Malus domestica ‘Akane’         Family: Rosaceae
(ah-KAH-nay)
Common name: ‘Akane’ apple; ‘Tokyo Rose’; ‘Prime Red’
Zone: 4
Origin: Japan, 1937
Parents: ‘Jonathan’ x ‘Worcester Pearmain’
Introduced: 1970
Harvest: late August – September

Description: Fruit is on the small to medium size with a slight flattening to its conical shape. Colour is a greenish-yellow with wonderful red blushing spreading over top. Flesh is white; taste is a mix of tart with an overture of sweet. It is self-sterile; needs another apple species for pollination. Decent resistance to scab, mildew, fireblight, and cedar apple rust. Codling moth and aphids can be problematic.

Special Notes: Developed at the Morika Experimental Station in Japan in 1937 but was not introduced globally until 1970. This apple typically ripens early in the mid-season range of the harvest period…usually in September. Good eating and cooking apple with a firm texture, keeping its shape throughout cooking. Good keeper if kept in cold storage at 4 °C (39 °F). Outside of cold storage, ‘Akane’ will only keep for 2-3 weeks.

In our Zone 7a garden: ‘Akane’ is just one of six branches on our three-tiered espalier apple tree. The tree was planted in spring of 2013 and this year’s harvest was the best one yet at 41 apples weighing 4 kg (8 lb 13 oz). Not bad for just an 8 ft (2.4 m) long branch and definitely enough for just the two of us.

Posted on October 3, 2018