RETAIL NURSERY VARIETY LIST

Nilsen Company

424 Main Street

Ferndale, California 95536

707.786.9501

Plant varieties ordered from Dave Wilson Nursery for 2023:

Fuji Apple Introduction from Japan that quickly became California’s favorite apple. Sweet, very crisp and flavorful, excellent keeper. Dull reddish orange skin, sometimes russeted. Ripe mid-September. Excellent pollenizer for other apple varieties. Low chilling requirement - less than 500 hours. Self-fruitful. USDA Zones 4-9.

Gala Apple Wonderful dessert apple from New Zealand. Crisp, nice blend of sweetness and tartness, rich flavor. Skin reddish orange over yellow. Early harvest, 2 - 3 weeks before Red Delicious. Good pollenizer for other varieties. Adapted to cold- and warm-winter climates. Chilling requirement less than 500 hours. Self-fruitful. USDA Zones 4-10.

Golden Delicious Apple Long-time favorite for its sweetness and flavor. Reliable producer, adapted to many climates. Pollenizer for Red Delicious. Midseason harvest (September in Central CA). 700 hours. Proven very productive in trial with much less chilling than the estimated requirement. Self-fruitful. USDA Zones 5-10. A.k.a. Yellow Delicious.

Golden Russet Apple One of the great family orchard apples of 19th century America. Crisp, aromatic, sub acid, creamy yellow flesh with great flavor and legendary sugary juice. Used fresh and for cider, drying and cooking. Ripens about with Spitzenburg: late September/early October in Central CA. Ripe fruit hangs on the tree until frost, fruit stored properly keeps until April. Skin partly to almost completely russeted, varying from grayish-green or greenish-yellow to an attractive golden brown with orange highlights. Winter hardy, vigorous tree, bears mostly on the tips of branches. Medium size. Good disease resistance. Apparently originated in New York as a seedling of English Russet sometime in the 1700s. Estimated chilling requirement 800-1000 hours. Proven very productive in trial with much less chilling than the estimated requirement. Partly self-fruitful, biggest crops with cross-pollination. USDA Zones 4-6.

Granny Smith Apple From New Zealand. Large, late, green, all-purpose. Crisp, tart, excellent keeper. Requires long summer. Thrives in hot climates. 400 hours. Prolonged bloom: good pollenizer for other apples. Self-fruitful. USDA Zones 6-9.

Gravenstein Apple (Green Gravenstein) Famous for sauce and baking, also used fresh. Crisp, juicy, flavorful & tart. Early bloom, early harvest. 700 hours. Proven very productive in trial with much less chilling than the estimated requirement.Pollenizer required: Empire, Fuji, Gala, Red Delicious. USDA Zones 2-9.

Honeycrisp Apple Winter hardy tree from the University of Minnesota. Fruit is crisp and juicy with an aromatic flavor. Striped red over yellow color. Stores well. Ripens mid-August. Pollenized by Gala, Granny Smith, Empire, McIntosh and Red Delicious. USDA Zones 3-9.

Hudson's Golden Gem Apple One of the largest and best-flavored russet apples. Crisp, sugary, juicy flesh with flavor described as nutty by some, pear-like by others. Conical in shape with a very distinctive appearance: a smooth, uniform, grayish-gold or light yellowish-brown russet over the entire surface. Ripens after Jonagold, about with Melrose. In most climates where it is grown, the fruit hangs on the tree into winter. Good keeper. Medium-sized, vigorous, winter hardy tree. Resistant to scab, mildew and fire blight. Fruit tends to crack the first two or three years only. Chance seedling discovered in a fence row at Tangent, Oregon. Introduced in 1931. Estimated chilling requirement 800-1000 hours - proven very productive in trial with much less. Partly self-fruitful, biggest crops with cross-pollination. USDA Zones 3-9.

King (Tompkins King) Apple Large, old-time red-striped apple with classic apple flavor. Its coarse, crisp flesh is subacid, sweet and distinctly perfumed. Used for dessert, cooking and cider. Well-colored fruits are a very attractive red with some contrasting yellow. Fairly rectangular shape, with ribs near the base. Ripens midseason, about with Golden Delicious. Keeps several months, but at its best soon after harvest. Horizontal limbs, spreading growth habit. Originated in New Jersey prior to 1804. Estimated chilling requirement 800-1000 hours; proven very productive in trial with much less. Pollenizer required. USDA Zones 5-10.

Pink Pearl Apple Unusual pink fleshed, highly aromatic fruit. Medium-sized, cream and pale green skin, sometimes blushed red. Tart to sweet-tart, depending on time of picking. Early fall harvest. Good keeper. Makes colorful, tasty applesauce. Early, profuse, pink blossoms in spring. 600 hours. Pollenizer required. USDA Zones 4-8.

Waltana Apple Known by old timers arround Ettersberg, CA as The Etter Apple. This apple is sometimes green on younger trees but is normally red with a yellow/green background. Originally a seedling of Wagner it is known for its versatility (cider, canning, dessert and fresh eating) and its excellent storage properties.

Flora Gold Apricot All-purpose freestone. Early harvest, 2-3 weeks before Blenheim (Royal). Very good quality, reliable producer (produces when other varieties do not). Good choice for backyard apricot. 400 hours or less. Self-fruitful. USDA Zones 7-9. (Zaiger)

Bing Cherry Large, firm, juicy, sweet, nearly black when ripe. Superb flavor, the No. 1 cherry. Midseason. Large vigorous tree. Pollenized by Black Tart, Van, Rainier and Lapins. Also Stella in colder climates. 700 hours. USDA Zones 5-9.

Black Tartarian Cherry Medium-sized, nearly black, sprightly flavor, early season. Vigorous, productive tree. 700 hours. Pollenizer required - interfruitful with all popular sweet cherries. USDA Zones 5-7.

Double Delight Nectarine Sensational fruit: consistently the best flavored yellow nectarine plus magnificent, double pink flowers. Dark red-skinned, freestone fruit is sweet, with unusually rich flavor - very high scoring in taste tests. Heavy-bearing tree. Harvest early to mid-July in Central CA. 300 hours. Self-fruitful. (Zaiger)

Frost Peach Resistant to peach leaf curl (10-year trials at Washington State Univ.). Delicious yellow freestone. Slight red blush over greenish-yellow to yellow skin. Heavy bearing, excellent for canning or eating fresh. July ripening. Showy pink bloom in spring. 700 hours. Self-fruitful.

Gleason Early (Lemon) Elberta Peach Also called Improved Elberta or Lemon Elberta. Reliable, frost hardy yellow freestone for Utah and Pacific NW. Juicy, rich flavor. Harvest 10 days before Elberta. Can/freeze/fresh. 800 hours. Self fruitful.

Bartlett Pear World's most popular pear. Early midseason, high quality, tolerates hot summers. 500-600 hours. Self-fruitful in most climates of Western U.S. Elsewhere, pollenized by Bosc, D'Anjou, Winter Nelis.

Santa Rosa Plum Most popular plum in California & Arizona. Juicy, tangy and flavorful. Reddish purple skin, amber flesh tinged red. Late June in Central CA. 300 hours. Self-fruitful.

Satsuma Plum Long-time favorite plum in California. Mottled maroon over green skin, dark red meaty flesh. Sweet, mild, not tart. Excellent for jam. Harvest late July. 300 hours. Pollenized by Santa Rosa or Beauty.

Shirofugen Flowering Cherry Prunus serrulata 'Shirofugen' Latest flowering cherry to bloom. Spectacular, abundant, double flowers - pink aging to white. Long-stemmed, drooping. Beautiful dark green foliage. Spreading tree, to 25 ft. high.

Weeping Flowering Cherry Prunus subhirtella 'Pendula' Prunus subhirtella ‘pendula’) Showy double pink flowers. High-grafted at about six feet, tree grows to 12-18 ft. Graceful weeping limbs nearly reach the ground. Requires good drainage. Cold hardy. Not tolerant of desert heat.

Jacquemonti Birch Betula jacquemontii (Betula jacquemontii) Whitest bark of all birches. Upright, narrow growth to 50 by 30 ft. Dark green, leathery leaves. Needs ample water, regular feeding.

Weeping Willow Salix babylonica Fast-growing, cold hardy, short dormant period. Long narrow leaves, pronounced weeping growth habit. Needs plenty of water. Stake high to develop usable area underneath. 30 by 30 ft. or larger.

Where to Buy DWN Trees

Nilsen Company

For Home Gardens