Spring / Summer 2025Pre-orders will be open again from May. Deliveries will begin again from late November.
Roots2Fruits logo
Roots 2 Fruits
Simple bare root fruit trees and ornamental trees

Kidd's Orange Red

Kidd's Orange Red apples
Kidd's Orange Red has received the RHS Award of Garden MeritKidd's Orange Red is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators

Spectacular blossom and a growth habit that produces a 'proper' apple tree, that's what you get with Kidd's Orange Red.  The blossom, which is probably the best of any apple variety, is profuse with a delicate rose scent.  It has the most beautiful crimson pink tinge and covers the tree in a cloak of flowers in Springtime.

When you bite into the flesh of a Kidd's Orange Red it is perhaps more firm and chewy than crisp but the flavour is much more complex than other varieties.  Juicy and sweet, it provides an aromatic side to it that you appreciate more and more with each bite. It is not surprising to learn that Cox's Orange Pippin is one of its parents.

Although regarded as an eating apple, Kidd's Orange Red can also be pressed to produce a very sweet juice.

A stunning tree which will provide lovely dappled shade in any garden.

Kidd's Orange Red apple trees for sale

  • RF11-year bare-root tree on M26 rootstock£34.95
    Mature height: 2m-3.5m after 10 years
    Suitable for a semi-dwarf apple tree, a medium apple spindlebush, a medium apple fan or espalier, a large apple cordon or U-cordon.
    Available next season
  • RF21-year bare-root tree on MM106 rootstock£34.95
    Mature height: 3m-5m after 10 years
    Can be trained on as a large free-standing apple tree, a half-standard apple tree, a large apple fan or espalier, or a pleached apple tree.
    Available next season
  • RF32-year bare-root tree on MM106 rootstock£43.00
    Mature height: 3m-5m after 10 years
    Suitable for a large bush-trained free-standing apple tree.
    Available next season
  • RF42-year half-standard bare-root tree on MM106 rootstock£46.50
    Mature height: 3m-5m after 10 years
    Suitable for a free-standing half-standard apple tree.
    Available next season

Growing and Training

Kidd's Orange Red forms more of a traditional apple tree with long branches that start off vertical but then gently bend over with fruit as the tree matures.  It requires little purning as the branches and fruiting spurs do not become congested like many other varieties.

The apples can be a little on the small size so make sure you thin out the fruitlets when they start to form.  As Kidd's Orange Red ripens late, it will do best if planted in a sunny spot.


Recommended pollinators for Kidd's Orange Red apple trees

Kidd's Orange Red is not self-fertile, so you will need another different but compatible variety planted nearby in order to produce fruit. The following varieties are good pollinators for Kidd's Orange Red. If you are not sure about pollination requirements don't hesitate to ask us.

  • Pollinator Evereste
    Evereste
    Evereste is one of the most well-known crab-apples, featuring white blossom and red-yellow fruits.
  • Pollinator Fiesta
    Fiesta
    Fiesta (or Red Pippin) is one of the best Cox-style apples, easy to grow, with a good aromatic flavour.
  • Pollinator Gorgeous
    Gorgeous
    Malus Gorgeous has pink/white blossom and spherical cherry-like red fruits which are good for jelly.
  • Pollinator Greensleeves
    Greensleeves
    Greensleeves is a reliable and popular mid-season green/yellow apple, easy to grow and productive.
  • Pollinator Katy
    Katy
    Katy is an attractive and versatile early apple variety from Sweden, very easy to grow.
  • Pollinator Red Devil
    Red Devil
    Red Devil is a good apple variety for the UK garden, and produces a sweet red-tinted juice.
  • Pollinator Red Falstaff
    Red Falstaff
    Red Falstaff is one of the best garden apple trees, heavy crops, easy to grow, and very juicy.
  • Pollinator Saturn
    Saturn
    An attractive modern English apple, crisp flesh and an excellent flavour.

Kidd's Orange Red characteristics

  • Gardening skillBeginner
  • Fruit persistenceNormal ripening
  • Self-fertile?Not self-fertile
  • Pollinating othersAverage
  • Pick seasonLate
  • Picking periodmid-October
  • Keeping1-2 months - Will keep in a cold store until Christmas
  • Food usesEating freshJuice
  • Country of originNew Zealand
  • Period of origin1900 - 1949
  • Fruit colourOrange / Red

You might also like these varieties

  • See also Christmas Pippin
    Christmas Pippin
    Christmas Pippin is a new high-yielding Cox-style apple, discovered as a chance seedling tree.
  • See also Fiesta
    Fiesta
    Fiesta (or Red Pippin) is one of the best Cox-style apples, easy to grow, with a good aromatic flavour.
  • See also Laxton's Superb
    Laxton's Superb
    Laxton's Superb is a deservedly popular English late-season dessert apple from the Victorian era.

More about apple trees

Apples are very versatile, and all varieties can be eaten or used in the kitchen. However varieties specifically grown as eating apples tend to have the best flavours for eating raw.

The main thing to decide when choosing an eating apple is when you intend to eat the apples. Early season apples are typically ready in August, and generally don't keep very long. Mid-season apples are ripe in early September, while late-season apples start to become ripe in late September and October. Many of the late-season varieties can also be stored in a fridge or cold shed for several months into the winter.

Some apple varieties are self-fertile, but most are not. However in most areas of the UK you do not need to worry whether your apple trees are self-fertile or not, as there will be other apple trees in nearby gardens to help with pollination.


Pages you viewed