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

Queen Cox apple trees

Malus domestica
Queen Cox apples
Queen Cox is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Mid
  • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
  • Flowering group: 3

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.

Bio / Organic  fruit trees

Queen Cox organic apple trees for sale

  • 11 yeartree on M9 rootstock23.25€
    Small tree (1.5m-2.5m after 10 years) Bare-root
  • 21 yeartree on M116 rootstock23.25€
    Medium tree (2m-3.5m after 10 years) Bare-root
  • 31 yeartree on MM111 rootstock23.25€
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years) Bare-root
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Growing and Training

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.


History

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.

 


Queen Cox characteristics

  • Gardening skillExperienced
  • Self-fertilitySelf-fertile
  • Flowering group3
  • Disease resistancePoor
  • Picking seasonMid
  • Season of use1-2 months
  • Food usesEating freshCulinaryJuice
  • Summer average maximum temperaturesCool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)
  • Country of originUnited Kingdom
  • Period of origin1950 - 1999
  • Fruit colourOrange / Red

Similar varieties

  • See also Cabarette
    Cabarette
    A traditional very-late season dessert apple, found in northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
  • See also Cox's Orange Pippin
    Cox's Orange Pippin
    Cox is widely acknowledged as having the best flavour of any apple variety.
  • See also GoldRush
    GoldRush
    A modern disease-resistant apple, like Golden Delicious but with a better tart/sweet balance. Good for eating fresh and juicing / cider.
  • See also Oksana
    Oksana
    Oksana is a pretty red-flushed apple with a very sweet flavour.

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