A photography field trip to Oak Glen, California in October, 2016 started me wanting an apple tree of our own. I do believe that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, so I hoped to one day be able to go into the back yard and pick from our own tree. We don’t have a large back yard, and most apple trees need to have a second apple tree to produce fruit. Many need to have at least two different varieties. It’s also necessary that both flower at the same time of year. Who knew that apple trees were so complicated?

Most varieties grow best in climate zones 3-9,4-7 in North America. Apples don’t generally grow well near the ocean where the weather is more moderate, To set fruit, apple trees need a certain number of night time hours  where the temperature is below 45 F.

Oak Glen, California is in the foothills of the San Bernardino mountains where the altitude varies  from 4000-5000 ft above sea level. They actually experience all four seasons. Its growing zones are 7b-9a. The perfect climate for growing apples.

We live in zone 10, however  I was still determined to have an apple tree in our yard. After some on-line research we discovered the Beverly Hills Apple tree is an outstanding apple for southern California where we live. It’s self pollinating, so we didn’t need a second tree.

It took us awhile to locate an available tree, but we finally did and ordered it. The tree came bare root and when we opened the box, it looked like a bare stick. Here is a photo of Martin hard at work digging the hole.

We planted our little tree on May 22. In the photo below you can see a few of the leaves beginning to grow. Below that is a photo taken on June 4th. It shows the leaves opening.We were very excited to see how quickly it was growing. It is almost three months since we planted our Beverly Hills apple tree and you can see in the first photo how well it is doing.

The Beverly Hills is considered a low chill apple which is perfect for us. It is juicy with a sweet-tart flavor. I am reading this from the on-line description, but have never actually tasted one. From all I’ve read, it sounds delicious. I will have to let you know, although we will not have fruit for approximately  two years.

Apparently the fruit is a medium size with yellow skin mottled and striped with red. It is good for baking, applesauce, and fresh eating. Sounds like the perfect apple doesn’t it?

It also likes full sun. if you want more information on this variety, or want to see the apple, take a look at this web site. Beverley Hills Apple Tree
We are really looking forward to picking apples.You can be sure I will keep you up to date on our little tree.