lilacs:

Check the bottom of the trunk to see if there is evidence that the apple tree was budded or grafted. If you cannot find any evidence of a bud or graft union on a small tree, it may be a chance seedling. Seedling apples do produce fruit, but usually nothing to write home about.

Apples only slightly larger than crabs (although crabs vary greatly in size) on September 9 in zone 6 does not sound very promising. If they are that far from ripening on this date, they probably will not make it before frost. The tree may indeed be some variety of crab, though chances are greater that it is a seedling. Might be good for cider blending if you are a juice maker.

My apples are nearly all ripe enough to pick (and quite large this year) right now, and I am making 4-5 gallons of juice every day. That takes about a bushel and a half.

If you are curious about when your apples are ripe, cut one open and look for dark brown seeds. If they are dark brown, that's as ripe as you want them to get.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

I would suspect it of being a seedling because there's an apple tree in the neighbor's back yard beyond the fence, not more than 15 or 20 feet away. I'm sure the squirrels have dropped peach pits from my tree several yards away, so dropping a half eaten apple in my yard is not only possible but probable.

EXCEPT for the fact that a cement tree ring had been placed around this tree by the previous owners, which seems to indicate that the tree was purposely planted there.

I'll be very disappointed if it won't/can't produce any apples worth using. I was elated at the idea of a found apple tree. I'm not ready to be that bummed that soon.

I can always cut into a windfall apple and examine it. As the tree grows bigger, maybe the apples will grow bigger, too. It seems to produce well enough. Could it be a dwarf apple tree?

I'm glad to say that my peach tree, at least is producing profusely. I have peaches ripening on practically every level surface of my kitchen and dining room, and a ton in the refrigerator. At that, I had to throw a lot away because they turned brown, and once that happens they go pretty quick apparently. And as many as I rescued from the tree or from the ground, there were at least that many more that squirrels, insects, or rot got to before I could.

I've done some Net searching on Colorado apples. Some summer varieties do ripen in July and August, but other varieties continue ripening all the way to Halloween. It's not quite mid-September. This could very well be a late-ripening variety. So let's not consign it to the compost heap yet.

Besides, I think you missed my point. After a year and a half in this house, I was astonished and delighted at my accidental "find," an entire apple tree, complete with apples.