crabapples

Crabapples Might be Worth Growing at Home

DanFruits & Vegetables, Specialty Crops, This Land of Ours

Why crabapples might be worth growing at home. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.

crabapples
Daniel M. Hendricks-Flickr
Lake Lou-Flickr

The term crabapple tree refers to pretty much any wild apple tree, and the term crabapple, refers to the significantly smaller apples. Like domesticated apples, they produce five-petaled flowers that can range between white and red. These flowers are pollinated by insects, likely bees, and they often require cross-pollination to produce viable fruit.

Martin LaBar-Flickr

Crabapple trees are fairly easy to grow. Though susceptible to much of the disease issues of orchard apples, they are wily cousins that can survive a bit better. Like many fruits, particularly ones that are on the sour side, crabapples make for tasty jellies and jams.

Crabapple trees are a great addition to large and small landscapes, are agreeable to most USDA Hardiness Zones, and once established, crabapples are drought-resistant. Aside from offering up a useful and nutritious fruit, crabapple trees are a delight to have around.

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Crabapples Might be Worth Growing at Home

Video: Crab Apples facts & history by Wholesome Day

Crab apples are one of the ancestors of the cultivated apple of which there are more than 6,000 varieties, it grows throughout Europe and can live to up to 100 years. Mature trees can grow up to around 10 meters in height. They have an irregular, rounded shape and a wide, spreading canopy. With greyish brown, flecked bark, trees can become quite gnarled and (read more)…..