They will need some protection from deer, rabbits, and japanese beetles etc. Which is true of any sweet apple just like honeycrisp the japanese beetles will strip good apple trees.
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I’m looking forward to hearing your report. They really sweeten up in cold fall weather when it is present. They turn super sugary but are still well balanced. Those cold nights make the best apples. Your very fortunate to have those cold fall evenings. Not only are these a late apple they keep the best of any apple i’ve seen.
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@clarkinks I think the reviews on your little crabapple will be coming in this fall. I have sent a lot of material out the last few years and it’s quick to produce.
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It seems to keep growing more in popularity all the time. I love the flavor of it! We will have to see how it does in these other zones to know for sure. I got a hunch it might be time to graft more!
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I showed a picture of Clark’s Crab to the UGA Botanical Garden. Looks like I will buy two extra’s for their two garden collections. Should make a good conversation piece near the entrance to the apple area.
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Anybody have an idea of its ancestry?
Any guesses?
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The apples parents were feral. Because of the ripening times in the fall my guess would be bears, deer, elk etc. Have helped to propogate many generations of these apples. Keeping qualaties are also advantageous to the apple because animals that store food also helped to propagate them. This apple is the epitome of the ideal wild apple. Numerous blooms attract insects, numerous sweet balanced apples attract animals and people and we all intentionally or unintentionally help to propagate more. What we are looking at with this little apple is hundreds of years of natural selection and breeding work by nature. Natures rules are harsh it favors the best. Notice how quickly it produces apples? That is also one of natures requirements. It produces heavy and quickly lots of delicious fruit so that it’s descendants continue to spread prolifically.
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I was spending time with my mom checking out the blossoms and showed her pics of the fruit. Shes so excited. I’ll share what you wrote. That will entertain her imagination:)
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Yes i wont take credit for Gods creation like many do but my eyes recognize quality and my hands coax the seeds along. It has my name because noone had anything else to call it. @39thparallel saw the apple here covered in apples beside several of its siblings and was nearly speechless with surprise. When he finally found his words he said i will help you make this apple available for everyone. I told Mike i don’t want to make one penny from this apple. What i want to do is give everyone an apple that is actually valuable to them and their future generations. I believe this apple is potentially one of the very best for the reasons mentioned. Many new orchardist quit because they work hard but never get any fruit. That can be disheartening after a couple of years. Imagine if you have an apple that begins setting fruit. It becomes a complete game changer. We all know what fruit in the store costs. My actual goal is even bigger. Imagine a world where fruit bushes and trees propagate everywhere on their own. It is exciting to run across a seedling of clarks crabapple at the park or down by the river or outside the cattle pen etc. My grandfather and i were of one mind when it came to growing fruit. Our goal was to breed fruit that can escape and bless people with fruit Blackberries by the gallons .When my family grows fruit we select the hardiest qualaties in plants. One trick i use is when growing seedlings brush them with a branch of fireblight infected wood. Might as well thin them out asap.
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I think the ‘Clark’s Crab’ clearly has Malus domestica in its ancestry, but probably mixed with one or more species of crabapple native (or introduced) to the region where it came from. Was the seed it was grown from of Kansas origin? I was looking at different crab apple species found in Kansas and Malus prunifolia stood out to me based out its somewhat large (for a wild crabapple) looking clustered, round fruit on short stems. I would not be surprised if genetic analysis showed it as a contributor in the lineage of ‘Clark’s Crab’ as well.
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Sounds so much like Circassian Apple. Wildlife selected. So relived my tiny little scions from USDA are finally sprouting with my first stabs at cleft grafts.
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The seeds were from Michigan wild apples. I’m told there are other seedlings in the wild that are similar genetics but not as heavy fruiting. A guy went out and found the best types available.
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Looks like M. prunifolia might be even more widely distributed in Michigan than Kansas. Not saying I know enough to be sure, but I still think it’s a potential genetic contributor.
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Im not sure how much stock to put in native Malus taxonomy, but perhaps Malus coronaria would be a potential contributor to Clark’s Crab genetics? Those leaves are pretty distinctive. Reminiscent of hawthorn
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I hadn’t given much thought to leaf shape yet since mine are still pretty young. You’ve observed lobing like M. coronaria in ‘Clark’s Crab’?
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no, I was referring to the picture Id posted, ostensibly from the botanical literature. Ive not studied ‘Clark’s Crab’ leaves much but they seem pretty typical. I just thought other details seemed to align, like range (MI is mentioned), size (~2”), color (yellow), and flavor (sweet)
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Anyone have pictures of these apples to post? Anyone have observations of how they are doing in their area? @Auburn i would love to see updates on those fruitlets you posted in April! I remember Bill these are just grafts your growing for now, but take my word for it seeing a tree full of the apples is a treat! The hardest part is getting the tree big enough before it starts producing hundreds or thousands of apples! The photos below you took in April look like the original Clarks crabapple! I got a feeling these will be popular with the grand kids!
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I will get some updated pictures soon.
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Looks like they like Alabama weather! @steveb4 i got a feeling they will love Maine also! I’m interested to know where they can’t grow as much as anything else.
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my semi standard tree i got from 39th parallel 2 years ago set about 30-40 apples despite its only about 5ft tall. i fed it well for the 1st time this spring, in March with a thick top dressing of goat and rabbit bedding. my 16mo. old granddaughter will be munching on them this fall. it even set fruit on the trunk about 6in. from the ground. amazing! ill see if i can get some pics of it today. i still have a bunch of scion wood of it i took last spring in the crisper drawer, if anyone wants it to chip bud.
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