Rainier Fruit Company

Rainier Fruit Company Lady Alice Deskside Media Tour

Don Emmons discovered the 'Lady Alice' variety of apple tree as a chance seedling on his farm near Gleed, Washington. When Mr. Emmons purchased the orchard where the new tree was discovered in 1978, the property had many different varieties of fruit trees scattered throughout and it had been neglected for many years. While cultivating the orchard soil in 1979, a disc from the plow hit the base of a red delicious tree injuring its trunk. The damaged tree sent out a new shoot. The new shoot had a decidedly different appearance from the rest of the tree so he saved the chance seedling shoot, allowing it to grow and bear fruit.

Alice Zirkle

Over the next 25 years Mr. Emmons took steps to preserve and propagate the new variety. As with the first generation, all the subsequent generations exhibited the same characteristics observed in the original tree. Rainier Fruit has been selling the Lady Alice for three seasons. This is the second season Lady Alice has been available east of the Rocky Mountains.

The Lady Alice is a new and distinct apple variety that possesses several unusual and desirable characteristics as described below:

  1. Fruit from the 'Lady Alice' has a distinct pink stripe over a cream-yellow background, which distinguishes it from other known varieties. The background color softens to an orange-yellow after harvest.
  2. The apple possesses a distinctive taste and its dense flesh is sweet with a hint of tartness. It is slow to brown after cutting, which makes it excellent for eating fresh, cutting into salads or fruit trays. Its dense flesh holds its texture when baking.
  3. The shape of the Lady Alice is round and somewhat broad with a shallow, slightly open calyx.

To download information about Lady Alice apples, as well as information about Rainier Fruit, browse our media guide below, or Click Here to download a PDF media kit.

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