My mother is going to buy me a tree for my birthday (it'll actually have to wait a month or two.) And I'm looking for advice from people in my neck of the woods. At a local mall, there is a row of trees that I pass that have had tiny little berries (apples?) all winter. I believe they are crabapple trees. I understand that at this time of year birds start feeding on them as they have softened over the winter. The trees are small and very attractive all winter. I do have junipers and they've had rust on them in the past which I usually cut out. I also have a Hawthorne tree I planted that I shouldn't have, and they exchange the spoors. The junipers have been heavily browsed and have been dying off for years. Slowly they are being removed.
Anyway, I'm looking for a variety of crabapple that has little apples and doesn't grow very big. It's going in my butterfly garden on the east side of my house. Gets full sun most of the year. It'll give me a vertical element in that garden.
Any suggestions?
Crabapple trees
I would go for a dogwood, prettier and the birds like the fruit!
I love dogwoods, but isn't disease a problem with them in your area?
If you go with a crabapple, there are lots of newer cultivars that have small, "persistent" (don't drop) fruit that the birds absolutely love and which helps them get through the winter (robins, cedar waxwings, and bluebirds especially).
Some great, disease-resistant cultivars you might consider are: 'Coralburst' (10'X10') with coral buds opening to double rose-colored flowers; 'Lollipop' (10'x10') with white blooms & amber fruit; 'Snowdrift' (20'x20')with pink buds and white flowers, glossy orange-red fruit; 'Sugar Tyme' (18'x15') with profuse white blooms and red fruit; 'Royal Raindrops' (20'x15') with pinkish-red flowers, bright red fruit, and attractive, deeply-lobed purple foliage; 'Candymint' (10'x15') with blossoms of unique light pink petals edged in red, very abundant deep purple fruit; and 'Harvest Gold' (22'x18') an upright grower with single white blooms and golden fruit. So many to choose from!
I think the dogwood is too big for the location. We have dogwoods on the back of the property.
Depends on the cultivar of DW. You could also use virburum, trained as tree.
Hoosier, thank you. What fun to look at. These are all beautiful. And many of them are quite small. It's really the fruit for the birds and the small stature that I'm interested in.
dem, I have a few viburnum, as shrubs already.
I planted two Sugar Tyme's 20 feet apart. One is flourishing, one died. The remaining one grew an assymetrical limb I had to lop off. After 5 years it is about 8 ft tall and 7 ft wide.
'Indian Summer' seems like a nice pink variety.
candyinpok, The person to go to is Viburnumvalley. See his post on the thread below and then look at the zillion of posts that he has made about them in the plant files. He may show up here to answer your questions as he is a pal of many of us on the NE forum. I bet he sniffs out your query like a hobo on a ham sandwich. Great trees. You could d-mail him. Super with help. Patti
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/699887/?hl=crabapple
You can find certain viburnum cultivars grafted as a standard, and they are quite attractive. However, the most fruitful ones are usually sold as shrubs, not standards. Also, if you have more limited space, Cotoneaster apiculata (Cranberry cotoneaster) can be found as a standard and birds love the fruit (photo).
The picture that brings to mind! Too funny
There's a great hobo joke, but it's probably the grossest joke in the world (not dirty, just yucky). Anyone up for it?
Fire away
WARNING: Don't read this just after eating!
Two hungry hobos were walking down a country road on a freezing cold winter's day. They came upon a roadkill possum, frozen stiff. The first hobo looked at the second one and said, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" The second one replied, "I sure am hungry." So, the first one said, "Me too, but you can have first dibs." The second one said, "No, you can go first." This went on for a few more moments before the second one finally said, "OK, I sure am starving."
So, the second hobo starting in on the frozen roadkill. After the first few bites, he said, "This isn't too bad. In fact, it's really good!" He kept gnawing until the roadkill possum was completely eaten up. He said, "Awh, I'm really sorry. I was so hungry I couldn't help myself."
The first hobo told him, "That's OK. Maybe we'll find another roadkill later."
So, they started walking down the road again, but after about 15 minutes, the second hobo stopped and said, "Oh oh. I don't feel so good. I think I ate too much." After a few moans, he doubled over and threw up the entire roadkill possum.
Rubbing his hands with delight, the first hobo said, "Great! I knew if I waited, I'd get a warm meal!"
LOL, thanks for that warning!
what was that:)
You guys are too funny. The conversations links are so unpredictable.
Hoosier, I have a cranberry cottoneaster growing as a shrub. It's one of the ones that I may have lost this year, I don't know, but it doesn't look good right now.
Patti, Viburnumvalley has been my go to person for my viburnums. He helped me understand the pairing you have to do to get fruit for the birds. It may now be obvious that I have a preference for natives with wildlife potential. I didn't know he was also the source for crabapples. That's great. I did a search on Daves, but didn't notice the thread you linked.
I found a list of crabapples on line while I was searching the names Hoosier gave me before. I came up with a variety "Camelot" it's supposed to be 10x10 and very disease resistant. Has anybody seen one? Grown one? I think disease resistance as well as size will be a priority.
candyinpok, VV is a wealth of crab info also wines and chocolate. Not to forget Ilex and Hamamelis. I am a stalker all things native too. Patti