Good to know as have seen listed as hardy zones 3-8 some sites while others have 5-8. Perhaps the zone 5-8 is based on something besides basic survival though and more on use for cider.
From Pomiferous.com website:
"Needs fairly warm summers to fully develop and tends to produce high levels of tannin and poor aromatics in cooler climates."
From what i have read, Hewes hybrids have been developed to improve winter hardiness. Below is a list i found that shows the 4 classic cider apple trees
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GREAT 4 COMBO
Keep in mind that good ciders are a blend of sugar, acid, tannin and an aromatic," he writes. "Few have the magic combination of elements, except Harrison, Hewes Crab, Roxbury Russet and Golden Russet. Usually, varieties are blended to achieve it, and this is the excitement and the mystery of artisanal ciders. The same blending of elements should be applied to pie making."
HARRISON (Bittersweet)
Also known as: Harrison Cider, Long Stem, and Harrisons Newark. Parentage/Origin: Essex County, New Jersey, early 19th century. Harvest: October. Description: Medium in size and round to oblong in shape, the yellow skin has black dots, and the yellow flesh is coarse and dry. Once lost to cultivation, Tom Burford found a 75 year old Harrison tree in 1989 and returned this valuable cider apple to the trade. Harrison juice is viscous and dark with complex flavors and exceptional mouth feel. The apple is scab and rot-resistant, bears annual, full crops, and keeps well in storage. It remains one of the very finest apples for cider-making, either fresh or fermented.
Harrison is also known as Harrison Cider, Long Stem, and Harrisons Newark. It first appeared in Essex County, New Jersey during the early 18th century, and was grown extensively for cider until the early 20th century. Throughout the 1800's, Harrison was a leading variety in cider production, valued for its ability to produce many small apples that made a champagne-like cider. By the 1900's, the rise of beer and prohibition largely exterminated Harrison production. This heirloom variety was thought to be lost until 1976, when it was discovered by Paul Guidez. More recently, Tom Burford has brought the Harrison back into cultivation. It is now grown by cider makers throughout North America.
The apple itself is small, round and yellow skinned, with small black dots. Harrison tastes dry and coarse, but yields a large percentage of juice when pressed. Harrison juice is viscous, syrupy, and dark, with complex flavors and exceptional mouth feel.
The Harrison tree is is a heavy annual bearer, with a single tree producing large quantities of small apples. Apples ripen in October in upstate New York, are scab and rot-resistant, and keep well in storage. It remains one of the very finest apples for cider-making, either fresh or fermented.
USDA Zones: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Heirloom: Yes
Uses: Fresh eating and cider
Harvest Period: Late
Bloom Period: Midseason
Pollination Requirement: Requires different variety with same bloom period
Origin Date: New Jersey 1817
Disease resistance: Good
Storage: 1 to 2 months
Rootstock: MM 111 (semi-dwarf)
Years to Bear: 2-4 years
Recommended Spacing: 12-16 ft.
Mature Size: 12-16 ft.
Water Requirements: 12-15 gallons per week May through Sept.
GOLDEN RUSSET (Sharp)
Classic American cider apple. High sugar. Late ripening and very long keeping. One of the very best eating apples.
Golden Russet was first discovered as a seedling of English Russet in upstate New York, 1845, but it could be older. Excellent cider and out of hand eating apple.
The fruit is medium-sized, russeted skin, varying from grey-green to bronze with a copper-orange cheek. The flesh is fine grained and crisp, with sugary juices that produce a full bodied cider with a rich aroma. High sugar and acidity, low tannin, a sharp cider apple. A good keeper, stays sweet, hard, nutty and crunchy throughout the winter.
Golden Russet is medium vigour, scab and cedar apple rust resistant. Ripens late October, best for eating between October-March. Hardy to zone 4.
Description
Also called American Golden Russet apple
High-quality, intense flavor! Tree bears medium-sized, yellow-gold russeted fruit, ideal for cider and juice. Fruit holds its shape when cooked. Enjoy fresh for complex sweet-tart flavor. Keeps well. Antique variety, originates from New York, circa 1845. Cold-hardy. Ripens in mid-October. Best pollinators: Granny Smith or Pink Lady®.
Characteristics
Bloom Color White
Bloom Time Early - Mid
Fruit Color Yellow Green
Fruit Size Small - Medium
Ripens/Harvest Mid October
Shade/Sun Full Sun
Soil Composition Loamy
Soil Moisture Well Drained
Soil pH Level 6.0 - 7.0
Taste Crisp, Juicy
Texture Firm
Years to Bear 2 - 5
Zone Range 4 - 8
Zone Compatibility
This Variety's Zone Range4 - 8
My Hardiness Zone5B
Based on your zip code, 53188
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The USDA hardiness zones offer a guide to varieties that will grow well in certain climates. Each zone corresponds to the minimum winter temperatures experienced in a given area. Make sure that your hardiness zone lies within the zone compatability range of this variety before ordering.
Size & Spacing
Mature Size
When your tree matures, it will be approximately 12 - 15' tall x 12 - 15' wide.
Recommended Spacing
We recommend spacing these trees 12 - 15' apart to ensure room for growth.
Pollination
This variety requires another one for adequate pollination.
Cross-pollination by a different variety is key to its growing and bearing success. Plant one of these varieties within 50' for best pollination.
Roxbury Russet (Sharp)
This oldest American variety has long storage life; makes a good single-variety sweet cider. Roxbury Russet is the oldest named American apple variety, from Roxbury, Massachusetts, in the early 1600's. It is likely one of the first propagated apples in the United States, and was popularized by Thomas Jefferson, who planted them in Monticello's south orchard in the 1770's.
This heirloom is a greenish-bronze, russeted fruit that is hard, crunchy, sweet and aggressively acidic. Roxbury Russet improves in storage, Apples of Uncommon Character says "By early winter, the acid gives way to a delicious, rich persimmon with nutty undertones". The antique apple is a superb keeper, great for fresh eating, cider, and baking. It is the classic russet, similar to Golden Russet but even higher in sugar (12.87%), and a bigger producer.
In upstate New York, Roxbury Russet ripens late September-early October, with peak flavor October-April.
The tree is vigorous and open-spreading, and shows some resistance to scab, powdery mildew and cedar apple rust. It is partially self-fertile and mid- to late- bloom. Will bear annualy. Widely hardy to zone 4.
Hewes (Virginia) Crab
Note - Info above from Albemarle Cider Works
Hardy fruit tree that can be grown as an ornamental
Description: Small rounded fruits of a dull red, streaked with green; ripens in September in Central Virginia
Habit: Grafted on size-controlling rootstock; grows to 8'
Culture: Prefers sunny location; well composted soil; mulch to conserve moisture
Hardiness: Cold hardy to USDA Zone 4
Attributes: Edible fruits, attracts bees
Jefferson-documented
This cider apple, also known as Hughes' Crab and Virginia Crab, was the most common fruit variety grown in eighteenth-century Virginia. It is thought to be a cross between the North American crabapple, Malus angustifolia, and the domesticated European apple of horticulture. It produces a delicious cinnamon-flavored cider that is both sugary and pungent. Thomas Jefferson planted his entire north orchard exclusively with this variety. Jefferson's friend John Hartwell Cocke of Bremo Plantation proclaimed that the Hewes produced "the best cider I have ever seen".
This tree will ship bare root. One year grafted M111 is approximately 4' tall.
Virginia (Hewes) Crab
VIRGINIA (HEWE'S) CRAB is also known as Hewe's Crab, Hugh's Crab and Hughes Crab. There is also a Red Hewes Crab, a seedling of the Virginia Crab, grown by a Colonel Blackburn in Paris, Illinois, before 1869. It is redder in color and larger in size. It was well described by Coxe in A View of Fruit Trees, 1817, as: "The apple is of small size; the form nearly round, the stem long and thin, the skin a dull red mixed with faint streaks of greenish yellow, and numerous small white spots. The flesh is singularly fibrous and astringent: in pressing, it separates from the liquor, which runs through the finest flannel like spring water;…my own practice is to mix the crab pomace in the vat with that of strong rich cider apples, which makes an improved liquor…The tree is of small size, the leaves though small, are of luxuriant growth…the wood hard and tough, never breaking with the load of fruit, usually produced every second year. The origin of this apple is satisfactorily traced to Virginia, where trees nearly one hundred years old, are now standing…" This means that the variety was known in 1717. Coxe continues…"The apple called Hewe's Virginia Crab differs so much from all others that the liquor extracted from it requires a system of management adapted to the peculiar qualities of the fruit." Before the development of hybrid rootstocks, the Virginia Crab was often used as an under stock because of its hardiness, compatibility to many varieties, and vigorous growth. The Virginia Crab was one of the major cider varieties that Thomas Jefferson planted in the north orchard at Monticello. It makes a very high-flavored dry cider, which maintains its quality for a long time and ferments very slowly. In Central Virginia, it ripens in September.
