My mother grew this crabapple for me until it was a few inches tall and passed it off to me. The parent trees she grew for the last 20 or 30 years on their own roots. As your likely aware the base of such trees becomes covered in sucker growth at times and needs regular maintenance. This tree is one of the secrets to my current experiment on apple breeding in Kansas. Look past its beauty for a minute and notice the unique foliage, heavy bloom set, hardiness with no spray and think about this trees future potential. It’s one of my many experimental new trees and i have hundreds of them. Some new trees are pears, some apples, different locations and various factors. I feel i’m close to something that will really help everyone. My mother grew this as an open pollinated seedling of 2 large nearly identical trees that grew fairly true to type seedlings. I will influence crosses between this and other crabapples, and large apples. This tree is nearly wild in everyway so the seeds wil readily sprout and grow. Im attempting to grow an agreesive wild apple that will make my blackberries look tame. Remember in my family we may take 50+ years growing something and passing it to the next generation. I’ve taught my sisters children to graft before they graduated school.
That tree strongly resembles many of the seedling crabs in this area. Most appear to have at least some characteristics/traits of Red Splendor crab
That is a beautiful crab apple!
How is it/would be for hard cider? I’m just beginning a journey planting cider apples and crabapples.
these is a old crabapple that grows on the University of Maine at Ft.kent campus that is so pink with blooms in spring the tree looks solid pink/ purple from a distance. its about 20ft tall and looks exactly like what youre growing. no one does anything to this tree and it produces many hundreds of dark red/ purple 2in. fruits that are red all the way thru. i need to get permission to pick that tree next fall.
Wow, 2" for a crabapple.
yep. they are the biggest crabs ive ever seen. i even ate them strait up when i worked security there… a liitle on the tart side but very good for a crab. would make some great juice, sauce and jam!
Collect some wood while you’re there would you please, Steve?
I’ll put it in the fridge until grafting time. Should you be there and should you remember.
Dax
if i can remember next time im in the area i will.
tu one typing hand
minor surgery thankfully, got lucky today
@northwoodswis4 tu earlier for a good surgeon and luck!
Dax