New Zealand fruit tree breeder John McLaren is based in Bannockburn, Central Otago. During his amazing horticultural career he has helped to create a number of red apples varieties. John’s 100% natural methods for creating new apple varieties involve pollinating the flowers of one apple variety with the pollen from another, then raising seedlings  from the resulting pips. While this may sound simple, it can take years to grow seedlings into trees that consistently produce fruit with the best characteristic from each parent. The heart-shaped Sonya apple is John’s pride and joy; an apple so crisp and sweet, he named it after his daughter.