Malus Domestica Melrose Apple

The Malus Domestica Melrose Apple tree, also known as White Melrose, is an unusual mid-season cooking apple with large whitish-green fruits that hold their flavour and shape when cooked. It is a reliable heavy cropping fruit tree. It is thought this variety was introduced by the monks of Melrose Abbey in Scotland, and it was first recorded in 1831, but it’s likely this superb cooking apple is a lot older.

Apple Melrose is a deciduous midsized tree with a vase-shaped half open crown and a spreading canopy. It is very attractive as it ages, producing the traditional heavy topped crown. Springtime blossom appears as pale pink buds and quickly develops into a fragrant, snowy covering that attracts plenty of pollinators. Blossom turns into small, hard green apples if pollinated which swell over the summer months into large yellow fruits.

If paired with a pollination partner it crops heavily and reliably in mid September, when the fruits can also be eaten from the tree if there’s been a good amount of sun over the previous months. It has a rich, sweet and sharp flavour perfect for pies, baking and sauces.

How Hardy is Malus Domestica Melrose
This is a very hardy apple tree originally grown in Scotland. It will withstand harsh winters in dormancy and grow fresh foliage and apples each year provided it is not waterlogged.  Late frosts may damage the blossom, so cover them with a fleece if sub-zero drops are predicted.

How To Use Malus Domestica Melrose
This midsized cooking apple tree looks at home in a hedgerow, large border, wildlife garden, and as a specimen tree in the lawn. You can also grow Apple Melrose in a large well-watered container to keep it small, and espalier its branches along a sunny wall too.

How To Care for Malus Domestica Melrose
Apple Melrose requires a pollination partner of a different variety to successfully fruit. It will happily grow in all soils of any pH with full sun or partial shade.

Its open canopy means there is little need to prune, but you can cut out dead or crossed branches in the dormant winter months, and prune it back all over by a third to increase its vigour. A good layer of organic matter around the roots in early spring will boost the harvest.

This is an old heritage variety of cooker that has withstood the test of time. Its large fruits are excellent for pies and baking, and the beautiful blossom brightens a garden in spring time. Malus Domestica Melrose is an unusual but reliable choice for a kitchen gardener who appreciates a top quality cooking apple that is good-natured and easy to grow.