Page 25 - SV 3 2024

Pear ‘Conferance’ archway
Blueberry ‘Top shelf’
and west side of Scotland.
Charles Ross – a cooker or eater which
is good in Scotland especially the border area, George Anderson thinks it a bit temperamental, and I agree as it is with me!
Coul Blush – bred at Coul in Perthshire and is Britain’s most northerly apple cultivar and is good in northern areas.
Discovery – it is stated in the book that it is the number one apple for Scotland. It ripens early but does not store. It is well worth growing in most of the U.K as an early apple, it is always the first to ripen with me giving apples in August.
Fiesta – this is good on the east side of Scotland but can suffer from scab and canker especially on the west side.
Howgate Wonder – raised in the Isle of Wight (a long way form Scotland!) but is still recommended for Scotland and is good for producing giant apples for showing.
James Grieve – bred in Edinburgh and does well on the east side of the country as well as many other areas of the country. Possible one of the most well-known cultivars from Scotland.
Ribston Pippin – bred in Yorkshire but does very well in Scotland and is recommended by many experts.
Pears
Concorde – has a good flavour and is a good cropper.
Conference – grown throughout the U.K and stated in the book as “perhaps the best pear for Scotland”.
Invincible – possible the best choice for northerly areas as it is self-fertile and can flower a second time if frosted.
Williams’ Bon Chretien – a very popular pear and widely grown it is recommended
by a couple of experts for Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire.
Plums
Gordon Castle – raised in Scotland, ripens in September with a sweet taste.
Marjorie’s Seedling – best in the southern half of Scotland or grown against a wall, resistant to silver leaf and canker.
Cherry
Morello – late flowering and very hardy a good cooking cherry.
Stella – a sweet eating cherry and has some resistance to bacterial canker.
Sunburst – Canadian bred, sweet black fruit which ripens in July – August.
Strawberries
A number of well-known strawberry cultivars were bred in Scotland; strawberries were widely grown commercially in parts of Scotland and in 1910 there were around 2670 acres grown.
Malling Century – bred in Kent but should still be suitable for Scotland, gives high yields of sweet fruit.
Rhapsody – bred near Dundee a mid to late season cultivar with good flavour and some disease resistance.
Symphony – also bred near Dundee ripens in July – August and is a heavy cropper with good flavour. Recommended for organic growing.
Raspberries
There is still a large area of commercial raspberry growing in Scotland especially around Dundee and Blairgowrie and there are many Scottish bred cultivars available mostly with Scottish names.
Summer Fruiting
Glen Ample – spine free, large fruit with a good flavour and is Scotland’s top
commercially grown cultivar with a good pest and disease resistance.
Glen Coe – early cropping in June to August with a nice purple colour.
Glen Moy – a heavy cropping early cultivar with good flavour.
Tulameen – sweet fruit with a heavy yield and a long cropping season.
Autumn Fruiting
Polka – bred in Poland, is a heavy cropper and said to be better than Autumn Bliss.
Blueberries
These grow well in Scotland and are being grown commercially in some areas.
Bluecrop – grows well in Scotland.
Duke – a heavy cropper on tough plants and is good for inland gardens.
Spartan – hardy, late flowering with a good flavour.
There are many other types and cultivars of fruit recommended in the book, so it is well worth a read. In the next issue I will look at vegetables.
Simply Vegetables 25