A slice of heaven for fruit lovers: One of the world's greatest apple displays is about to take place in Devon

Europom is coming to England. Every year, it choreographs a spectacular show of autumn fruits in a different European country. This year’s event will be held at RHS Rosemoor in Devon on October 3–4. Try to get there—you will learn a lot and enjoy yourself enormously.

Europom was founded in Switzerland in 1989 as a Europe-wide association of fruit-lovers determined to preserve ancient and local varieties. Its members are the fruit societies of Europe's nations, but, as we do not have a national society in Britain, we are represented by the Royal Horticultural Society — hence the choice of Rosemoor, in Devon's cider country.

Exhibitors bring mainly apples, pears and quinces from about a dozen countries across all Europe for a feast of learning, talking and tasting. You will be encouraged to admire, taste and talk about the fruits — it is a revelation. Why do we not have apples as aromatic as ‘Ananas Reinette’, introduced in 1820 and which, despite its name, is a denizen of the Rheinland? Why do we not grow ‘Münsterbirne’ and ‘Gelbe Wadelbirne’ pears? Answer, because English nurserymen do not sell them and since Brexit we have been unable to import them directly.

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In 2018, I went to a Europom in France. One apple of every variety at the show — there must have been about 2,000 different cultivars — was taken and laid out on long trestle tables, graded as closely as possible by colour so that visitors could try to identify those whose names had been lost or never known. They were encouraged to handle and smell the apples. Some exhibitors brought other fruits — you will probably see feijoas, persimmons and figs, too. I remember a splendid exhibition of walnuts from an Austrian enthusiast, including the red Danube variety known as Juglans regia ‘Rote Donaunuss’. The skin of the kernel was red or purplish-red, but the other major difference was the taste — very mild, with no hint of bitterness, and with a delicate smell. I admired hazelnuts, too, such as the giant ‘Hallesche Riesennuss’ from central Germany and the historic Piedmontese ‘Tonda Gentile delle Langhe’, the best, I was assured, for making gianduja.

National Fruit Show 2023 — Fruit lovers are in for a treat in October 2026, just as they were at the National Fruit Show back in 2023, pictured here.

It was the apples that I went to see in 2018. Apples may be our national fruit, but it is fair to say that the heartland of modern apple history is Continental Europe, from Russia to Spain, and especially in Germany, France, Scandinavia, Benelux and the Alpine countries where social and economic conditions in the 19th and 20th centuries made possible the development of a very large number of different varieties. Nevertheless, I was surprised to discover that the French did not know our best English apples, from ‘Discovery’ to ‘Egremont Russet’, ‘Pitmaston Pine’ and ‘Ashmead's Kernel’. Mind you, the French invented the word chauvinisme: the only English apple you will ever see in a French market is ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’.

I asked the exhibitors about their favourite apple varieties. The Danes recommended ‘Filippa’ and the Swedes suggested ‘Bodil Neergaard’. The Italians spoke up for ‘Annurca’ and claimed that the Ancient Romans brought the variety now known as ‘Court Pendu Plat’ to France 2,000 years ago. The Germans had dozens of delicious cultivars — richly aromatic ‘Freiherr von Berlepsch’, for example, and pineapple-tasting ‘Prinz Albrecht von Preussen’.

Did you know that the biggest producer of apples in the world is China? Or that there are more than 100 Welsh pear varieties, most of them selected for making perry? That Ireland's National Heritage Apple Tree Collection in Co Clare conserves over 200 apple cultivars of Irish origin? That German nurseries list more than 50 quince varieties?

Europom always lays on a series of lectures and the RHS has excelled itself in asking experts to speak at Rosemoor. Dr Matt Ordidge is one of them — he is the scientific curator of our National Fruit Collection at Brogdale Farm in Kent. The promising young horticulturist Lawrence Weston, who trained at Rosemoor, will be talking about the wild fruit forests of Central Asia. Among the visitors, Hans-Thomas Bosch will be lecturing about Heritage Pear Trees of Southern Germany. Bosch is one of Germany’s experts in apple identification (as well as grapes); there are thought to be about 1,500 apple varieties cultivated in Germany.

Go and discover Europom for yourself. Alas, it clashes with Brogdale Collections's annual Apple Fair in Kent — wonderful Brogdale has 150 acres and nearly 3,500 varieties of apples, pears, quinces and more. What a pity one can't be in two places at once.

Europom at RHS Rosemoor takes place on October 3-4 — see more details.

The Brogdale Collections's annual Apple Fair in Kent also takes place on Octotber 3-4 — see more details.

This feature originally appeared in the September 9, 2026, print edition of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.

Charles Quest-Ritson is a historian and writer about plants and gardens. His books include The English Garden: A Social History; Gardens of Europe; and Ninfa: The Most Romantic Garden in the World. He is a great enthusiast for roses — he wrote the RHS Encyclopedia of Roses jointly with his wife Brigid and spent five years writing his definitive Climbing Roses of the World (descriptions of 1,6oo varieties!). Food is another passion: he was the first Englishman to qualify as an olive oil taster in accordance with EU norms. He has lectured in five languages and in all six continents except Antarctica, where he missed his chance when his son-in-law was Governor of the Falkland Islands.