Apple Blossom :: Apple Varieties :: Birth Day Flower - May 9th :: Malus pumila

Your birth day flower is Apple Blossom, according to the Victorians, if you were born on the 9^th May.

Apple Blossom is associated with "Choice".

The domesticated Apple is a member of the Rosaceae Family - Malus pumila or Malus domesticus.

It is the most widely cultivated fruit tree of temperate climates.

Ode to Choice

A cottage snug and neet

Upon the of top many-fountain'd Ide,

That I might thence, in holy fervour. greet

The bright-gown'd morning tripping up the side;

And when the low sun's glory-buskin'd feet

Walk on the blue wave of the Aegean tide,

Oh! I would kneel me down and worship there

The God who garnish'd out a world so bright and fair.

TENNANT

According to the purposes to which they are suitable, apples can be classed as:

• Dessert
• Culinary
• Cider

The fruit of the apple is produced on spurs which form on the side branches that are 2 years old and upwards. It is best, therefore to prune in summer to encourage new branchlets that will produce fruit the season after next.

Apple varieties are all propagated by budding or grafting as they do not reproduce true to type. You cannot plant an apple pip and expect to grow an apple tree of the same variety. This should not put you off trying to grow an apple from seed: You may be lucky enough to produce a new variety that is scrumptious as most varieties have originated from chance seedlings possessing superior qualities. You may even get your name associated with a new apple variety. How many new, undiscovered apple varieties must there be waiting to be discovered on the waste tips of our lands?

During the past millennia there have been thousands, if not tens of thousands, of apple varieties discovered and named. Here are some that you are unlikely to have come across in your supermarket:

• White Juneating - a dessert apple known since before the birth of King Charles I of England. It is one of the earliest apples to ripen (May). It is also known as: May Apple, May Pippin, Primiting, Early Juneating, Yellow May.
• Irish Peach - another dessert apple thought to originate from Sligo, Ireland in the Georgian period. It is one of the best flavoured (sweet-sharp) summer apples but it does not keep well.
• Peasgood's Nonsuch - I want to put Grantham / Stamford on the apple map as that is where I live. This variety was grown by Mrs Peagood from that district in early Victorian times. In spring the blossoms are pale-pink. It has very large red & green fruit with a sweet delicate flavour that can be used both as eating and cooking apples.
• Reinette du Canada - known from around the time of the death of Louis XV of France, this French apple is greenish yellow, russet-style, of medium-size. It is also known as: Canada Reinette, Canada Rennet, Portugal Russet, St. Serena Russet.
• Braddick's Nonpareil - a very rich sweet-sharp aromatic flavoured apple with reddish-orange flesh. It is recorded from about the time of the birth of Queen Victoria. It is also known as: Ditton Nonpareil.
• Northern Spy - this is a late season large, crispy, juicy, red-mottled over green-yellow skinned apple. It is also known as: Northern Spie, Northern Pie Apple, Red Spy and Northern Red Spy.
• Cornish Gilliflower - this variety was brought to the attention of commercial growers around the time that Wellington defeated the French at Vitoria. It is a knobbly yellow apple with a clove-like flavour which is probably the origin of the name, as Gilliflower is thought to be a corruption of the French word 'girofle' or 'clove'.
• New Hawthornden - a firm green culinary apple with an acidic flavour. It was introduced around the time that U.S. forces captured Mexico City. It is available from September to October.
• Tower of Glamis - a culinary green apple available from October to December. It was first produced in Scotland around the time that Britain captued Malta.
• Bess Pool - this is a sweet- lavoured eating apple with a dry flesh. It stores and keeps well. It first arrived on the scene when John Quincy Adams was elected as US President. -

 Here lie a few fruits that are named 'Apple' but in fact are not:

• Balsam apple, Momordica Balsamina
• Custard apple, Anona reticulata
• Egg apple, Solanum esculentum
• Rose apple, various species of Eugenia
• Pineapple, Ananas sativus
• Star apple, Chrysophyllum Cainito
• Apples of Sodom, Solanumsodomeum.

On your birth day the following major events occurred:

• 1386 - Treaty of Windsor between England and Portugal
• 1502 - Christopher Columbus leaves Spain on his 4^th trip to the New World
• 1671 - Colonel John Blood attempts to steal the Crown Jewels
• 1788 - Abolition of Slave Trade by English Parliament
• 1901 - First Australian Parliament opens
• 1927 - Canberra becomes capital of Australia replacing Melbourne
• 1936 - Italy annexes Abyssinia
• 1955 - Federal Republic of Germany joins NATO
• 1970 - Demonstrations against Vietnam War

You share your birth day with:

• 1860 - J. M. Barrie
• 1873 - Howard Carter
• 1919 - Arthur English
• 1930 - Joan Sims
• 1934 - Alan Bennett
• 1936 - Albert Finney
• 1936 - Glenda Jackson
• 1949 - Billy Joel