We just got back from two weeks in New England where I spoke at a couple places, did a radio interview, and we visited about a dozen orchards. It was breathtakingly, heartbreakingly beautiful; you don’t realize the desert we live in here in Riverside until you visit somewhere with abundant trees and water.
What they also have in abundance is apples, all shapes, sizes, and colors. We tasted them up in the northern reaches of New Hampshire all the way down to the “Banana Belt” of New England in central Massachusetts. Some were wonderful, others were not so wonderful. Timing means a lot with apples; a week too early or too late will make a great apple mediocre, and I’m willing to give allowance for that. But I will say that from what we tasted the best of our hot-climate apples proudly hold their own when compared to ones from these northern reaches in regards to flavor, texture, and color. I’ll be doing some comparing and contrasting the next few days, as well as sharing some more photos from this rich, colorful region, like the one below (yes, all of these are real places, not postcards).
Apples and Oranges 
Kevin, you picked the best time of year to visit our part of the world. I very much enjoyed meeting you and your wife, and I hope the rest of your trip was rewarding.
Why shouldn’t some apples do better in hot climates? It is a very diverse fruit. I am sure that some of the southern varieties I have sampled were not at their best because they grew here and not someplace warmer.
Is your radio broadcast online anywhere?
It was good meeting you also, and the rest of the trip was splendid. I’ll do some posts on apples we’re picking now that seem to favor our climate over New England’s. I’ll also post when the radio spot is up.