Crabapple

~ Amusives

If you have a Crabapple Tree in your yard, you know there can be such a thing as too many crabapples. If you offer your crabapples to the local wildlife –  deer, rabbits, squirrels, foxes, bears, raccoons or coyotes for instance –  you won’t ever have to deal with too many crabapples. You might end up with wild life problems, however…

I planted six Purple Spire Columnar Crabapple trees a few years ago. This year we harvested the three crabapples you see in this photo. Too many crabapples might not be a problem for some time.

Plant Profile
Common Name: Purple Spire Columnar Crabapple
Scientific Name: Malus x ‘Jefspire’
Hardiness: to Zone 3
Growth: Purple foliage; full sun; 10 to 20 feet tall (8 meters); 5-10 feet wide (2.5 meters); columnar form; slow growing
Blooms: Sparse pink flowers in spring.
Fruit: Flavorful but often very tart
Origin: A seedling from the controlled cross ‘Thunderchild’ and ‘Wijcik made by Dr. David Lane of the Summerland Research Station in British Columbia

If you plant crabapples, don’t count on harvesting Golden Delicious.
– Author Unknown –

11 thoughts on “Crabapple”

    1. My mom used to make crabapple jelly. If my trees ever get prolific enough, I’ll have to try making them into something!

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  3. Those pictures are awesome Margy. They also bring back some great childhood memories when the uncles and aunts used to all have crabapple trees. I would love to find and plant some of those.

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    1. Apparently there are hundreds of cultivars to choose from, though here in zone 3 there are far fewer. I chose the Purple Spire for hardiness and because it will grow taller than wider.

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