We associate apples with the north, but many far northern gardeners still believe they cannot grow this basic fruit staple. Several new varieties on the market are hardy to even Zones 1 & 2. Norland (1) {4}, one of the hardiest all-purpose apples ever developed by the researchers at Morden Station, Canada, performs best where summers are cool and bears extra early in mid-August. Haralson (2) {1,4}, another all-purpose apple, developed at the University of Minnesota and named for famed South Dakota researcher Charles Harelson, bears fruit in early October and exhibits excellent keeping qualities. Sweet Sixteen (3) {1,4}, another University of Minnesota creation, resists both fire blight and scab. This excellent eating- and pie-apple bears in late September. Apples produce better if there is another variety nearby for pollination. Even a wild apple tree will work.
A prolific source for cold hardy apples is Bear Creek Nursery (http://www.bearcreeknursery.com). This grower from Washington State carries an astounding number of apple varieties, over two hundred, many of them heirlooms and most of them hardy to Zone 4 or colder. Making a choice from this catalog could take all winter. They also offer scions, rootstocks and buds if you are adventurous enough to graft your own trees. You may choose from benchgrafted or budded trees, which are specially grafted per your order, giving you a choice of rootstocks, or you can order whips which are one year old grafted trees with no choice of rootstock. A compete description of each rootstock, including hardiness can be found in their catalog.
A side note here about rootstock. Some rootstocks are hardier than others, some produce standard trees and others produce dwarf and semi-dwarf trees. Why is this important? Well you don't want to order a tree grafted on a standard rootstock if you haven't got the room for a standard sized tree. You also don't want to order a rootstock that's only hardy to Zone 4 if you live in Zone 3. Regardless of how hardy the grafted portion of the tree, the rootstock won't survive. For a good discussion of rootstocks and grafting practices see Fruits and Berries For The Home Garden by Lewis Hill, available from Garden Way Publishing or contact you local Cooperative Extension.
