This is a warm-winter apple that yields fruit, even in the south or southwest. With a shovel in hand, you’re about to plant an apple tree in your back yard. But which variety? Traditional types don’t fare well down South, but the Anna apple can ripen in July and needs almost no winter chill, making it a decent option for the Southwest or South.
But unless you know this common misstep of many orchardists, you won’t be getting any apples. You’ve got one tree planted; now you wait out the spring, watch the blossoms drop (and nada). Why? Not watering enough? Not making sure your soil is just right? No. The trouble lies with pollination.
How to Pollinate Your Anna Apple Tree
The Anna apple is partially self-fertile, meaning it can produce some fruit on its own, but generaly poorly. You’ll want a partner tree for a real crop. Not only do you want another tree nearby, but it has to be compatible (meaning the timing of their bloom matches), too. The chart highlights when other varieties’ blooms will most closely match those of the Anna; without such an overlap, bees come along after the flowers are closed or before they’ve even opened.
“Everyone figures if you have a tree called Anna, it’s pollinated by any old apple tree, which isn’t true.” Your neighbor’s Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples trees might appear healthy, but they’re high chill and actualy won’t be in bloom yet until after Anna opens her flowers (which will close again) in a warm zone that requires just two-hundred hours of cold on Anna; she could still be barely waking up when those other high-chill types is trying to bloom.
Look for low-chill varieties, like Ein Shemer or Dorsett Golden. Their ancestry also includes Israel, so they requires the same amount of ultra-low chill. This keeps them in sync and allows them to open their flowers at the same time. This allow pollen to transfer when it counts.
Beyond the genetic part, another piece of success is knowing how and where to place them. The bees are good at their jobs…but only up to about fifty feet during one forage session. To get the most cross-pollination, ensure your pollinator partner(s) stays close to the Anna (fifty or so feet away).
More room? Add a beehive to the mix and you’ll see more yield from having even more bees in garden. It’s a tiny investment in infrastructure that translates into bigger harvests.
This all starts with good soil prep and sun: As with most fruit trees, that’s your basic recipe. Because these early fruits are best if well-sugared, you need six-plus hours of sun each day. Avoid heavy clay soils (which can lead to root rot), and make sure the soil drain well. Mulch will help keep moisture in the ground during summer months when other apple trees rest and are harvested.
Open up the canopy, because dense foliage will shade the fruit and reduce its size. Encourage maximum light penetration right down into the tree.
If you’re considering the Fuji or Gala for pollination, remember to check your microclimate: will one do better then the other? Gala is less cold hardy. It might be just okay down in Zone 8 if you have some cool spots. Fuji is even less tolerant and has only partial bloom overlap. This makes it a gamble, unless you also live in a transitional area. The chart below makes this easy (and keeps you out of the math): Which bloom dates match where you live? The ones that don’t align aren’t good candidates.
An orchard is a biological system; you set it up as much as you can, but it also depends on timing, weather, and insects; and planting one takes time and forethought. Remember: You’re growing the Anna apple, which pays back patient gardeners who realizes fruit trees require help.
You might see yellow-green fruits that turn reddish in late spring or early summer. Thank a neighbor’s Ein Shemer or Dorsett Golden probably. Partner up with the right one. Plant them within bee-reachable distance of each other. Then leave it to Mother Nature to take it from there.
That’s a change in thinking that transforms a decorative shrub into a bountiful backyard orchard you should of seen sooner.