Apple Pink Lady® Dwarf

You may have sometimes seen another variety called Cripps Pink in the shops and noticed the similarity ... it is actually the same variety.  Pink Lady® is a trademark, the actual variety name is Cripps Pink.  In order to preserve the premium appeal of Pink Lady®, about 65% of the production which does not meet the standards required for Pink Lady® is sold as Cripps Pink instead. The distinction is primarily made on colour intensity and the sugar/acid balance. Whilst this might at first appear to be a marketing ploy, it benefits consumers because it means that the variability of quality of Pink Lady® is less than you might find in other varieties (Braeburn being a notable example).

Cripps Pink was developed in the 1970s by John Cripps in Western Australia, and is a cross between Golden Delicious and Lady Williams.  This same breeding programme also led to Cripps Red, which shares the same parentage and is marketed under the Sundowner® brand. Lady Williams is not a particularly well known apple variety in Europe or North America, but has been quite widely grown in Australia, having been discovered as a chance seedling in the 1930s. It is probably from Lady Williams that Pink Lady® gets its distinct colouring. (However it is interesting that another modern "blush" apple, the orange-coloured Tentation, is also a Golden Delicious cross).  Pink Lady® and Sundowner® are very similar, but we think Pink Lady® is just slightly closer to Golden Delicious in terms of flavor.

Pink Lady® requires a very long growing period and a hot climate, and hence is only grown in the warmer apple-growing regions.  Strong sunlight in autumn is vital for the pink coloration to develop and growers may remove the top-most leaves of the trees to allow light to penetrate.  Pink Lady® is a moderately vigourous tree and hangs on to its leaves well into winter.  It also shares a characteristic found in some other apple varieties in that the quality of fruit in the early years of the tree is not good.