Malus domestica 'Chivers Delight' (D)

RHS Plant Profile
apple 'Chivers Delight'

Save a plant

Where do you want to save Malus domestica 'Chivers Delight' (D)?

Plants I own
Wishlist
Go to My Plants
apple 'Chivers Delight' RHS
Plants for pollinators
Fruit Edible Trees
Thank you - your purchase supports our charity work Buy this from RHS Plants Shop
Buy online from £34.99Buy this from Plant Nurseries
11 Suppliers

A late-season dessert apple with crisp, juicy flesh and a sweet, well-balanced flavour. It produces a good crop of red-flushed, yellow fruit on a tree of average vigour, ready to pick in mid-autumn and storing to mid-winter. It is self sterile; pollination group 4

Position

Full sun

Soil Types

Clay, Loam, Sand

Max Height

4-8 metres

Max Spread

4-8 metres

Size

Time to Maturity
10–20 years
Max Spread
4-8 metres
Max Height
4-8 metres

Growing Conditions

Clay Loam Sand
Moisture
Moist but well–drained or Well–drained
pH
Acid or Alkaline or Neutral

Position

Full sun
Aspect
South–facing or West–facing or East–facing
Exposure
Sheltered
Hardiness

Hardiness Ratings

All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets

  • H1A: under glass all year (>15C)
  • H1B: can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
  • H1C: can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
  • H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
  • H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
  • H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
  • H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
  • H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
  • H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)
H6

Colour & Scent

Fragrance Flower
Season Stem Flower Foliage Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Botanical Details

Family
Rosaceae
Native to GB/Ireland
No
Foliage
Deciduous
Habit
Bushy
Genus
Malus are small to medium-sized deciduous trees with showy flowers in spring and ornamental or edible fruit in autumn; some have good autumn foliage colour
Name Status
Accepted
Horticultural Group

Horticultural Classification Codes

Horticultural Classification Codes are often given to genera which have a large number of species or cultivars. They are used to categorise cultivated plants based on specific, shared characteristics such as shape, colour, size or flowering time, and can be displayed as letters or numbers

For example:
Dahlia ‘Sunset Kate (Sin) = Single flower
Rosa ‘Marigold’ (HT) = Hybrid Tea

Dessert apples are sweet and juicy and are best eaten fresh and raw

How to Grow

Cultivation

Prefers a deep, fertile, moist but well-drained, neutral soil in a sheltered, sunny position. Will not thrive on very acid soils, shallow chalk soils or with shade for more than half the day. Thin fruit in late spring or early summer to improve size and quality. See apple cultivation

Propagation

Propagate by chip budding or grafting onto a clonal rootstock for fruit. The rootstock used will largely determine the vigour of the tree. Fruit grown from pips will not resemble the parent

Suggested planting locations and garden types

  • Cottage and informal garden
  • City and courtyard gardens
  • Wildlife gardens
  • Wall side borders
  • Edible fruit

Pruning

Prune according to chosen training method. See apple pruning

Pests

May be susceptible to aphids, including woolly aphid and rosy apple aphid, fruit tree red spider mite, codling moth and other caterpillars

Diseases

May be susceptible to apple canker, apple scab, blossom wilt, brown rot, fireblight, honey fungus and powdery mildews