Blooming Orange
AppleBlooming Orange
Origin / History
Introduced under this name by W. G. Waring, of Centre Co., Pa., and said to have been brought from Herefordshire, England (Downing). In 1839 Mr. Waring brought a large number of sorts from the famous Herefordshire apple orchards of England; Blooming Orange is the only one he retains. Waring considers it the handsomest apple. Warder quotes Waring's manuscript: "It is of the Ribston Pippin, or Dutch Mignonne type of fruit." Downing, from the few specimens examined, was unable to identify it with any known sort, and wrote that it "may yet prove to be some known kind but as we have not fruited it ourself, cannot decide."
Tree
Tree a very strong, free, handsome grower, and an immense bearer after six or eight years' growth (Warder). Vigorous, with strong, smooth shoots, resembling the Rhode Island Greening in color, but of upright growth (Downing). Fully adapted to the mountain region of Pennsylvania (Warder, from Waring).
Fruit
Size: Large to very large; large (Downing), very large (Warder).
Form: Roundish oblate, inclining to conic; regular.
Stem: Not described in source.
Cavity: Not described in source.
Calyx: Eye open.
Basin: Not described in source.
Skin: Fair, beautiful. Ground yellow or yellowish; surface dark, richly clouded with claret and mahogany; striped, splashed, and shaded with dull red.
Dots: Large, whitish and gray.
Flesh and flavor: Flesh white, crisp, juicy. Acid at first, but this merges into a rich, penetrating, very agreeable flavor (Warder); pleasant subacid (Downing). Quality "Good to very good" (Downing).
Core and seeds: Core medium.
Season
November and December.
Uses
Not described in source.
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 2 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 3 catalogs (1900–1913) from Illinois
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1913
View original book sources (2)
— John A. Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)Blooming Orange.
Mr. Waring considers this the handsomest apple. In 1839 he brought a large number of sorts from the famous Herefordshire apple orchards of England, of which this is the only one he retains as fully adapted to the mountain region of Pennsylvania.
Tree a very strong, free, handsome grower, and an immense bearer, after six or eight years' growth.
Fruit very large, fair, beautiful, roundish-oblate, regular; surface dark, richly clouded with claret and mahogany, on yellow ground; Eye open; Flesh crisp, juicy, acid at first, but this merges into a rich, penetrating, very agreeable flavor.
It is of the Ribston Pippin, or Dutch Mignonne type of fruit.—[Mr. G. Waring's MS.]
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Blooming Orange.
Under this name W. G. Waring, of Centre Co., Pa., has introduced an Apple said to have been brought from Herefordshire, England. We have been unable, from the few specimens examined, to identify it with any known sort. Tree vigorous, with strong, smooth shoots, resembling the Rhode Island Greening in color, but of upright growth. Fruit large, roundish oblate, inclining to conic, yellowish, striped, splashed, and shaded with dull red, with large whitish and gray dots. Flesh white, juicy, pleasant subacid. Good to very good. Core medium. November and December. This may yet prove to be some known kind but as we have not fruited it ourself, cannot decide.