Pam's Delight is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

of domesticated

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

Description

It is a

self-sterile Self-incompatibility (SI) is a general name for several genetic mechanisms that prevent self-fertilization in sexually reproducing organisms, and thus encourage outcrossing and allogamy. It is contrasted with separation of sexes among individuals ...

dessert apple, medium-sized with a red flush. Sweet in flavour with a crisp and juicy flesh. Harvests mid-October and available in England from October to November.

History

Alfred Hull, a retired clerk, planted some apple pips in pots which he placed on his bathroom windowsill in 1956. He planted the most vigorous in his garden, in

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

. His daughter, Pam, teased her father by telling him that he should dig the tree up as it did not look as if it was capable of producing fruit. Pam developed Hodgkin's Disease, and Alfred told her that if his tree, which had become a family joke, ever bore fruit she would be the recipient of the first apple. In 1963, seven years after he planted the pip, the tree produced its first blossom, and from that, a single apple. He proudly presented it to Pam that October. Her illness became more severe, and she died, at the age of 28 the following April, just as the tree blossomed fully for the first time. That year the tree produced twenty two pounds of apples.

Production

In 1968, Brogdale Farm accepted Pam's Delight for full commercial trials. Later that year it was included in the National Register.

Collections

This uncommon apple can be seen at Bide-a-While landscaped garden at Boggs Mead in the

Lea Valley The Lea Valley, the valley of the River Lea, has been used as a transport corridor, a source of sand and gravel, an industrial area, a water supply for London, and a recreational area. The London 2012 Summer Olympics were based in Stratford, in ...

References

British apples Dessert apples Apple cultivars {{apple-fruit-stub