We were introduced to Carroll by Roger Joy in the summer of 2016 and were instantly taken aback. It’s a great fresh eating apple that comes on in the Bitterroot and Missoula Valleys in late August, making it a fairly early apple. It has a really nice spicy-tangy sweetness. Carroll was bred out of the Morden Research Breeding Station in Manitoba Canada and is hardy down to -50F or more. It gets this hardiness in part from its Melba parent, which is a seedling of McIntosh and responsible for giving Carroll the dominant white flesh gene present in so many McIntosh derivatives. But what likely puts it over the hardiness edge and allows it to survive up to -50F or more (McIntosh is really only hardy to -40F) is its other parent, Moscow pear apple. Carroll is apparently also good in pies and sauce, although we have ever only eaten it fresh. The fruits are quite large at 3-4” in diameter. One of the first apples to defoliate come Fall. According to Roger Joy, “The canopy is vigorous and rounded, lateral branches originating from wide angles capable of supporting heavy crops of this wonderful fruit.”

Solid Zone 3 apple, we are offering Carroll in various sizes ranging from very small (1-2.5 ft.) to 3.5-4.5 ft. and several height in between. These are all grafted onto Dolgo, one of the hardiest rootstocks of all. This is a great choice if you experience -winters colder than -40F.