Queen Cox is a variant of the original Cox's Orange Pippin, and is perhaps the best of all the many forms of Cox's Orange Pippin.
The most noticeable difference is a slightly deeper skin colouring, but the fruit-size can also be slightly larger and the texture may be slightly crisper ... although these are nuances and may vary from year to year.
In any case there is no doubt that Queen Cox has all the aromatic qualities associated with Cox's Orange Pippin, and in flavour terms is by any standards a remarkably good apple.
Next deliveries: December 2024 - February 2025
Queen Cox is a reliably self-fertile form of Cox's Orange Pippin.
Queen Cox is a poor pollinator of other apple varieties, partly because many are related to Cox, and partly because its self-fertility seems to reduce the viability of the pollen for cross-pollination.
In other respects growing Queen Cox means dealing with the same challenges as the original. It prefers a drier climate, and disease-resistance is only average.
Queen Cox was raised from a self-fertile form of the original Cox's Orange Pippin at the Long Ashton research station near Bristol, England in the 1970s. It is possible the scion material for this development was propagated from a naturally-occurring bud-sport of Cox's Orange Pippin found in an orchard in Berkshire in the 1950s, although the Berkshire form is not self-fertile. The Long Ashton Queen Cox was originally known as SF18.