

Three years go by, and nothing. Then four. Then five. And then six. And now we’re wondering what we did wrong.

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The solution is at once complex and simple, but don’t worry. Keep on reading, and by the end you’ll be well-prepared to choose and plant that apple tree, and then harvest its fruit.

Here’s an overview of what’s ahead:

Read on for the best apple varieties for your growing zone, information on how they get along, and more.

I’ve broken up the main highlights on how to grow an abundant harvest successfully below, to give you a better idea of what each key element of information actually means.

As you’re reading, you’ll get a primer on what to expect when growing apple trees; at times, it may seem a bit overwhelming.

Stick to it, and I’ll summarize at the end (see the boxed out section below)!

Apple trees tend to thrive in areas with nice, cold winters. Most won’t grow anywhere warmer than zone 8, but there are a few exceptions, as you’ll see below.

Cool periods are so important to apple trees that they actually need hundreds of “chill hours” every year to break dormancy, and regulate growth.

You can’t cheat this system; these trees