Other Names:  Flowering Crab

Description:

At maturity, this stunning selection will have a lovely flat-topped silhouette; covered with pinkish red blooms in the spring; deep reddish-purple foliage changes to orange in the fall; vigorous and disease resistant

Ornamental Features

Cardinal Flowering Crabapple is covered in stunning clusters of fragrant fuchsia flowers along the branches in mid spring, which emerge from distinctive red flower buds before the leaves. It has attractive deep purple deciduous foliage. The glossy pointy leaves are highly ornamental and turn an outstanding orange in the fall. The fruits are showy dark red pomes carried in abundance from early to late fall.

Landscape Attributes

Cardinal Flowering Crabapple is a deciduous tree with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This tree will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Cardinal Flowering Crabapple is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Cardinal Flowering Crabapple will grow to be about 15 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 20 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 3 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more.

This tree should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.