Aurora Golden GalaTM apple

USDA identification images for Aurora Golden Gala

The identification paintings in the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection span the years 1886 to 1942.

Citation: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705.

Visitor reviews

• 02 Apr 2018  United States

  I've found these apples off and on at the local Butera. This year (March 2018), the color looks paler and the apples are smaller in size. Some were bruised but were still crisp and juicy. They travel better than they look. This time I paid more attention to the taste. It does have the deeper, smoother, lingering sweet taste of honey. The Aurora apples I got this time around had bites of peach and faint floral jasmine. I don't know how this was managed but the flavor is beautiful. It seems to change from year to year. Is there anyway to create flavor consistency for each year? Would love to plant one of these apple trees in the US midwest.
• 20 Feb 2017  CALIFORNIA, United States

  Just discovered this variety at a Safeway in San Francisco this year. It's now my favorite snack apple. Very pleasantly sweet with a little spiciness. Much firmer than Golden Delicious, with a nice thinner skin. Bruises somewhat easily, but who cares when an apple is this juicy and crackly? The availability was pretty short, so I'm looking forward to next year already. Just about the perfect snack apple in my opinion. Should be much more widely known...
• 04 Nov 2016  Canada

  Nov.5,2016 Apple eater here. Just purchased 20 # of these beauties fromWesthamIsland Herb Farm out on the Fraser River. Waxy skin, bite in and you are sprayed with sweet, floral juice. Best eating apple for me this season from B.C. and I'll make an apple pie tomorrow to test bake-ability. It's one of the best that has come out of Summerland Station and I wish more growers would grow it! Does anyone know if it can grow OK on the coast?
• 10 Dec 2014  WASHINGTON, United States

  I tried the Aurora in an apple pie this Thanksgiving and it gave a nice balance to the tarter apples without getting mushy. I'm now a fan.
• 18 Oct 2014  BC, Canada

  Aurora Golden Gala is indeed developed in British Columbia. I originally tasted it as 85-69-23 perhaps 10 yrs ago. The flavour seems quite variable: in previous years I've described it in my notes as "mild and sweet and a bit boring" but this year has quite a strong sweet flavour with more complexity and a little afterkick in the mouth. Definitely not just sweet.
• 04 Oct 2014  CALIFORNIA, United States

  This apple has shown up in our local grocery produce department for three years now. It's wonderful! I wait for it each year.
• 21 Mar 2014  VA, United States

  Unfortunately, i have only been able to find the Aurora apple in one store in NOVA. It is, as the other reviews say, a great tasting apple. It is pleasantly sweet with a medium crisp. Definitely my favorite!
• 23 Dec 2013  PENTICTON, Canada

  This is a great eating apple - crisp and sweet and it also stores very well, my favorite! (and I've tasted many different kinds).
• 17 Mar 2013  BC, Canada

  These apples are indeed a splendour and gala cross, as are the Salish and Nicola. These apples have a very light and sweet flavour (many people comment on them being pear like). The apples also make great pies or crisp as you can easily cut back on sugar. I have a few in my fridge still, and they are still amazingly crisp and juicy despite having been stored for nearly 6 months.
• 06 Jan 2013  WA, United States

  Just had our first sampling of the Aurora. It was delicious. Sweet, crisp and juicy. By a rule I don't like golden delicious type apples. But I certainly would buy these.
• 19 Mar 2012  WA, United States

  I have sampled Aurora several times and it is one of the apples I would rate highly for flavor. Certainly among the best that is likely to be available in supermarkets locally. As for its origin, according to the B.C. Min. of Ag., Aurora Golden Gala (8S6923) "resulted from a cross between 'Splendour' and 'Gala' made at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre (PARC), Summerland, BC." http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/treefrt/product/aurora.htm This is supported by Dr. Cheryl Hampson, and seems very likely since the Summerland station has been breeding and testing different Splendour x Gala crosses for some years now. Unless and until it is refuted by DNA evidence, this should be considered the accepted origin.
• 21 Feb 2012  CALIFORNIA, United States

  Can't stop eating them. Very sweet, crisp, clean. Light, snappy texture. Almost like a water chestnut. No, that's not a complaint, that's a compliment. Get them.
• 02 Sep 2011  WA, United States

  I work in a produce department in Seattle and our store makes a point of bringing in the greatest number of apple varieties that are available to us. The Auroras we get are claimed by the growers to be a cross between Golden Delicious and Gala (not a color morph of Braeburn as your page says, nor a cross between Gala and Splendour as Wikipedia says). They are medium sized, solid yellow, and somewhat tall. The flavor is reminiscent of the best Golden Delicious you've ever had, but sweeter and spicier, and the texture is firmer like a Gala. In my opinion, it's easily one of the best sweet snacking apples; and during it's short window of availability, it's our most popular apple (keep in mind that Golden Delicious is probably the least popular common apple in our store).

Tree register

We don't have any registered trees for this variety yet. If you have a Aurora Golden Gala tree you can register it here.

Where to buy fresh fruit

The following orchards grow Aurora Golden Gala:

Canada

• Ontario

  • DeVries Fruit Farm, Fenwick