Cornish Gillyflower originates from the county of Cornwall. It was discovered in the early 19th century and fairly quickly established itself as one of the highest quality apples available in Victorian England.
In the words of Victorian pomologist Robert Hogg it is "remarkable for its rich and aromatic flavour".
**All prices include delivery. We offer a discount on orders of multiple bare-root trees for delivery at the same time - this will be shown at the checkout.
Delivery period: Pot-grown trees can be delivered from September onwards. Bare-root trees can be delivered from mid-November onwards. Within those periods you can specify your preferred month of delivery during the checkout process. It is best to order as soon as you can to ensure items are reserved for you.
*Mature heights: Height shown is the approximate height of the tree when mature (after 5-10 years), not the height when supplied. See photos of trees as supplied. Actual mature heights may vary considerably dependent on your local conditions and training and pruning regime.
Stock availability: Items showing as 'sold out' will probably be available again next season. If you would like to reserve in advance use our enquiry form - this does not commit you to anything.
Cornish Gilliflower is self-sterile and needs to be pollinated by another tree of a different variety nearby.
Our online pollination checker lists suitable pollination partners for this variety.
More advice about pollination.
Cornwall experiences mild winters and summers which are warm but not necessarily hot. Cornish Gillyflower has some natural resistance to scab, a disease which likes these conditions. It is a moderately vigorous tree, fairly easy to grow although not especially heavy-cropping. It is slightly unusual in being a tip-bearer - the apples are borne on the ends of the previous year's shoots.
Planting instructions.
Pruning instructions.
Discovered by Sir Christopher Hawkins near the town of Truro, Cornwall, England and introduced in 1813. The word "gillyflower" or "gilliflower" or "July flower" are corruptions of the French word "girofle" meaning cloves - a reference to the clove-like scent of the blossom of this apple variety.