Q. How has the Yellow Newtown Pippin apple performed in our climate. I would love to have one if the quality is good here. A. I published a list of recommended fruit varieties for our climate and made available on my blog. These are fruit tree varieties I have evaluated over a minimum of five years of fruit production. It can be misleading to recommend a variety when it has produced for only one or two seasons. http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2011/10/recommended-fruit-trees-for-southern.html I am not concerned so much whether this variety of apple tree will grow here or not. It will. My main concern is the quality of the fruit it produces in our climate and soils. Just because you like Macintosh apple you purchased from a local grocery store does not mean that a Macintosh apple grown here will taste the same. There are numerous potential problems with a Newtown apple grown in the desert. Only time will tell. Yellow Newtown Pippin has not had a long enough performance history in our climate to recommend it for the general public. It ripens a little bit before Granny Smith and a month or so before Pink Lady and this is a good time for apples to ripen in our climate. However, other influences such as our soils and climate while it was growing will impact its quality. Download a copy of my recommended fruit tree list Extra reading about the Newtown Pippin and Yellow Newtown Pippin apples https://www.slowfoodusa.org/ark-item/newtown-pippin-apple http://www.orangepippin.com/apples/newtown-pippin http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/05/dining/it-s-crunch-time-for-the-venerable-pippin.html?pagewanted=all