Crimson Beauty holds a significant place in the annals of pomological history. Known as the first ever controlled cross, in 1866 Francis Peabody Sharp crossed Fameuse (one of the parents of McIntosh) with New Brunswicker, an all-purpose apple suitable for fresh eating and baking. The result was a summer apple that most nurseries say is only good for processing, i.e. culinary, sauce, etc., but when we tried it fresh off the tree at Benson’s Farm in Missoula on 8/14/24, the flavor was quite good. In fact, Bruce Benson was going to remove it to make way for a parking lot but when we told him of its historical value, he decided to keep it (see photo). This tree was planted by Bruce’s grandfather in 1947 is remains the largest/oldest we have seen in Montana. According to our taste notes after trying the apple for the first time in 2024, “intense flavor, sweet followed by tart, bursting with strawberry and other berry flavors.” However, because it is a summer apple, it does go mealy quickly, which it did for us. Therefore, if you pick these summer apples slightly before they;re ready, they won’t go mealy as fast and can be one of the first apples you can use in pie.

Although we are not entirely sure of the lower limit hardiness of Crimson Beauty (although it has survive the -33F we saw in 1957), given that Crimson Beauty shares parentage with McIntosh (both are Fameuse seedlings) and that McIntosh’s lower limit is right around -40F, it would be safe to assume that Crimson Beauty’s lower limit is somewhere between -35F and -40F.

We grafted Crimson Beauty on two rootstocks for 2025, M26 and Dolgo. M26, which is hardy to -40F, will get between 12-16 ft. tall at maturity. Some say 8-12 ft. but all the M26 we’ve seen are fairly larger than this. Dolgo, meanwhile can get between 20 and 30 ft at maturity. Both can be pruned to be smaller than this.