Cultivar 132: Delicious

Delicious is an apple cultivar described here as a well known yellow apple, with sources tying it to Iowa in 1895. [S2] [S4] In prairie references, it appears less as a fully hardy orchard apple and more as a quality variety whose usefulness depended on site and handling. [S1] [S3] [S4]

Prairie Canadian and prairie orchard sources give only brief entries, but they agree on the same basic point: Delicious was known, recognized, and considered tender under colder prairie conditions. [S2] [S4] One source lists it in Brooks and Morden references with a hardiness rating of H3. [S2] A South Dakota recommendation table places it among winter apples for trial only in Zone I, the mildest fruit district in that guide. [S3]

The strongest growing note in the packet comes from South Dakota extension guidance. It says Delicious was not hardy enough to endure South Dakota winters when grown as budded or root grafted stock, but it survived and produced well when top grafted onto established hardy trees. [S1] [S3] This places it in a clear prairie pattern: a desirable apple, but not one trusted on its own roots or standard nursery framework in colder parts of the region. [S1] [S3] [S4]

The packet does not provide parentage, breeder, fruit size, flavor detail, ripening season, or storage notes beyond identifying Delicious as a yellow apple. [S2] It remains historically important here as evidence that well known commercial apples were adapted to prairie use by top working rather than by simple direct planting. [S1] [S3]

Summary source basis

• S1: South Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11)
• S2: Edible Apples in Prairie Canada
• S3: South Dakota Fruit Garden
• S4: TreeFruitsGrownInPrairieOrchards WRLeslie 1946 HQ

This summary currently draws chiefly from Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, with 3 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Referenced in CGS (Brooks and Morden) and L&U.”
— ^[2]

“Some of the better varieties such as Delicious and Jonathan which are not hardy enough to endure South Dakota winters when propagated as budded or root-grafted stock”
— ^[1]

“Not hardy enough to endure South Dakota winters when propagated as budded or root-grafted stock.”
— ^[3]

“Hardiness noted as H3.”
— ^[2]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• No direct breeding_cross claim text yet.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• Some of the better varieties such as Delicious and Jonathan which are not hardy enough to endure South Dakota winters when propagated as budded or root-grafted stock, are said to survive and produce well when top-graftedSouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p3
• Some of the better varieties such as Delicious and Jonathan which are not hardy enough to endure South Dakota winters when propagated as budded or root-grafted stock, are said to survive and produce well when top-graftedSouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p3
• Some of the better varieties such as Delicious and Jonathan which are not hardy enough to endure South Dakota winters when propagated as budded or root-grafted stock, are said to survive and produce well when top-graftedSouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p3
• WINTER APPLES | Varieties for Trial | ZONE I Southern Border, Lincoln Co., West & lower Valleys around Black Hills | DeliciousSouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p1

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context