Sargent's Crabapple

Sargent's Crabapple
Malus sargentii
(MAY-lus) (sar-JEN-tee-eye)

This is another picture from spring. This Crabapple has beaten the odds growing in thankless conditions to turn into a handsome specimen. Sargent's Crabapple was hybridized at Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum in 1892 and is named after their first director, Charles Sprague Sargent.

This tree doesn’t grow as tall as some crabs but it does grow wide. I would call it more of a shrub form than a tree. Kind of grows more like a Viburnum. The apples are a shiny red. The only knock against his tree is that it flowers and fruits heavily every other year. It seems to have good disease and pest resistance. There are a couple of other cultivars worth noting in the sargentii species including the dwarf ‘Tina’ and the little larger and much newer ‘Candymint’.