Malus purpureus Aldenhamensis - Crab Apple

Malus `x purpurea Aldenhamensis is one of the smallest ornamental apple trees, with an adult size that will not exceed 3m (10ft) in all directions. With a strong identity, it is also one of the most decorative, due to its early deep pink flowers, the beauty of its foliage, and its abundant and colourful fruits that ripens late in autumn.  From early spring to early winter, a beautiful range of pink-purple, light pink, purple, brown, bronze, and violet tones succeed each other on the vegetation of this resilient little tree. This old variety, easy to grow in ordinary soil, undoubtedly deserves to be rediscovered.

Ornamental apple trees are derived from various botanical species of the Malus genus belonging to the Rosaceae family. Hardy, adaptable, and easy to grow, flowering apple trees thrive in ordinary soil but prefer deep, loose, and moist loam and sunny a position. Once established, they can thrive even if neglected, while retaining their beautiful appearance. 'Aldenhamensis' was discovered in England in 1915.

'Aldenhamensis' descends from Malus (x) purpurea, the purple-fruited apple tree. The latter is a horticultural hybrid created around 1900. A large shrub or small tree, it has a stocky habit and becomes as wide as it is tall: its short trunk supports a rounded and wide crown, giving this apple tree a bushy yet distinctly spreading silhouette. Its growth is quite slow, with average dimensions at maturity of about 2.75 m (9ft) in height and 3 m (10ft) in spread. It maintains a beautiful shape without the need for pruning and develops relaxed wood covered with a smooth brown bark that darkens and flakes with age.

Flowering occurs in early April, more or less early depending on the region. It takes the form of numerous buds of a deep reddish-brown colour. They open into single and semi-double flowers with a diameter of 4 cm (2in), initially dark red-purple and quickly becoming light purple. These flowers, grouped in small clusters, bloom before the young leaves. The flowering is followed by the formation of a multitude of small apples resembling cherries, with a diameter of 2 cm (1in). When ripe in October-November, they are brown-purple to bronze-washed violet. Highly appreciated by birds, these fruits remain on the bush during half of the winter, until December. The deciduous foliage is beautifully coloured: the young leaves emerge purple and then become bronze, remaining bronze-green until summer and turning yellow-orange before falling quite late.

Malus Aldenhamensis, like many flowering apple trees, is a good pollinator for early-flowering fruit trees. This small tree has more presence than a flowering cherry tree. Its abundant flowers may be less long-lasting than that of the cherry, but this detail is compensated for by its eye-catching foliage from spring to autumn, the beauty of its fruits, and its elegant habit. It will find its place in gardens of all sizes, in a free hedge, for example, accompanying large English bush roses or climbing roses trained as bushes, hawthorns, lilacs, or serviceberries. When space is available, ornamental apple trees, planted in a large hedge on a slope, create a rather enchanting scene not only in spring but also in autumn, due to their often sumptuous colours at the end of the season.