Malus
Ornamental crab apples are a big favourite at Bowhayes Trees with their profuse spring blossom and colourful fruits. We're delighted to offer a beautiful range of varieties that will be a great addition to any garden, small or large.
When choosing your perfect tree, there are many characteristics of the Malus species to consider, from blossom, fruit colour, fragrance and shape. Talking of shape, we love our little weeping Malus 'Royal Beauty' - it's an ideal solution for a focal point in a small garden with year-round interest.
Colourful displays of spring blossom from pink, cream, white, red, burgundy and red-orange are all options to consider. What's really appealing about crab apples is that the bud's colour is often completely different from the emerging flower, giving a stunning multi-tonal effect to the tree. An exceptional example of this is Malus perpetu 'Evereste', where scarlet buds fade to pink before opening in a flurry of large, crisp white flowers. Crab apple flowers also come in different forms, from single and semi-double to double. Double-flowering varieties can last for up to nearly two weeks! You can expect to see blossoms between mid-spring and late spring, depending on varieties and regions. Another brilliant fact about crab apples is during the glorious springtime flowering period; they attract bees and other pollinators by providing an excellent source of nectar, which will help the production of other nearby vegetables and fruit crops.
The fruits of crab apples are also likely to surprise us with an assortment of colours ranging from pink, bright red, crimson, dark purple, bright orange and yellow. They appear in late summer to early autumn, providing yet more seasonal interest to these pretty trees, with fruits often lasting long after the leaves have dropped. Biting into a crab apple is likely to give you a little shock of bitterness, so we don't recommend doing this! However, we do have two varieties, 'Jelly King' and 'Indian Magic', that are particularly good for use in cooking or making jellies.
How does your blossom smell? Ideally, really lovely! It's true, some crab apple blossom is beautifully scented, so if it's a fragrant tree that you're looking for, we have just the one, Malus x robusta 'Red Sentinel'. Additional noted features of this lovely ornamental tree are its beautiful pink buds with emerging pink-white flowers, followed by large bright red fruits that last long into the winter, feeding your garden birds or even providing you with delicious jelly. If you fancied going for a homemade Christmas decoration style, then these fruit-laden shoots look fabulous cut and nestled in greenery.
We also have to acknowledge the varying shapes and sizes of crab apple trees, from upright and rounded, vase-shaped, columnar and weeping. A large crab apple can reach heights of up to 9m-10m, but don't let that put you off, as the majority are medium-sized trees with an average height of 3m-4m. We tend to recommend the smaller varieties of flowering crab apples as these are far more versatile in terms of fitting into any space or growing in pots for a patio or courtyard. Our range would fit any sized garden.
Last but not least, we couldn't end without a mythological fact! Did you know that crab apples have been long associated with love and marriage? And apparently, to determine if the person you love actually loves you back, you threw a pip into a fire whilst saying their name, and if it exploded, then they love you! Use that information as you so wish!
For more wonderful Crab Apples, check out our selection here.
To learn more about how to care for your trees, call the team on 01404 8122229 or email us at contact@bowhayestrees.co.uk.