Yellow Bellflower

Yellow Bellflower has been planted in the islands since at least the 1853. One of the oldest remaining orchard trees in the islands, at Westcott Bay in the San Juan Islands National Historical Park is a Yellow Bellflower. We have also found living trees of Yellow Bellflower in orchards on Orcas and Lopez, and it is one of the varieties growing on the ancient trees in Kwiaht's research orchard near Hummel Lake (and scions are available through our annual scion exchange and grafting workshops on Lopez, Orcas, and San Juan). The variety originated in New Jersey in the 1700s. It is a long conical yellow apple with no stripes and large core that is high on the apple (near the stem). Sometimes the seeds rattle in ripe fruit. The fruit are ribbed and the basin is distinctly knobbed. When ripe the fruit have a sweet-tart flavor reminiscent of Gravenstein, and are excellent fresh, baked, or made into cider. They store well, and hang tightly on the tree. They may be picked slightly underripe and mellowed in storage. When baked they keep their shape and make excellent pies, and delicate but flavorful baked apples. An underrated late heritage apple that grows well in our climate.

You can view watercolors of Blue Pearmain in the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection.