Empire

An attractive, crisp, dark red dessert apple with a sweet but tangy summer fruit flavour.

Origin: USA, 1945

Pollination: Empire is partially self-fertile and would produce some crop without a pollinator but would benefit considerably from a pollinator.Find pollination partners >

British-grown All our bare-root trees are personally hand-grafted by our Nursery Manager and grown on at our nursery in Kent. We have Defra and Plant Healthy certification. More ...

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History and description of Empire

Raised from a McIntosh X Delicious in USA by R D Way at New York State Agricultural Experimental Station, Geneva, USA in 1945. Introduced in 1966. Grown widely in USA and Canada and imported into the UK. A medium sized round fruit. Smooth-skinned, attractive dark red flush and waxy bloom. Tough skin. Crisp, clean taste, sweet and quite scented. Keeps well and resists bruising. Heavy cropper.

Characteristics of Empire apple trees

Use	Dessert
Colour	Red
Flavour	Sweet
Fruit size	Medium
Picking time	Early/Mid Oct
Season of use	Nov-Jan
Tree vigour	Moderate
Tree habit	Upright-spreading
Fruit-bearing	Spur-bearer
Cropping	Heavy
Special features	Good for Cider
Pollination date	9
Pollination group	C
Self-fertility	Partially self-fertile
Pollinators	Pollination partners
Parentage	McIntosh Red Red Delicious