Most of the apple trees planted in the past century, called old-timeor full-size, can live 75 years or longer, even under conditions of complete neglect. The apple sleuths questioned elderly gardeners ...

The cultivars (varieties) were often hearty mountain stock with the genetic chops to hack it in the face of the Blue Ridge's tempestuous weather. An apple cultivar is classified as "antique" if it's ...

On Verona Island, at the end of a dirt road, a couple dozen wizened apple trees stand sentry in a grassy field sloping down to the river. To the untrained eye, it's a bunch of old trees. To apple ...