Item Number: FT026
Golden Dorsett Apple Tree
Sweet apples for warm climates.
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Description
Description
Golden Dorsett Apple Tree brings crisp golden apples to warm-winter gardens remarkably early in the season. Medium to large fruit develops smooth yellow skin and firm pale flesh with clean sweetness, mild tang, and refreshing juice. While many apples are still setting fruit, Golden Dorsett can already be approaching harvest, giving low-chill growers the excitement of a true summer apple. It is delicious fresh and versatile for pies, drying, applesauce, juice, and light baking. White spring blossoms add ornamental value and overlap well with Anna, creating one of the most practical apple pairings for mild climates. For gardeners in Southern California, the Gulf Coast, and other warm regions where high-chill apples struggle, Golden Dorsett offers not a compromise but an attractive, productive tree with early fruit and genuine apple crunch. Irene Dorsett discovered this Golden Delicious seedling in Nassau, and the variety’s name preserves her family name.
Golden Dorsett needs about 100 chill hours and grows in USDA zones 5–10. This semi-dwarf tree on M-111 rootstock generally ripens from July through August.
Golden Dorsett is self-fruitful and can crop alone, but Anna Apple is its most useful low-chill companion and can support a fuller harvest.
Golden Dorsett Apple Tree Details
- Fruit: Medium to large smooth golden-yellow apple with pale flesh
- Flavor and texture: Firm, crisp, juicy, sweet, and mildly tangy
- Best uses: Fresh eating, pies, drying, applesauce, juice, and light baking
- Harvest: July through August
- USDA zones: 5–10
- Chill hours: About 100 hours
- Tree size: Semi-dwarf on M-111 rootstock
- Rootstock: M-111
- Pollination: Self-fruitful; Anna Apple is a valuable low-chill partner.
- Recommended pollinizer: Plant with Anna Apple for overlapping bloom in warm-winter climates.
- Special care: Thin heavy clusters and harvest promptly during its early summer ripening window.
- Something Special: Irene Dorsett discovered this Golden Delicious seedling in Nassau, and the variety’s name preserves her family name.
Orchard Planning Resources
Bare Root Tree Savings & Free Shipping
Bare Root Tree Savings & Free Shipping
Build your orchard and save by mixing and matching eligible bare root trees across qualifying varieties:
- Buy 3 qualifying bare root trees and save 5%
- Buy 10 qualifying bare root trees and save 15%
- Buy 6 qualifying bare root trees and receive free standard shipping
Ordering fewer than six trees? Orders of one to five qualifying bare root trees ship for a $29.99 fixed rate by FedEx or UPS.
Eligible trees may be combined within the BareRoot Trees shipping group. Potted plants, perennial bare roots, and fall perennials are tracked in separate shipping groups and do not count toward these thresholds.
Free standard and fixed-rate shipping offers apply to qualifying deliveries within the contiguous 48 states. USPS and expedited delivery are charged separately. Manufacturer-direct, dropship, and specially packaged products are excluded unless otherwise stated.
Shipping Information
Shipping Information
Cannot ship to the following states: HI, AK, PR, GU, VI
Shipping Weight: 5.0 lb
Dimensions: 47.5"L x 7.3"W x 2.75"H
Features
Features
- Bare Root
- Self-fruitful
- Suited to Warmer Climates
Characteristics
Characteristics
Planting & Care
Planting & Care
Useful Information
Useful Information
Guarantee
Guarantee
Limited Dormant Tree & Plant Guarantee
* Claim deadline is June 15th
We guarantee that your dormant tree or plant will arrive in good, viable condition. If your tree arrives in substandard condition, notify us within 3 days of delivery. Please email pictures of the box, inside packaging, the tree and its roots to helpdesk@groworganic.com. We will investigate your claim and process a request to exchange or refund the damaged product.
If your dormant tree or plant has not grown new leaves by June 15th, you may be eligible for our Limited Dormant Tree & Plant Guarantee. This guarantee provides for a store credit for the purchase price of the tree, excluding shipping. Please see the Instructions below.
Important Dates:
- April 1st Dormant trees/plants must be planted in the ground
- May 15th Perform scratch test, if no new leaves have grown
- June 15th Deadline to apply for a dormant tree/plant credit
All required documentation must be received by June 15th for your claim to be considered. Claims or documentation received after June 15th will be denied, without exception. Instructions listed below
Terms and Conditions
We cannot guarantee that your tree or plant will remain alive and healthy after it is received, or bear fruit as there are too many variables in your environment that are beyond our control (i.e. soil preparation, weed and pest control, proper irrigation, chill hours, compatible hardiness for your growing zone, proper choice of pollinator, extreme weather, rodent damage, disease, etc.).
We cannot guarantee that we will be able to provide a replacement tree/plant of the same species either that same growing season or in future years. Customers are responsible for all shipping fees associated with replacement trees and plants.
If we determine that the tree you purchased directly from us is not viable, we will issue you a store credit (not a refund) for the purchase price of the affected dormant tree or plant. Shipping is not included in the dormant tree/plant guarantee. Store credits can be used to purchase any product we sell and are valid for use only until July 1st of the following year.
Historically, 98% of our dormant trees and plants grow and thrive when they have been cared for and planted using our growing guides. Dormant trees and plants must be planted in the ground by April 1st in order to be eligible for credit. If the ground in your area is still frozen solid, you may temporarily plant your tree or plant in a pot.
Potted, non-dormant trees or plants are excluded from this guarantee as they are not dormant at the time of shipment. Evergreen trees such as citrus, avocado and olive trees are not available for credit under the Dormant Tree and Plant Guarantee.
Instructions
We guarantee that your dormant fruit tree or plant will leaf out, if you care for it according to our growing guides. In the unlikely event that your dormant tree or plant does not have leaves by May 15th, follow these simple steps to apply for a store credit:
Before you call or email, please perform a “scratch test” to determine if the tree or plant is still alive. This video shows how to check for live tissue under the bark. Scratch tests need to be done a few inches above and below the graft.
Green Cambium Layer / Living Trees
If the cambium layer under the bark is green, give your tree a little more time. It is still alive, but hasn’t come out of dormancy yet. Check to make sure that it is getting the right amount of deep root water, enough sunlight and that the weather is warm enough for that type of tree/plant to come out of dormancy. Every tree has its own personality and will come out of dormancy at different times. Be sure to submit the required documentation listed below by June 15th, if it doesn’t grow leaves.
Brown Cambium Layer / Dead Trees
If the scratch test shows a brown cambium layer or if your dormant tree/plant doesn’t have leaves by June 1st, please email us at helpdesk@groworganic.com. All required documentation listed below must be received by June 15th for your claim to be considered. To be considered for the guarantee claim, all required documentation must be received by June 15th. Incomplete submissions will be denied.
Required Documentation
- Order number
- Name of dormant tree/plant and the quantity affected
- Photos of each tree or plant showing:
- The roots (tree or plant must be pulled out of the ground)
- The scratch test areas
- The entire tree/plant
We reserve the right to not issue credit for items that have already been replaced. We also reserve the right to require photographic evidence that the tree/plant was not killed by root rot, rodent or mechanical damage.
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Showed up healthy and asleep,but is showing signs of waking up with longer days..
Came quickly and in good shape. Have planted and anxious to see it in spring
I did not let it set fruit last year, so I can’t comment on that, but it’s managed to thrive through the Az summer and winter. We love this beautiful tree:)
The tree arrived in the evening, placed it in the water overnight and planted next day. After 2 weeks my tree got green leaves and started flowering. Very happy so far. No broken branches or damaged roots, it was packed very well.
I received a bare-roots Dorsett Golden Apple tree last week, and planted it between the rains! (Yes, alas, the mud - I tried to improve the muck with compost and perlite and coir to get some drainage.) It came with four of its small branches broken off, but there were enough good ones to let me prune it into a decent starter. And because it's warm here, in the 50s, it broke dormancy a few days after planting and seems to be doing well. Time will tell if the muddy planting will inhibit growth, but I think it will do fine. I fertilized by top dressing and put on a good layer of wood chips, and it seems ok!
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