Autumn 2024 planting seasonPre-order now for EU delivery December 2024 - March 2025

Bedan des Parts cider apple trees

Malus domestica
Bedan
Bedan des Parts is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Very late
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Flowering group: 6

Bedan des Parts is a traditional French hard-cider variety, widely-grown in the cider-producing region of Normandy. It produces a good quality bittersweet juice, which is usually blended with other varieties.

The apples are harvested towards the end of November, when the skin has turned from yellow-green to golden-orange.

Bio / Organic  fruit trees

Bedan des Parts organic cider apple trees for sale


  • 11 yeartree on M116 rootstock25.95€
    Medium tree (2m-3.5m after 10 years) Bare-root
    Sold-out
  • 21 yeartree on MM111 rootstock25.25€
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years) Bare-root
    Sold-out
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Growing and Training

In traditional French orchards production on mature trees will be in the range 30-35 tonnes per hectare, which is above average for French cider varieties.

Bedan flowers very late - towards the end of May or early June. This makes it a good choice for areas prone to late frosts, but you will need other late-blooming apple varieties nearby to help with pollination.

Bedan is regarded as susceptible to fireblight and scab in French orchards.


History

The origins of this variety are unknown, but it has been grown in Normandie since the mid-19th century.


Bedan des Parts characteristics

  • Gardening skillAverage
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Flowering group6
  • Disease resistanceAverage
  • Picking seasonVery late
  • Season of use1-2 months
  • Food usesHard cider
  • Cold hardiness (USDA)Zone 5 (-29C)
  • Summer average maximum temperaturesCool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)
  • Country of originFrance
  • Period of origin1850 - 1899
  • Flesh colourWhite
  • Fruit colourGreen / YellowOrange

Similar varieties

  • See also Amere Nouvelle
    Amere Nouvelle
    Amere Nouvelle is a traditional French bittersweet cider apple.
  • See also Dabinett
    Dabinett
    Dabinett is a traditional English cider apple variety, producing a bittersweet juice.
  • See also Kingston Black
    Kingston Black
    Kingston Black is one of the premier English cider varieties and produces a bittersharp juice.
  • See also Michelin
    Michelin
    Michelin (or Normandie Blanc) is a traditional French cider apple variety producing a bittersweet juice.

More about cider apple trees

Cider production in Europe is traditionally associated with three main regions - Asturias in north west Spain, Bretagne and Normandie in north west France, and the "west country" area of south-west England. These regions all face the Atlantic ocean and have cool temperate maritime climates.

Cider can of course be made with any variety of apples, but in these three regions apple varieties have evolved which are specifically intended for cider production - they have high levels of tannins which give "body" to the resulting cider, but which make them very unpalatable to eat fresh.

Good quality cider is almost always made with a blend of different apple varieties, using bitter, sweet, and sharp flavour components. It is quite common to mix in regular cooking and dessert apples to lend extra flavours.

If you are in an area with a hotter continental climate (with average summer maximum temperatures routinely over 30C) then you might want to consider using apple varieties that can withstand warmer temperatures, but still have good juice qualities. In this case rather than using European varieties you might want to seek inspiration from the very different "hard cider" traditions of North America, where dessert and crab-apples are widely used.

We have a good range of traditional English and French cider varieties, as well as a number of mainstream apple varieties with good juice qualities that lend themselves to cider production.


This variety description was researched and written by Orange Pippin staff. Last checked: 2024.