Anna is what you should be looking at. And please take the self fertile or partially self fertile tags with a big dose of salt :-) You may get some fruit from a self- or partially self-fertile tree but you will never get a good, heavy crop of apples without a second, different tree for cross pollination.

zone alone is often not good enough ... as all it tells us in minimum winter low temp ...

big city name plz ...

gals z9 might be a bit different than AZ z9 ... or some such ...

are there any orchards near your place.. they might be a great resource for info on what grows locally .. or if there are none... it might be indicative of the fact that it cant be done ... profitably anyway ....

your local extension and or state Ag college will also probably have opinions on such ...

ken

Ken, Anna is the most highly recommended apple variety for low winter chill conditions. It really doesn't matter what the zone or specific location is if the winter chill hours are limited.

Thanks for the responses so far.

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) are you saying it's not worth planting an apple tree if I'm only going to plant one? I don't need a heavy crop - but would love ~30-50 apples a year.

As far as Zone, I'm on the Mediterranean - summers highs are in the 90s and there is a decent amount of humidity. I know Anna will grow here - I'm looking for a potential newer varieties that might work that I can't buy at my local supermarket.

All suggestions are welcomed!

"@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) are you saying it's not worth planting an apple tree if I'm only going to plant one? I don't need a heavy crop - but would love ~30-50 apples a year."

Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. You might get a few - just a few - apples from a single partially self-fertile variety but 30-50 is expecting a LOT!! Do any close neighboring properties have any apples? That would help. Or even a crabapple.

There are not all that many low chill apple varieties on the market so your choices are going to be limited - Anna, Dorsett Golden, Gordon and Ein Shemer. And a few antique varieties if you can source them out - Winter Banana, Pettingill and Yellow Bellflower.

Of course, none of these are orchard apples or grown commercially so rare to ever find in a grocery. Maybe a few local farmer's markets :-)

You might look at King David or Arkansas Black. I didn't look at bloom times, or ability to self pollinate. But they are southern grown apples. I do have a list of self pollinating apples and they aren't on it.

If you must have only one apple tree I'd suggest you look at grafting a variety of apples to it. Here's a link to an article which explains the Whip and Tongue graft. In grafting you put a stick (called a scion) from the apple variety you want to add to your tree. You can have multiple varieties on your one tree. You would want all apples with same bloom time, but with this method you could have apples ripening from July to November, all on the same tree.

Did some googling for low chill apples.

University of Florida

Anna

Dorsett Golden

TropicSwee

The article at the above link also discusses which rootstocks did well (M7A or MM106) and didn't do well (Mark or P22) in their tests. Florida is a humid state.

DaveWilson.com

Dorsett Golden

Fuji

Pink Lady

gardeningknowhow.com

Tropic Sweet

Anna

Ein Shemer

Akane

Pink Lady

Pettingill

Yellow Bellflower

Winter Banana

White Winter Pearmain

Apples from my list of self pollinating apples: with notes

Anna Blooms in February in Zone 9. Precocious, annual, and productive

Dorsett Golden Blooms in January in Southern California and Late February in Florida (later than Anna)

Ein Shemer in Florida and southern California they can bloom as early as January. Use Anna as pollination partner. USDA ARS notes: "Strong, early bearing, prolific, scab resistant tree; somewhat self-pollinating, but yields are improved when pollinated with Dorsett Golden. Good pollinator for Anna. Tree: very precocious; productive."

Low Chill apples is mostly a myth.
Kuffle Creek has tried over 100 varieties near Redlands.
Check out his website, and he is very nice, he probably would answer your emailed question.

http://kuffelcreek.com/applelist.htm

Thanks everyone!

@sautesmom Sacramento - when you are saying it's a myth - are you saying that no apples will grow in "low chill" areas or that all apples will grow in "low chill" areas?

Mswieder
I actually said "mostly" a myth. There are a few apples that won't fruit, but most will.
Did you open the link to Kuffel Creek? He has been growing and selling apple trees near the High Desert for decades, and funds a project for apple orchards in Africa. He lists his results for over 100 varieties. Some apples are even better in the California heat than in the north, my own experience with Fuji comes to mind.
The apples that don't make the cut are not because they don't fruit in low chill (like cherries won't) but because the fruit turns to mush.
Carla in Sac

I am in the same zone, but we get less heat as I am 1/3 of a mile from the ocean. We have three trees 1) an in ground 4 in 1 with Anna, Golden Dorsett, Ein Shemer, and Beverly hills 2) an in ground Fuji 3) a potted 5 in 1 with Anna, Golden Dorsett, Ein Shemer, Golden Delicious and Fuji. The in grounds are both 6 years old, with the 4 in 1 producing well and the Fuji not producing well. The potted 5 in 1 is for our other home once we finish our build out. It is 2 years old and is also doing well. I believe they are all Dave Wilson trees.

If you only have room for 1, the combo trees work well. They pollinate each other and give you a longer harvest season.

I know this is an old thread, but for others looking, here are the varieties I'm interested in trying in TX (fireblight is a huge concern here, so looking for fireblight resistant varieties was very limiting). All are said to be self-fertile, but there is conflicting info on the Victoria if it is or is not):

-Reverend Morgan - hard to find trees, easier to find scion and graft them, found growing in TX

-Gordon Apple

-Victoria Limbertwig

-Carnavale (some sort of rebranded apple from Brazil. Very limited release so not sure yet how to find this one)

-Shell of Alabama

-Hunge is one I'm interested in as well, but I've found it is disease resistant, but haven't found any info on its fireblight resistance in particular.

Apples don't do well in my area, so having fewer trees that are self-fertile are attractive to me. If I'm only left with one that produces a small amount, that is better than nothing.