This is the first year we have grown MN 1628. You may be wondering why it is named this? The apple comes out of University of Minnesota’s apple breeding program. All of the seedlings originally have this style of designation until it becomes (potentially) a named variety. The original Honeycrisp was named MN 1711. Not exactly sure why MN 1711 never had a formal designation but perhaps it was because they hadn’t perfected it. For instance, Frostbite, which University of Minnesota breeders developed in 1920, was named MN 447 until its release in 2008. And speaking of Honeycrisp and Frostbite, MN 1628 is a sibling of Keepsake, which is one of the parents of Honeycrisp, and Frostbite is a parent of Keepsake

According to Bob Purvis, who we got the scion wood from to graft these, MN 1628 is “Quite similar in many respects to Keepsake, ripens slightly earlier (early October in Western Montana), tree more vigorous, spreading growth habit.  Red stripes over yellow-ocher background, with yellowish flesh, complex sweet flavor, dense flesh, keeps till late spring.” Bob then goes on to explain how MN 1628 dethroned Fuji as the favorite apple of his late wife Connie.

In terms of hardiness, we’ll say that -40F to -45F is the lower limit. This would put it as slightly hardier than McIntosh, but not as hardy as other apples we grow, such as Prairie Sensation, Carroll, or the apple crabs.

We have grafted our Spring 2025 MN 1628s onto M26. We did not graft them onto hardier rootstock because given that M26’s lower limit is -40F (possibly a stretch hardiness of -45F), this is about on par with how hardy MN 1628 is. It also ripens too late for Alaska growers and others that see sub -45F.