UK: Warming leaves no way out for traditional English apples

Traditional English apples (Egremont russet, Nonpareil and Cox orange pimps) could be doomed to disappear. Blame? Once again climate. As an article in The Guardian reports, cold hours are not enough for trees to go dormant in winter and retain enough energy for fruit growth. Experimentation with fruits other than those currently grown has already begun. Scientists at the Royal Botanic Garden are pursuing research in three different directions: one third of the trees planted are historic varieties that were already growing in Georgian gardens, one third are new varieties that need less cold temperatures during the winter, and the last some of the trees come from warm countries such as South Africa. The winning varieties will be those that have the best harvest at current London temperatures. The traditional apple varieties mentioned above require temperatures below 6C but above freezing for around 1,000 hours a year. For now, the variety most observed by British scientists is the ...