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How To Choose The Right Flowering Crabapple for Your Garden

Malus, Crabapples, Crab Apples, Spring Flowering Trees

Flowering Crabapples, Crabapples, Malus, Plant Combinations, Border Ideas, Spring Borders, Summer Borders, Companion Plants, Fragrant Treess, Small Trees, Winter Fruit, Fall Fruit

Among the most prized of ornamental trees, flowering crabapples have long been a staple of landscape gardening. They are best known for their spectacular display of magnificent blooms in spring and colorful fall fruit. Their summer foliage, small stature and various tree shapes add to their charm and give them year-round interest.

Most gardeners are unaware of the wide range of characteristics offered by Malus species and their cultivars in terms of flower color, fragrance, fruit color, fruit retention, fall foliage, tree shape, and disease resistance. These are key elements to consider when selecting a flowering crabapple. Consequently, you should not eliminate varieties merely by flower color alone, or you may end up with a less than optimum tree with limited interest.

Crabapple Flower Color

In the springtime, crabapples unfold their deep carmine, red, pink, or white buds and explode in a spectacular display of clouds of white, cream, pink, magenta, red, burgundy, red-orange and orange-coral. Often the combination of rich red buds opening to pure white blossoms adds to the sheer beauty of the floral display

  • Crabapple blossoms come in several forms – single, semi-double, and double. Some look like miniature roses while others have fringed or cupped petals.
  • Typically, Flowering crabapples bloom throughout a 4-5 week period starting in mid spring with Malus baccata (Siberian Crabapple), the earliest, and ending with Malus coronaria (Wild Sweet Crabapple) and Malus ionensis (Prairie Crabapple).
  • Peak crabapple bloom time is mid-spring to late spring, depending on regions and varieties. The average flowering period is about 10 days, although very hot days or windy conditions with rain can cut this down to 5-6 days. Double-flowering crabapples generally have a longer period of blooms, up to 12 days.

Guide Information

Hardiness 4 - 8
Heat Zones 1 - 9
Plant Type Trees
Genus Malus - Crab Apple
Exposure Full Sun
Season of Interest Spring (Mid, Late)
Summer (Early, Mid, Late)
Fall
Winter
Soil Type Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand
Soil pH Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Soil Drainage Moist but Well-Drained, Well-Drained
Characteristics Cut Flowers, Fragrant, Showy, Fruit & Berries
Tolerance Drought
Attracts Birds
Landscaping Ideas Beds And Borders, Small Gardens
Garden Styles City and Courtyard, Informal and Cottage, Traditional Garden
Malus ‘Prairifire’ (Crabapple)
Malus ‘White Angel’ (Crabapple)
Malus × moerlandsii ‘Profusion’ (Crabapple)

Crabapple Fragrance

Many crabapple blossoms are delightfully fragrant, but some are not. Some have the wonderful fragrance of apple blossoms, others have an exotic Oriental fragrance resembling cinnamon or cloves. Among the most fragrant crabapples are Malue coronaria, Malus ionensis, Malus coronaria ‘Charlottae’, Malus Brandywine, Malus Madonna, Malus Satin Cloud.

Malus ‘Brandywine’ (Crabapple)
Malus coronaria var. dasycalyx ‘Charlottae’ (American Crabapple)
Malus ioensis ‘Prince Georges’ (Crabapple)

Crabapple Fruits

From fall into winter, crabapples put on a terrific display of colorful fruit in a wide array of colors, including pale lime, chartreuse with yellow highlights, various shades of gold often rouged with pink, orange or bright red cheeks, bright orange, crimson, carmine, burgundy or even bishop’s purple. Their color parade can be enjoyed for months unless hungry birds feast on them.

  • Fruit can be large (1-2 in. or 2.5-5 cm), medium-sized (0.5-1 in. or 1.3-2 cm), small (0.25-0.5 in. or 0.6-1.3 cm), or mini-fruited (less than 0.25 in.). Generally speaking, the smaller fruits are an asset as they do not fall, rot or litter the yard.
  • If you want a flowering crabapple with terrific winter interest, you may want to select a tree that holds its fruit and retains its color for a long time. Your crabapple tree may become a banquet for wildlife in winter when food is scarce or difficult to find due to snow cover.
  • Flowering crabapples with persistent fruit
Malus × robusta ‘Red Sentinel’ (Crabapple)
Malus × zumi ‘Golden Hornet’ (Crabapple)
Malus × zumi ‘Professor Sprenger’ (Crabapple)

Crabapple Foliage

Crabapple trees develop a thick canopy of ovate, oval, or elliptical leaves in summer. Their lush foliage may be bright green, dark green, or purple. In fall, many varieties clothe themselves in brilliant color, including golden-yellow, red, orange, or bronze, before shedding to the ground. When the leaves fall, they reveal the glorious color of the fruit covering the branches. You can almost see the birds drooling in anticipation of the feast to come.

Crabapple Shape and Size

Another great asset of the flowering crabapples is the wonderful variety of tree shapes. Most are upright of rounded and spreading habit, but there are also columnar, vase-shaped, or weeping varieties of great beauty.

Malus ‘Camelot’ (Crabapple)
Malus ‘Coralburst’ (Crabapple)
Malus ‘Snowdrift’ (Crabapple)

Crabapple Disease Resistance

Last but not least, you need to make sure you select a healthy, disease-resistant crabapple. Crabapples are susceptible to four major diseases which can cause early defoliation, disfigurement, and weakening of trees.

  • Apple scab is the most common and most serious of the diseases, especially in areas with plenty of springtime moisture. It disfigures the fruit and defoliates the trees. It appears on leaves as olive-green spots with a velvety, grayish surface. In midsummer, leaves often turn brown and drop from the tree.
  • Fireblight occurs less frequently but is more serious because it kills bark and can spread to the main trunk and kill the tree. Affected blossoms, shoots, and branches turn brown and have a scorched appearance, hence the name fireblight.
  • Cedar apple rust is common where red cedar and crabapple are planted near each other. Orange spots or swellings appear on crabapple leaves, fruits, and twigs.
  • Powdery mildew appears in midsummer as patches of grayish-white powder on leaves and fruit.

Breeders have been busy improving the disease resistance of flowering crabapples, and there are many disease-resistant cultivars available. However, it is important to note that there may be significant regional differences in disease resistance – a cultivar that performs well in one area may do poorly in another. This shows the importance of choosing cultivars well suited to particular climates.

To help you select the best flowering crabapple for your yard, we have compiled lists of varieties and cultivars that consistently perform well per geographic area.

Discover These Helpful Guides for Further Reading

Best Flowering Crabapples for Midwestern Gardens
Best Flowering Crabapples for New England
Best Flowering Crabapples for Southern Gardens
Best Flowering Crabapples for the Mid-Atlantic Region
Best Flowering Crabapples for the Pacific Northwest Region
Great Companion Plants For Your Flowering Crabapples
Compare All Malus (Crab Apple)
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Explore Great Plant Combination Ideas
Malus (Crab Apple)
Guides with
Malus (Crab Apple)
While every effort has been made to describe these plants accurately, please keep in mind that height, bloom time, and color may differ in various climates. The description of these plants has been written based on numerous outside resources.

Guide Information

Hardiness 4 - 8
Heat Zones 1 - 9
Plant Type Trees
Genus Malus - Crab Apple
Exposure Full Sun
Season of Interest Spring (Mid, Late)
Summer (Early, Mid, Late)
Fall
Winter
Soil Type Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand
Soil pH Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Soil Drainage Moist but Well-Drained, Well-Drained
Characteristics Cut Flowers, Fragrant, Showy, Fruit & Berries
Tolerance Drought
Attracts Birds
Landscaping Ideas Beds And Borders, Small Gardens
Garden Styles City and Courtyard, Informal and Cottage, Traditional Garden
Compare All Malus (Crab Apple)
Compare Now
Explore Great Plant Combination Ideas
Malus (Crab Apple)
Guides with
Malus (Crab Apple)

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