Crabapples in flower are compact, highly decorative and low maintenance — and some are even edible.
Words Jennifer Stackhouse
Crabapples in full flower are one of the joys of spring gardens when they are laden with blossoms and buzzing with bees. While a crabapple is beautiful in flower, it’s also a productive tree forming apple-like fruit known as crabs that ripen in autumn.
Unlike their close relatives, crabapples are not eaten straight from the tree but the fruit does make beautiful and tasty jelly — a clear red jam — and is also made into a paste known as “cheese”.
Crabapples are rich in pectin and can be boiled to produce pectin stock to set other fruit preserves such as strawberry jam.
But they have another talent that makes them an extra clever crop: they can assist with the pollination of apples.
Unlike true apples, which require a high degree of winter cold to set fruit, crabapples grow, flower and fruit in a wide range of climates, from cool and mountain regions to coastal zones and the subtropics.
To protect its blossoms and maximise fruiting, grow the tree where it’s sheltered from strong winds and hot sun and can help attract bees to the orchard.
Red and ready to eat
While most crabapples are too sour and hard to eat raw, one variety is like a small crunchy apple. As well as having tasty (if slightly tart) fruit, ‘Huonville Crab’ bears fruit with deep-red skin and red-tinged flesh. The tree has colourful dark-red spring foliage, turning dark-green in summer. Self-fertile and a prolific cropper, it provides masses of fruit for eating or for making jelly or pectin. Trees are available as dwarf (to around 1.5m high) and medium (5m).
Crabapple label
Common name: Crabapple
Botanical name: Malus floribunda
Family: Rosaceae
Aspect & soil: Full sun; well-drained soil
Climate: Cool, Mediterranean, temperate, some subtropical
Habit: Deciduous tree
Propagation: Seed, potted plants, bare-rooted (winter)
Difficulty: Easy