My yearly trawl through reams of digital photos, deleting and labelling as I go, has begun early. Not only does this attempt to impose some kind of order into my life give the illusion that I am in control, it also gives me an opportunity to share some of these snaps and the reminisces they invoke. And I don’t have to go outside.
This picture of brace of crab apples was taken on a December meander around the gardens of Chambercombe Manor, not far from where we live. I do love a crab apple and often recommend them when asked for advice on a small tree for the garden. Beautiful blossom, abundant fruit, good autumn colour, wildlife friendly with few pests or diseases to ruin the party. Near perfect.
Off The Edge Gardening 
I also love crab apples yet don’t yet have one. Malus ‘Sentinel’ was looking stunning at Rosemoor last Friday.
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The ones at Rosemoor were heavy with fruit the a couple of weeks ago, have the blackbirds eaten them all yet?
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I have a crab apple and it’s the weirdest tree. Not only has it been very slow growing, the growth it has made is strange and reminds me of a drowning octopus throwing throwing its tentacles up and shouting help. If indeed such a thing could happen. Splendid flowers in the spring give it kudos though.
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I feel slightly alarmed and slightly sad, do you get fruit?
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It’s an ornamental tree, so very tiny ones.
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Oh, I was just about to feature crabapple in my weekly rant on one of these upcoming Wednesdays! We have nice fruiting crabapples at the farm, but only because they were planted a very long time ago. No one grows them here anymore. My rant about the flowering crabapples is that, in order to avoid a tangled thicket of branches, ‘gardeners’ prune everything off, so that they don’t bloom! Why bother growing them if they can not bloom?!?!?!? There are two across from where I work a few days weekly that were just pollarded. They bloom so perfectly back in about 2011, but not since.
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A Tony rant, there is nothing better! You have had a mini one here, will that be enough? I think bad pruning has a lot to answer for.
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I should do it on my own time, on Wednesdays; but at least you do not mind if I do a mini one here.
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That is fine, mini is OK.
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As long as the recipients of your advice are alerted to the possibility of a neighbourly exclamation along the lines of “You have crabs!” Though, perhaps because of the summer weather, I don’t have anywhere near as many as I had last year.
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Hilarious, every time! Your tree is beautiful, is it Red Sentinel?
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I love crab apples too; neat, compact tree, blossom and then beautiful long lasting fruit.
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