The Wealthy is an American apple cultivar, and was the earliest to thrive in the Minnesota climate. Horticulturalist Peter Gideon grew it after years of trial and error with various apple varieties, and the fruit was described in 1869. [1] [2]
The Wealthy is an American apple cultivar, and was the earliest to thrive in the Minnesota climate. Horticulturalist Peter Gideon grew it after years of trial and error with various apple varieties, and the fruit was described in 1869. [1] [2]
Before 1868, only crab apples grew reliably in Minnesota. Indigenous peoples in the area harvested other crops, but they did not grow apples. Early White settlers to Minnesota tried to grow apples using seeds and seedlings from their former homes to the east and the south, but their plants died, usually because of the region's harsh winters.
In 1853, Peter Gideon moved to Minnesota for health reasons and took a homestead with his family on the shores of Lake Minnetonka, near Excelsior. He had learned fruit-growing as a child, and when he arrived on his new land, he planted a bushel of apple seeds he had brought with him from his former home in Maine, Illinois. [3] In the years that followed, Gideon experimented with apple and fruit growing, planting thousands of trees, but most of his trees died within a few years, if not right away, and none of them bore much fruit.
By 1861, Gideon and his family had only one surviving apple tree, a Siberian crab apple, and they were down to their last eight dollars. Determined to find an apple that would grow in Minnesota, Gideon sent the family's last dollars to an apple grower in Bangor, Maine, and got apple seeds and scions in return. Just one of the resulting trees, crossed with Gideon's Siberian crab apple, produced the apple that Gideon later named the Wealthy, after his wife, Wealthy (Hull) Gideon.
Until recently it was believed a Siberian crab apple was one of Wealthy's parents imparting the cultivar's cold hardiness; however, DNA testing revealed it is a cross between Duchess of Oldenburg and Jonathan. [4] [ contradictory ]
He was a member of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society, and he shared his knowledge and his trees freely, giving scions away to anyone who asked for them. Soon, Wealthy apples were growing in many locations in Minnesota, as well as in other states, especially states in the Upper Midwest with similar climates. In 1870, Colonel John H. Stevens addressed the Minnesota Horticultural Society with these words:
True, we were under a cloud for a long time. We planted but did not harvest. Our trees withered and perished. Whether it was the frosts of Winter or the sun of Summer that caused them to prematurely die, no one has been able to determine. Plant as we would, the trees sickened and died. No wonder, then, we became discouraged. Orchards to the third and fourth planting failed, a constant drain on the pocket without a ray of light in the future, influenced us in abandoning the enterprise. But those days, and their trials, have passed. [5]
By the early 20th century, the Wealthy apple was one of the top five apples grown nationally, but beyond his employment at the state farm, Gideon never made any money from the Wealthy apple. The Wealthy apple also was the parent of other successful Minnesota apples, such as the Haralson, which was developed at the University of Minnesota's Fruit Breeding Farm in 1922.
Fruit tree propagation is usually carried out vegetatively (non-sexually) by grafting or budding a desired variety onto a suitable rootstock.
Amelanchier, also known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry or sarvisberry, juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum or chuckley pear, is a genus of about 20 species of deciduous-leaved shrubs and small trees in the rose family (Rosaceae).
Malus is a genus of about 32–57 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples and wild apples.
The Haralson is a cultivar of apple that is medium-sized and has a round-conic shape.
A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to a rhizome or underground stem. In grafting, it refers to a plant, sometimes just a stump, which already has an established, healthy root system, onto which a cutting or a bud from another plant is grafted. In some cases, such as vines of grapes and other berries, cuttings may be used for rootstocks, the roots being established in nursery conditions before planting them out. The plant part grafted onto the rootstock is usually called the scion. The scion is the plant that has the properties that propagator desires above ground, including the photosynthetic activity and the fruit or decorative properties. The rootstock is selected for its interaction with the soil, providing the roots and the stem to support the new plant, obtaining the necessary soil water and minerals, and resisting the relevant pests and diseases. After a few weeks, the tissues of the two parts will have grown together, eventually forming a single plant. After some years, it may be difficult to detect the site of the graft although the product always contains the components of two genetically different plants.
Honeycrisp is an apple cultivar developed at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Designated in 1974 with the MN 1711 test designation, patented in 1988, and released in 1991, the Honeycrisp, once slated to be discarded, has rapidly become a prized commercial commodity, as its sweetness, firmness, and tartness make it an ideal apple for eating raw. "...The apple wasn't bred to grow, store or ship well. It was bred for taste: crisp, with balanced sweetness and acidity." It has larger cells than most apple cultivars, a trait which is correlated with juiciness, as larger cells are more prone to rupturing instead of cleaving along the cell walls; this rupturing effect is likely what makes the apple taste juicier. The Honeycrisp also retains its pigment well and has a relatively long shelf life when stored in cool, dry conditions. Pepin Heights Orchards delivered the first Honeycrisp apples to grocery stores in 1997. The name Honeycrisp was trademarked by the University of Minnesota, but university officials were unsure of its protection status in 2007. It is now the official state fruit of Minnesota. A large-sized honeycrisp will contain about 113 calories.
Thomas Andrew Knight (1759–1838), FRS, of Elton Hall in the parish of Elton in Herefordshire and later of Downton Castle, was a British horticulturalist and botanist. He served as the 2nd President of the Royal Horticultural Society (1811–1838).
Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion while the lower part is called the rootstock. The success of this joining requires that the vascular tissues grow together. The natural equivalent of this process is inosculation. The technique is most commonly used in asexual propagation of commercially grown plants for the horticultural and agricultural trades. The scion is typically joined to the rootstock at the soil line; however, top work grafting may occur far above this line, leaving an understock consisting of the lower part of the trunk and the root system.
Peter Gideon (1820–1899) was a farmer near Excelsior, Minnesota, United States, who was responsible for breeding apples that could withstand Minnesota's climate. Gideon's farmhouse, now within the boundaries of Shorewood, Minnesota, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree. Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus Malus. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, Malus sieversii, is still found. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Eurasia and were introduced to North America by European colonists. Apples have religious and mythological significance in many cultures, including Norse, Greek, and European Christian tradition.
The Zestar! apple or Minnewashta (cultivar) is an apple cultivar released in 1999. It was developed by the horticulturalists at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's Horticultural Resource Center, at the University of Minnesota.
The 'York Imperial', or 'York', is a cultivar of apple from which a number of other valuable strains and cultivars have arisen, including four sport varieties: Commander York, Ramey York, Red Yorking, and Yorking.
Malgova' or Malgoa is an important mango cultivar mainly grown in Tamilnadu, Kerala and Karnataka and also in other parts of South India. It is a large round fruit, it has a small hard seed inside and is very juicy and fragrant. It is generally considered to be one of the best mangoes. Its production area is centred on the districts of Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, as well as neighbouring parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
The Minnesota State Horticultural Society (MSHS), with headquarters in Roseville, Minnesota, is a nonprofit membership organization that provides education and resources to northern gardeners in the United States. It publishes Northern Gardener, a bi-monthly magazine that is the only U.S. publication devoted exclusively to gardening in Hardiness Zones 3-5. Its "Garden-in-a-Box" program provides raised bed garden boxes, along with soil and vegetable plants, to low-income families and schoolchildren in the greater Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota area and elsewhere in Minnesota. "Minnesota Green" is a MSHS program that coordinates donations of plant material from growers, garden centers, and individuals to public space and community gardens. MSHS offers classes year-round on gardening subjects. MSHS currently has 10,000 members and subscribers to its publication.
Applecrabs are various hybrids between crabapples and apples. They are bred for varying reasons, including disease resistance and use in cold climates because they are often hardier than apple trees and their fruit has the good eating qualities of apples.
Dumelow's Seedling is a cultivar of domesticated apple that originated at Shackerstone in Leicestershire where it was grown by Richard Dumeller in 1800. It is known by many other names including 'Dumelow's Crab', 'Wellington', 'Doncklaer', 'Beauty', and 'Belle de Vennes'. The fruit is not ready for harvest until October, being one of the last of the season, and keeps well into the next year. Though inferior for use as a dessert apple it cooks well and in early-20th century England was one of the most valuable varieties of cooking apple.
Isabella Preston was a horticulturist and public servant widely recognized for her achievements in plant hybridization and extensive work in ornamental plant breeding. She is Canada’s first female professional plant breeder. During her 26-year career, she produced nearly 200 new hardy hybrids of lily, lilac, crab apple, iris and rose plants for Canada's cold climate. While female plant breeders were rather rare in her day, she quietly challenged gender bias and set the stage for new generations of breeding programs at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and elsewhere.
The MN55 cultivar apple developed by David Bedford, a senior researcher and research pomologist at the University of Minnesota's apple-breeding program, and James Luby, PhD, professor, Department of Horticultural Sciences, Horticultural Research Center, is a cross between Honeycrisp and MonArk (AA44), a non-patented apple variety grown in Arkansas.
Albert Franklin Yeager was an American horticulturalist. From his work developing hardy vegetables and fruits at the North Dakota Agricultural College (NDAC) and the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station (NDAES), he was known as the "plant wizard of the north" and the "Luther Burbank of North Dakota."
Malus × robusta, called Siberian crab apple along with other members of its genus, is a hybrid species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is the result of a cross between Malus baccata and Malus prunifolia. It is being studied for its resistance potential to fire blight. Known for its attractive fruit that remain on the tree well into winter, its cultivar 'Red Sentinel' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit as an ornamental.
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