Plant of the Month: Adirondack Crabapple

With a mature width of only 10-12’ and height of 16-18’, the Adirondack Crabapple is the perfect ornamental tree for narrow spaces and formal gardens.  This “crab” is profusely covered with dark carmine red buds in the spring that explode into fragrant, elegant white “apple blossom” flowers. It is one of the heaviest flowering crabapples and requires virtually no pruning.

In addition to this, during the summer, the ‘Adirondacks’ upright habit combined with its dark green leaves makes it the perfect focal point for any garden.  In the fall, its bright orange-red fruit provides an excellent food source for our fine-feathered friends which persists into the winter.

Unique in form, elegant in flower, colorful in fruit, the Adirondack Crabapple is a tree for all seasons. It has been described as a “nearly perfect” crabapple and has received one of the highest ratings for aesthetics by the International Ornamental Crabapple Society.

Contrary to its name, the Adirondack Crabapple is neither from the Adirondacks nor is it used for building Adirondack chairs.  It was imported from East Asia where it is goes by the common name of chui si hai tang.