The Pink Spires Crabapple Tree earned the nickname “roseybloom” for a reason. Its beautiful flowers and delightful fragrance make it a standout choice for home gardening.
If you’re interested in some new, vibrant foliage to landscape your yard or garden, then the Pink Spires Crabapple Tree is an excellent option.
Keep reading to learn how to plant, care for, and enjoy your Pink Spires Crabapple Tree!
Looking to buy a Pink Spires Crabapple Tree? Check availability.
History of the Crabapple Tree
The crabapple tree is native to the mountains of Central Asia. The beautiful, fragrant blossoms of the tree proved to be quite popular.
With the advent of the Silk Road and other trading routes, crabapple trees spread throughout the northern hemisphere and quickly diversified, resulting in over 800 species!
Crabapple trees are particularly sacred to Celtic cultures of Ireland, known as the “Tree of Immortality.”
There are many Celtic myths and legends that feature the crabapple tree, such as the Isle of Apples and stories of the faerie god Aisling.
Characteristics of the Pink Spires Crabapple Tree
Appearance
The Pink Spires Crabapple Trees have rich, bold flowers that start rosy in the spring, turn greenish bronze in the summer, and finally mature to bright red in the fall.
The leaves and foliage of the tree are slim and dark green against the grayish bark.
The fruits of the Pink Spires Crabapple Tree are small, fleshy, and bright red, growing together in clusters like berries.
The tree can grow up to 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide in an upright oval shape.
Flavor
If you bite into a crabapple expecting it to taste like an apple, you might be surprised.
Unlike their more palatable cousins, crabapples are not always suited for eating. Even if they are technically edible, they may be too tart actually to enjoy fresh off the branch.
How to Use and Enjoy the Pink Spires Crabapple
Pike Spire Crabapples, however, can be eaten! They aren’t quite as tart and sour as other crabapple varieties but still aren’t really recommended for fresh eating.
It’s best to cook them down and use them in a delicious, fruit-filled recipe!
Recipes
Because of their high levels of pectin, crabapples make great jellies and jams!
If you’re looking for a twist on the classic American dessert, try out a recipe for crabapple pie. It will be less sweet and a bit crisper than a regular apple pie but will surely taste great, warm with vanilla ice cream.
Health Benefits of Pink Spires Crabapples
An apple a day keeps the doctor away; the same can be said for crabapples!
Crabapples contain high levels of vitamin C and are rich in soluble fiber and polyphenols, which have antioxidant properties.
Crabapples are also high in pectin. You’ll recognize pectin as a thickener used similarly to gelatin in the kitchen.
However, pectin also has medicinal uses in regulating digestion and treating high cholesterol.
Pink Spires Crabapple Tree: A Growing Guide
Basic Care
The Pink Spires Crabapple Tree is a low-maintenance moderate grower that can live up to 60 years.
Like most fruiting ornamentals, Pink Spires Crabapple Trees flourish in full sun. Though they prefer fertile, humus-rich, well-drained soil, they are adaptable and tolerant trees that can survive in many different soil types and acidities.
Plant your tree in the spring or fall when soil temperatures are cooler for the best results. The rosy flowers will bloom in the spring, and as they mature to autumnal colors, the reddish fruits will start to appear.
They prefer moist soil and can benefit from mulching around the tree’s base to retain water. However, it’s easy to overwater the trees, so check the soil’s moisture level before watering to ensure it’s necessary.
To plant your crabapple tree, dig a hole as deep as the root ball and three times as wide. Pink Spires Crabapple Trees can grow up to 12 feet wide, so space them well from other plants, trees, buildings, and powerlines.
Though Pink Spires Crabapple Trees self-pollinate, they can also cross-pollinate with other crabapple tree varieties, which is why there are so many beautiful variations of the tree!
Harvesting
Crabapple trees tend to bloom and fruit in cycles, alternating between heavier and lighter production year to year.
The fruit will ripen in early fall, September on average, and will stick around through December (or even longer if you live in an area less prone to freezing over).
Climate
Generally, crabapple trees are very cold and hardy, and the Pink Spires Crabapple Tree is no exception. They have a long season, and their colors stay bright and beautiful for most of the year.
You can find Pink Spires Crabapple Trees throughout the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere.
Pruning
Pink Spires Crabapple Trees can benefit from seasonal pruning when necessary to keep the tree healthy and colorful.
Prune your crabapple tree in later winter after the worst of the cold temperatures have passed and the tree is dormant.
Disease
Crabapple trees are susceptible to a few diseases that can affect your trees, such as scab, fire blight, cedar-apple rust, mildew, and cankers.
Through careful cultivation, however, Pink Spires Crabapple Trees have high disease resistance, making them easy to grow and care for.
Pink Spires Crabapples are resistant to cedar-apple rust and mildew and have a moderate resistance to fire blight and scab.
The Pink Spires Crabapple Tree’s resistance to these diseases makes the trees easy to care for – but it’s also beneficial for all your plants and trees that might be susceptible to those diseases.
Having a disease-resistant plant or tree in the mix alongside some high-quality fruit tree fungicide can stop the spread of diseases that might wipe out your foliage.
Landscaping
Due to their lovely, eye-drawing color and neat structure, crabapple trees work wonderfully as landscaping features.
The Pink Spires Crabapple is particularly well suited for smaller or urban landscapes. It’s a bit smaller than other crabapple varieties, tolerant, and adaptable to many conditions.
Pink Spires Crabapples keep their leaves and flowers for a long time, turning beautiful colors throughout the seasons until they briefly go dormant in the coldest part of the winter.
As such, they provide ornamental value for months on end!
Crabapples are also very attractive to animals and pollinators. If you don’t like critters in your yard, this may not seem like a positive.
But the more pollinators and animals inhabiting your yard, the more biodiversity you have! Bees, squirrels, birds, butterflies, and even deer all play an important role in keeping the local ecosystem healthy.
Pink Crabapples grow particularly well amongst dwarf lilacs, yew, and creeping phlox and complement them nicely.
Where to Buy a Pink Spires Crabapple Tree
Typically, home gardeners purchase crabapple trees as young saplings to grow in their own yards. It is uncommon to find Pink Spires Crabapple seeds for home growing, and you probably wouldn’t want to grow them from seed anyway.
Pink Spires Crabapple Tree: A Landscapers Dream
From its bright, beautiful blooms to its columnar shape, the Pink Spires Crabapple Tree is an awesome alternative to man-made landscaping and better for your garden environment!
With the Pink Spires Crabapple Trees in your yard, you’re sure to impress any passers-by with your gardening skills. Check out our Crabapple Tree page for more information on planting and caring for your crabapple trees.
- About the Author
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Leah is a writer, editor, and content manager with Minneopa Orchards and holds a master’s degree in English.
She grew up in the south and enjoyed long growing seasons spent in her father’s lush vegetable garden. Buying produce from the store was unheard of in her house!
As such, Leah enjoys writing about gardening and sharing her knowledge and experiences with others.
Leah can be reached at leah@applepiemedia.net