Beauty of Yekaterinburg

Winter variety from the Yekaterinburg Experimental Fruit Farm, obtained by sowing seeds of large-fruited varieties. Breeders: P. A. Dibrova, L. A. Kотов, L. G. Vengerova. Widespread and officially approved for cultivation in the Middle and Southern Urals, Upper Volga region; promising for central Russia, and in stony soil culture — for Western Siberia and Altai.

Medium-sized tree, slightly more than medium, with a round, well-filled crown. Main branches with brown bark, emerging from the trunk at an angle close to straight, curved. Fruit set occurs on short and long fruiting spurs and branched buds.

Shoots with brown bark and large lenticels, curved, slightly ridged, hairy. Leaves dark green, large, wrinkled, shiny, flat, round, with a short-pointed apex and heart-shaped base, finely toothed or toothed-crenate margins, on short petioles, with elongated semilunar stipules of medium size.

Flowers large, wide-cup-shaped, white with a pinkish tint, long stamens, stigma slightly raised above the anthers. Buds burgundy-pink.

Fruits (see illustration) are above-average in size and large, with an average weight of 160 g (up to 240 g), quite uniform, with a wide, rounded, regular shape. Many fruits are slightly conical toward the apex. Ribbing is almost imperceptible. Surface smooth, skin dry, shiny, with a waxy coating. Color when picked greenish-yellow, turning creamy upon storage, the covering blush is diffuse, bright, clean, purplish-red on most of the surface. Peduncle medium thickness, medium or longer length. Calyx wide, medium or shallower depth, with a wide golden-bronze, attractive rust-colored band. Calyx open, fitting into a medium-depth dish, almost entirely occupied by a wide, bowl-shaped nectar tube, the heart large, round-ovoid. Seed chambers closed, medium size. Seeds below-average size, flat, egg-shaped with a sharp tip, dark brown.

Flesh creamy, firm, fine-grained, juicy, with excellent balanced sweet-tart flavor and some noble spice, medium aroma. Chemical composition of fruits: soluble solids — 15.9% (up to 18.9%), total sugars — 12.7% (up to 15.1%), titratable acids — 1.12%, ascorbic acid — 18.1 mg/100g (up to 30.9 mg/100g), P-active substances (catechins) — 301.7 mg/100g (up to 406.2 mg/100g).

Fruits remain firmly attached to the tree until harvest, exhibiting high transportability. Storage and consumption period — from October to early May — 210 days. External appearance and fruit quality are high.

Fruits are suitable for fresh consumption as dessert, and also for various processing methods.

Self-sterile variety, requires cross-pollination; practically all varieties commonly grown in the region are good pollinators for this variety.

Trees begin fruiting on the 6th-7th year after grafting. Fruit set is regular. Productivity is quite high: under normal conditions, yield is 100-200 centners per hectare.

Cold hardiness of Beauty of Yekaterinburg in the Middle Urals is average. Therefore, this variety should be grown on elevated terrain elements, protected from prevailing westerly winds, and in the northern parts of Yekaterinburg and Perm regions — in stony soil culture. The variety is relatively resistant to diseases, with weak infection by scab during epidemic years.

Advantages of the variety: high fruit flavor and quality, long storage life, uniformity, non-shedding at maturity, dessert taste.

Disadvantages of the variety: average cold hardiness for Ural conditions; in early years, a significant portion of the yield is concentrated at the tips of long fruiting spurs, so for more compact fruit placement on buds, it is advisable to shorten one-year growths by spring pruning or summer pinching.