Anna Apple
Pollination & Compatibility Guide
Anna apple pollination guide: low-chill diploid, early bloom, paired with Dorsett Golden and Ein Shemer. Provisional chill hours and warm-climate notes.
Anna is Self-Sterile (Needs 1 Partner)
The most widely planted low-chill apple globally. Partners: Dorsett Golden, Ein Shemer. Anna needs at least one compatible pollinizer from bloom group 0–2 to set a reliable crop. It is often sold as self-fertile, and it will set a reduced crop alone in warm climates with a reliably mild bloom — but that is climate-dependent, not genetic, so plan a pollinizer.
- Chromosome Ploidy
- self sterile
- Required Companions
- 1 Diploid Partner
- Bloom Group
- Group 1 (Early Spring)
- Harvest Timing
- Early Season
Flowering Period & Overlap Window
Apple flowering periods are classified into numbered bloom groups (1 through 6). A variety reliably cross-pollinates with cultivars in its own group or adjacent groups (±1 group).
Any compatible diploid apple flowering within Group 1 to 2 provides matching blossom overlap.
Compatible Pollination Partners (21)
| Cultivar | Bloom Group | Overlap Type | Harvest | Primary Uses | Interactive Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1 | Full Overlap | Early | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 1 | Full Overlap | Early | Cooking | Test Cross | |
Duchess of Oldenburg | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early | Cooking | Test Cross |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Late | Cider, All-Purpose | Test Cross | |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Late | All-Purpose | Test Cross | |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Late | All-Purpose, Storage | Test Cross | |
Jersey Mac | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early | Fresh Eating | Test Cross |
Jonamac | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early | All-Purpose | Test Cross |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Mid | All-Purpose | Test Cross | |
Lodi | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early | Cooking | Test Cross |
Macoun | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Mid | Fresh Eating | Test Cross |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Mid | All-Purpose | Test Cross | |
Mollie's Delicious | Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early | Fresh Eating | Test Cross |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early | Fresh Eating | Test Cross | |
| Group 2 | Full Overlap | Early | Fresh Eating | Test Cross |
Incompatible Varieties & Exclusions (4)
These varieties overlap in flowering time with Anna but cannot fertilise it due to sterile pollen (triploids) or shared genetic incompatibility alleles.
Gravenstein produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Ribston Pippin produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Roxbury Russet produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Tompkins King produces no viable pollen, so it cannot serve as a pollinizer.
Grower Commentary: Anna Low Chill and Its Reciprocal Partners
Anna is an Israeli-bred, low-chill diploid apple, and it is the most widely planted low-chill apple in the world. Our record gives a provisional chill figure of about 175 hours below 7.2 °C, within a range of 150 to 200 hours, and has not yet been checked against a primary source. Treat the number as a guide, and confirm it with your nursery or local extension before planting.
Anna flowers very early, and our record places it in bloom group 1, so only the earliest partners overlap. Dorsett Golden and Ein Shemer are its standard companions, and each is a partner for the others. A single Anna may set a partial crop in a warm district with a reliably mild bloom, but that is not a reason to plant one tree alone.
This is a warm-climate apple: in a colder district a warm spell in winter can start the buds early, and a following frost then takes the blossom. Use a vigour-controlling rootstock, thin early and pick promptly, because early fruit in warm weather deteriorates quickly.
Key Orchard Considerations for Anna
Chill is about 175 hours; verify locally before ordering trees.
Plant Dorsett Golden or Ein Shemer alongside; each partners the others.
Early bloom is frost-exposed outside mild districts; avoid cold hollows.
Take Anna from Planning to Planting
Use Kropigo's free browser tools to model your block density, tree counts, and pollinizer rows, then maintain permanent orchard records row by row.
Pollination Checker
Check Anna against supported cultivars with compatible flowering and pollination data.
Commercial Block Planner
Calculate high-density tree spacing, row geometry, and establishment costs.
Block Record Keeping
Track pruning, chemical thinning, and harvest tallies block by block from the orchard.