Fruit and ornamental trees grower Frank P. Matthews is to take a very special collection of apples on a mini tour of the county this autumn. Starting at the 2017 Malvern Autumn Show, the company will be displaying more than 300 different varieties, together with crab apples and the pears that this area is also famous for.

Included in the collection will be the newly bred ‘Apple Paradise Gold’, as chosen by the London Paralympic Legacy for planting in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to recognise the importance of this organisation to UK sport. In addition, the new-for-2017 variety ‘Apple Surprize’, with its brilliantly glossy orange skin and pink flesh, will join others from as far away as New Zealand and the USA and as close by as the Teme Valley. All the apples in this international collection were grown in a single field and hand-picked for the display.

To help keep apples at the top of the league table for Britain’s favourite fruit, every variety will be labelled with its name, place of origin and a description to encourage show goers to find out more and maybe even visit a garden centre to plant a new variety at home this autumn.

Stephanie Dunn-James who represents the fourth generation within this family-run business says that after the Malvern show (Three Counties Showground, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 September), every apple will be carefully packed and stored for a repeat display at the annual Applefest in Tenbury Wells on Saturday 7 October. “Then they will travel the short distance back to our own dedicated Tree Shop at Berrington Court for a final, free-to-view display, for the remainder of October.”

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