Low-chill apple ('Anna', 'Dorsett Golden')
Malus domestica
Bred to bloom and fruit after mild winters.
Hardiness: zones 8 to 10
Light: full sun
Size: about 12 ft tall, 12 ft wide
Harvest: June to July
From: Israel and the Bahamas
Here: Too tender to overwinter outdoors on the Lake Erie shore (zone 6b to 7a): grow it in a pot and bring it in, or treat it as an annual.
Good for: food.
Hardy in zones 8 to 10.
The story
Apples want a cold winter, so for most of history they stopped at the edge of the subtropics. In the 1950s and 60s breeders in Israel ('Anna') and the Bahamas ('Dorsett Golden') crossed in low-chill parents, and suddenly Florida, Phoenix and Cairo could grow an apple that tasted like one.
Planting
Plant bare-root in the cool season in full sun, with a second low-chill variety within 50 feet to pollinate. Give it the best-drained spot you have.
Growing
Water deeply once a week in dry heat and mulch wide. Thin the fruit to one per cluster; these trees overset and can snap limbs.
Harvest and use
Ripens early, often June, before the heat peaks. Pick when the background colour turns yellow and the seeds are brown; they do not keep long, so eat and cook fast.
What to watch for
Fire blight in warm, wet springs; codling moth; sunburned bark on young trunks, so paint the trunk white.
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General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home