What is the best time of year to plant an apple tree?

[hippipotami]

We are (still) looking into a couple of apple trees for the garden and have found a few varieties we like and which pollinate each-other.

Have we left it too late for this year? What is the best time of year to plant an apple tree?

thanks

We bought an apple tree and planted it last summer around june time. It's really thriving now.

I think it depends whether it's bare-root or pot grown. Bareroot ones (often cheaper) have to be planted in winter/early spring when they're dormant whereas pot grown (more expensive) ones can be planted any time of year. But then you're unlikely to be able to buy bare roots at this time of year anyway. But all of them need loads of water when settling in so planting now means you'll probably need to be more vigilent about watering than if you'd done it earlier purely because of the warmer temps and less rain (IYSWIM)