Photographing apple trees at Filoli during Orchard Days
InMenlo contributing photographer Robb Most recently visited Filoli during its Orchard Days which continue through November 1.
Robb’s son James is an orchardist and he reviewed some photos and commented.
“What a beautiful collection of heirloom apples! From the Espous Spitzenberg, which was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson’s at his Monticello orchard, to the huge sharp flavored baking apple from the Netherlands: Belle de Boskoop (pictured top). These collections are able to keep varieties unchanged over the generations through the process of grafting.
“Grafting is a simple horticultural form of cloning: a small branch from a desirable apple variety can be cut and grafted onto another young apple tree, transforming it into the desirable variety. Any named variety of apple can be traced back to a single individual, like the Spitzenberg, which has been cloned hundreds of thousands of times to keep its delicious apple qualities alive across generations.
