Winter Pomeroy
Apple
Winter Pomeroy
Origin and History
This variety is found throughout the leading garden-orchards of Herefordshire. It was long a favorite of Mr. Godsall, a nurseryman at Hereford, who propagated it extensively from a tree in his nursery grounds. The Winter Pomeroy is the most frequently encountered of the two Pomeroy varieties in the region, owing partly to this wide propagation. It is regularly brought to Christmas market, where it is commonly sold under the name "Green Blenheim," a designation noted as absurd and attributed merely to the commercial popularity of the Blenheim Orange.
Tree
Hardy variety. Bears well and reliably.
Fruit
Form and Structure: Medium sized. Roundish, inclining to ovate. Flattened at the base. Distinctly five-sided, especially towards the apex, where the angles form distinct ridges.
Skin: Smooth. Deep yellow on the shaded side when ripe. Strewed with large russet dots across the surface. On the side next the sun, colored with a bright red cheek.
Eye (Calyx): Open. Set in a moderately deep basin with somewhat connivent segments. The tube is short and conical. Stamens are inserted in the middle of the tube.
Stalk: Upwards of half an inch long. Very slender. Inserted in a deep, narrow cavity lined with a patch of pale brown russet.
Flesh and Flavor: Yellowish in color. Firm and crisp in texture. Pleasant subacid flavor.
Core: Cells are open and regular.
Season
October to December.
Uses
Excellent culinary apple.
Book Sources
Described in 1 period pomological work
View original book sources (1)
— Woolhope Naturalists Field Club, The Herefordshire Pomona (1885)Plate II.
- WINTER POMEROY.
Description.—Fruit; medium sized, roundish, inclining to ovate, flattened at the base, and distinctly five-sided, especially towards the apex, where the angles form distinct ridges. Skin; smooth, deep yellow on the shaded side, when ripe, and strewed with large russet dots; on the side next the sun, it is coloured with a bright red cheek. Eye; open, set in a moderately deep basin with somewhat connivent segments; the tube is short conical, and the stamens are inserted in the middle of the tube. Stalk upwards of half an inch long, very slender, and inserted in a deep narrow cavity, which is lined with a patch of pale brown russet. Flesh yellowish, firm and crisp in texture, with a pleasant subacid flavour. The cells of the core are open and regular.
This is an excellent culinary apple, in season from October to December.
The tree is hardy and bears well. Both these Pomeroys are to be found in most of the leading garden-orchards of Herefordshire, though for the most part their names are forgotten. The Winter Pomeroy is the most frequent, which may perhaps be accounted for by the fact that a tree exists in the old Nursery grounds of the late Mr. Godsall at Hereford, with whom this variety was a great favourite, and who propagated it extensively. It is always brought to the Christmas market, and sold under the absurd name of "Green Blenheim," which is of course merely a tribute to the popularity of the Blenheim Orange.