Other Common Names: Hanging Pearmain or Norfolk Pippin
Browse all our apple trees here or read our guide to buying the right apple tree.
Adams Pearmain is an excellent old dessert apple, with a texture that is curiously both dry and crisp as well as juicy - the juice has a nice pink tinge to it. The flavour is on the sharp side, with a fine blend of subtly sweet, nutty flavours that make this fruit a match for any of the great eating apples. The word Pearmain refers to their top-heavy shape, which means that they are usually stored upside down, so that they slightly resemble a pear. The yellow skin flushes with a deep, russet flecked red as they ripen and is quite tough, which means that these apples store really well. When picked in Early-Mid October, they should ripen and keep well into the new year (as late as the end of March in ideal conditions). As the name Hanging Pearmain implies, the fruit hang on the branches until picked.
History & Parentage: Introduced in 1826 by Mr R. Adams, who named it after himself, the parentage of this tree is unknown. Its other common name, Norfolk Pippin, indicated that it was grown from a seed - the words Pippin and Kernel are often used in the names of apple trees that were grown from an anonymous pip.
Rootstocks, Growing Notes and Pruning & Planting Advice
Malus domestica 'Adams Pearmain' is a really easy apple tree, especially for the North and frosty sites. The ornamental flowers are abundant, quite large and a pretty pink colour - great for planting in full view of the house - and tolerant of late frosts, which can sometimes knock out the crop of less hardy trees before they even get started. These trees are partial tip bearers, which is a little unusual. They bear fruit both on spurs along the branches of wood that is two or more years old (like most apple trees) and on the very tips of little one year old branches. If you are a beginner with apple trees, it is worth reading up on the differences between tip and spur bearers but as far as Adam's Pearmain is concerned, we recommend that you prune it like a normal spur-bearing tree. Your trees have an nice spreading habit and are also suitable for growing in large pots.
The only slight downside to this tree is that it has a biennial tendency (a cycle of a bumper year followed by a poorly cropping year). To smooth this out, we recommend that you thin the fruit in late June if there is a heavy crop coming.
Cordons are grown on M9 rootstocks - these help to keep the tree small by producing very small root systems, ideal for small restricted forms that will always be grown on supporting wires. All other sizes are on MM106 - the best all round rootstock for larger trained shapes, like fans and espaliers, or for growing into a mature tree about 4 metres in height.
If you are unclear about fruit tree sizes, please take a look at our Guide to Fruit Tree Sizing.
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