How To Choose The Right Flowering Crabapple for Your Garden

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.

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

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.

• Large crabapples can grow up to 40 ft. tall and wide (12m); medium-sized trees reach 15-20 ft. in height and spread (4.5-6 m); small crabapples typically grow up to 10-15 ft. (3-4.5 m).
• The smallest crabapples are the most useful flowering crabapples because they fit in almost any decent space. They are ideal for home plantings, patio and pots, and street plantings. A great number of outstanding crabapples belong to these smaller trees.
• Compare flowering crabapples on the basis of their height and spread as well as hardiness or seasons of interest.

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.