A few weeks ago, a customer stopped by the nursery to look at some trees. She excitedly wanted to share a picture of some trees she had bought a couple of years ago with us. She was in love with the trees she got then, and happy with the way they’ve matured.
One of the trees she purchased was a flowering Crabapple tree. Below is the picture she shared with us.
Isn’t that gorgeous?
We just plain love our crabapples.
Here’s a few Crabapple trees I’d recommend checking out for your next project:
Show Time™ Crabapple (Malus 'Shotizam')
The Show Time™ is an incredible Crabapple variety. It has deep pink flowers that blaze with beauty in the spring time. Showtimes are great for the Tri-Cities Washington and other areas as they have a hardiness zone of 4-8, making it very cold-hearty, and heat tolerant as well.
They reach a mature height of 25 feet, and spread from 15-20 feet, making this a great, small ornamental variety.
These trees turn a dark purple throughout the summer, and yellow in the fall before dropping their leaves. They also grow small berries the size of a blueberry that birds love to eat.
My sister has several of these lining her driveway, and every spring love their flowers beaming.
Royal Raindrops® Crabapple (Malus ‘JFS-KW5’)
The Royal Raindrops® is another beautiful purple leafed Crabapple variety. Like the Show Time™, this tree flowers pink in the Spring, with a slightly less deep pink color. They are just plain incredible.
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The Royal Raindrops Crabapple reaches a height of 20 feet and spread of 15 feet. With that stature, this tree fits in most modern subdivisions, and won’t overwhelm you with size. It has a slightly more upright growth pattern than the Show Time.
With a hardiness zone of 4-8, this tree matches the Show Time in hardiness, and will withstand harsh winter conditions and hot summers in much of the United States.
Starlite® Flowering Crabapple (Malus x ‘Jeflite’)
One last variety I feel is worth mentioning is the Starlite Crabapple. Although it differs from the two above, it is a wonderful choice.
This tree is a white flowering Crabapple, and has green leaves in the summertime. We absolutely love this tree due to its proven disease resistance in our nursery, and cold hardiness. Originally found in Canada,this specimen is in the hardiness zone 2-7, this tree does well in extreme temperatures.
This is a small tree as well. It has a mature height of 25 feet and a spread of 15 feet. It produces small berries that stay on in the winter, and bring in the birds.
We’d definitely recommend this tree if you’re looking for a white flowering tree that is green in the summer.
A Tip to keep your Flowering Crabapples Healthy
I thought I’d share a recommendation on Crabapples if you do end up planting one in your landscape. Make sure to keep your overhead sprinklers water below the branches of your Crabapple. The best option would be to water your trees with a drip line to prevent blight. My sister's trees, (that she loves), have struggled quite a bit since their overhead sprinklers water their branches, and have caused some blight.
Our customer said she has a tree service come treat and maintain her trees annually which is also a great option.
Hope you learned something, and consider these awesome trees in your next project.
