Pollination?

Having checked a number of my apples against the relative pollination dates given in The Book of Apples, and the absolute dates on the Brogdale website, I have to say that there are a lot of discrepancies in the sequence of flowering periods between varieties (all growing as established cordons of fully-identified variety). It's not of any practical importance, as there are so many different varieties growing in close proximity here to ensure good pollination, but it does make me realise that the dates given by the authoritative sources may be more variable than might be assumed. Part of the aim of my blog is to record data for each year and compare the variability over time.

I was surprised to see how much later the Brogdale/Kent dates are compared to apples growing here in Oxford. I thought this was an exceptionally late season; even so, the majority of apples are in full bloom in the third week in April, rather than the mid-May dates given by the guides.