Prairie Sensation

Prairie Sensation was released by the University of Saskatchewan in 2008. Prior to being released commercially, Clair Lammers had received some rootstock, so some Prairie Sensation trees in his orchard are numbered 18-10-32. Possibly this may be true in other interior Alaska orchards which used Clair's orchard as a source of scionwood.

Prairie Sensation fruit is large, between 2.5 and 3.5 in. in diameter (average of 10 fruit is 3 inches) and roundish to slightly oblate. The base color of the skin is two shades of light green, 50% covered by two shades of red in wash and stripes. The flavor is a mild subacid with an intense aromatic component. In taste tests, Prairie Sensation scored well compared to standard cultivars. According to the University of Saskatchewan, the fruit also stores well, consistently receiving good sensory evaluation scores in January and February.

Prairie Sensation trees are slightly leggy with an open crown but set up a moderate number of short spurs. Prairie Sensation is not a tip-bearer and is a hardy tree. Fruit ripens in mid to late September in our location which means it may not ripen well at many Fairbanks locations.

One of our two Prairie Sensations fruited well in its 6th year.