Expert help available for Cox's Orange Pippin apple trees

Cox's Orange Pippin apple trees

Cox's Orange Pippin apple tree
  • Best seller
  • Pick: Mid-season (mid-September)
  • Flowering group: 3
  • Self-fertile
  • Uses: Eat fresh | Cookery | Juicing 
  • Pollination partners

Often regarded as the finest of all apples, Cox's Orange Pippin sets the benchmark for flavour to which all others aspire. The aromatic complexity and depth of flavours are remarkable. In our personal experience pear, melon, freshly-squeezed orange juice, and mango are all readily evident in a good example.

Cox's Orange Pippin is a mid/late season variety, at its best if picked when fully ripe, or picked slightly under-ripe and left in storage for a month or so - it is not a long-keeper though.

Although primarily considered a variety for eating fresh, Cox is an excellent apple for juice / cider blends as well. It is also a versatile culinary apple, with an inherently sweet flavour when baked, and is a common ingredient in English apple preserves, chutneys, and mincemeat.

Cox's Orange Pippin apple trees for sale

Deliveries start December 2018.

Mature size* Supplied as Price Quantity
Medium  (2.2m - 3m after 5-10 years) 1-year - bare-root - M26 rootstock €23.90
Large  (3m - 4m after 5-10 years) 1-year - bare-root - MM106 rootstock €23.90
Full size  (5m+ after 5-10 years) 1-year - bare-root - M25 rootstock  Original (not self-fertile) less than 5 in stock €23.90

Delivery period: Trees are delivered between November and March. However it is best to order as soon as you can to ensure items are reserved for you. If you live in an area with very cold winters please let us know so that we can scheduled delivery for early spring.

*Mature size: Height shown is the approximate height of the tree when mature (after 5-10 years), not the height when supplied. Actual mature heights may vary considerably dependent on your local conditions and training and pruning regime.

Stock availability: Items showing as 'sold out' will probably be available again next season. Click here to be notified when we get more trees of this variety.

Alternatives to Cox's Orange Pippin apple trees

  • Alternative fruit trees - Sunset apple trees

    Sunset apple trees

    An excellent substitute for Cox's Orange Pippin, much easier to grow.
    Late-season (3) SF
    Eat | Juice 
  • Alternative fruit trees - Kidd's Orange Red apple trees

    Kidd's Orange Red apple trees

    A sweeter flavour than Cox, easier to grow, and with a wider climate range.
    Late-season (3) 
    Eat | Juice 
  • Alternative fruit trees - Herefordshire Russet apple trees

    Herefordshire Russet apple trees

    A Cox-style russet - Cox's Orange Pippin is one of its parents.
    Late-season (3) 
    Eat 
  • Alternative fruit trees - Rubinette Rosso apple trees

    Rubinette Rosso apple trees

    A Cox-style apple with perhaps the best sweet/sharp balance of any apple.
    Late-season (3) 
    Eat 
  • Alternative fruit trees - Fiesta apple trees

    Fiesta apple trees

    One of the best alternatives to Cox's Orange Pippin, with a good sweet-tangy Cox-like flavour.
    Late-season (3) 
    Eat | Juice 
  • Alternative fruit trees - Bright Future apple trees

    Bright Future apple trees

    If you are looking for excellent flavour then Bright Future is worth considering.
    Late-season (3) 
    Eat 

Summary features of Cox's Orange Pippin

Growing

  • Gardening skill: Some needed?
  • Cropping: Light
  • Fertility: Self-fertile
    Some of our Cox selections are not self-fertile - please check with us if you need more details.?
  • Flowering group: 3?
  • Pollinating others: Average?
  • Ploidy: Diploid?
  • Vigour: Weak growing?
  • Precocity: Precocious?
  • Bearing regularity: Regular?
  • Fruit bearing: Spur-bearer?
  • Fruit persistence: Normal ripening?
  • Overall disease resistance: Poor?
  • Canker: Very susceptible?
  • Scab: Very susceptible?
  • Mildew: Some susceptibility?
  • Fireblight: Some susceptibility?
  • Cedar apple rust: Some susceptibility?

Uses

Identification

  • Country of origin: United Kingdom
  • Period of origin: 1800 - 1849
  • Fruit colour: Orange flush
  • Blossom colour: White
  • Leaf colour: Green
  • Popularity: Best sellers?

Climate

  • Frost resistance: Susceptible?
  • Temperate climates
  • Cold hardiness: -20F / -29C?
  • Planting position: Full sun preferred

Pollination guide for Cox's Orange Pippin

Cox's Orange Pippin is in flowering group 3. Cox's Orange Pippin is self-fertile and does not need a pollination partner, although fruiting may be improved if there is a compatible tree of a different variety nearby. Since it flowers in the middle of the blossom season it can be pollinated by most other apple trees.

How to grow Cox's Orange Pippin apple trees

Cox's Orange Pippin generally performs better in the drier parts of the UK - the South-east, East Midlands, East Yorkshire and as far north as Edinburgh. It has a reputation for being a bit fussy to grow, but in practice if you are in an area with low rainfall and reasonable sunshine hours you should be successful.

A specific issue with Cox is "Cox spot", a rust-like physiological disorder inherent to this variety, which can be mild or non-existent in some seasons and quite severe (causing early leaf fall) in others. The cause is unknown and there is no treatment, but fortunately although it is unsightly it does not seem to affect the fruit.

Growers in wetter areas might want to consider Fiesta or Sunset, which are closely related and have similar flavour but tolerate higher rainfall much better.

Cox's Orange Pippin is somewhat unusual because it is available in both self-fertile and self-sterile forms - most of ours are the self-fertile form. In general we recommend that you try to have a nearby pollination partner as this will improve cropping.

Historical details

Cox's Orange Pippin was raised by Richard Cox, in Buckinghamshire, England, in the early 19th century. The parentage is unknown but it is possibly a seedling of Ribston Pippin. Over time it became apparent that some Cox trees had a good degree of self-fertility but it was not until the 1970s that a standardised self-fertile form was established by the Long Ashton research station near Bristol. This is now the recommended form.

Almost since it was first discovered, Cox's Orange Pippin has featured in the development of new apple varieties, as breeders sought to marry its excellent aromatic flavours with other varieties which might be heavier cropping or have more versatile climate characteristics. Many of these have become excellent varieties in their own right. Cox enthusiasts are likely to find Rubinette and Queen Cox of particular interest, as these two varieties arguably both match Cox for their outstanding flavours, and maybe even exceed it.

Botanical name

Malus domestica 'Cox's Orange Pippin'