Mystery surrounds this apple because no one documented when it originated; however, in 1817 Coxe reported “The original tree at Burlington, N. J. was large and old.”
HISTORY
The Yellow Bellflower apple tree is an old colonial fruit. It was stated that one of the grafted trees carried across the U.S. was a Yellow Bellflower that was reported in Oregon in 1847. The variety is an excellent, low-chill heirloom. It has large fruit with yellow skin and creamy flesh. It is used for pies, sauces, and fresh eating. Needs pollinizer.
REFERENCES
Berkeley Horticulture Nursery
Grandpa’s Orchard
Vintage Virginia Apples
OUR TREE
After clearing brush, trimming overgrown trees, and expanding up the hillside, we located a Yellow Bellflower growing down the slope It had cement poured down its trunk to keep it stabilized. Years ago, the tree had fallen over but adapted to laying flat on the hillside. The only “maintenance” to this tree included pruning adjacent tree limbs for more light and trimming to keep it bushy.
In 2019, we successfully grafted this tree. We look forward to planting more on the hillside as we expand our apple orchard and maintain this heirloom tree.
In January 2020, we hired a professional fruit tree pruner/tree climber to maintain the heritage trees. We only had about 3 apples on the tree in Fall, 2019 so it was time to cut it back and get rid of dead limbs. The first task was to remove the Bay tree which had blocked sunlight. The base of the Bay holds up the leaning Bell Flower so it was not cut to the ground. It looks great, and a sucker/sprout is growing into it’s own tree.
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