Maiden's Blush Apple
By: Anonymous

About

MAIDEN BLUSH is also known as Lady Blush, Vestal, and Red Cheek. There is also an Irish apple called Maiden Blush, a distinct variety. The American Maiden Blush was brought to notice by Samuel Allinson of Burlington, New Jersey, and was described by Coxe in 1817 as, "popular in the Philadelphia market." The thin skin is tough and smooth and a pale waxen-yellow in color with a crimson blush. The white flesh, with a slightly yellow tinge, is crisp and tender with a sharp, acid flavor that mellows when fully ripe. The upright growing tree is vigorous and bears heavily annually. The bark is olive in color, and the dull, smooth leaves have a slight, bluish cast with sharp regular serrations. It is subject to fireblight, scab and apple blotch. Ripening over a period of about a month in August, it is popular for dessert and cooking. In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, it was a favorite apple variety for drying because the flesh remains white and bright.