Here we are in the middle of winter. We've just experienced an ice storm and a "blizzard" in western North Carolina. The thought of picking a fresh apple from the tree is just a figment of our imagination right now.

But did you know the apple you will pick this fall was already on the tree last year? Well, it's true. The apples for the following year start to form shortly after bloom of the previous year.

"How can it be??" you say. "I just drove by an orchard in January and saw nary an apple on those trees."

I know what you're thinking. "I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. You must have bumped your head".

Now wait a minute. Just hear me out. Yes, you didn't see any shiny red fruit on the tree this winter, but the apple you will eat this fall got it's start on those trees in late spring last year. It will take it a while to develop into the fruit we enjoy so much from our local apple growers. However, it's already underway and has been for a while.

You see, about three to six weeks after bloom, say around May, bud induction starts as the first process in forming next year's apples. (See the accompanying image for the various stages discussed below). These buds can stay vegetative and form leaves, or they can become floral and form the flowers that result in our fruit.

By mid-summer floral initiation begins and the growing points of some of those buds switch from vegetative to reproductive growth. It's still a bud at this point. After time, the current crop is harvested and the tree goes through winter dormancy.

During this time from late summer the previous year to early spring of the next year, the cells in that bud undergo floral differentiation and the flower parts of the developing bloom form inside the bud.

As winter passes and spring brings warmer weather, those buds will finally open and bloom into the flowers from where our apples will come. Those buds that have been dormant over the winter will start to show some green in the tips and ultimately after several days will emerge into the beautiful blooms we see in our orchards each spring.

Of course, from that point, our honeybees and other insects will pollinate those flowers and they will eventually form fruit. Those fruit grow throughout the summer until they are ready to pluck from the tree.

So you see, that apple that you pluck this fall is already on the tree. It just needs some time, some good management from the farmer and a helping hand from Mother Nature to become that delicious fruit we all love so much.