Malus Royalty - Crab Apple

Malus 'Royalty' is one of the best varieties of ornamental apple tree with purple foliage. This small tree combines several qualities: its early, abundant and fragrant ruby red flowering in spring, its dark purple foliage turning red in autumn, and its small dark red apples resembling cherries that persist on the branches until mid winter. Its habit is upright, spreading with age. Attractive throughout the year, it will be magnificent as a specimen tree.

Ornamental apple trees are derived from various botanical species of the genus Malus belonging to the Rosaceae family. Hardy, adaptable and easy to grow, Flowering apples are content with ordinary soil but prefer loamy, deep, loose and fresh soil and sunny exposures. Once established, they are low maintainance and have a generous character. Numerous cultivars have been developed, in Europe as well as in the United States, which are more attractive and disease-resistant. 'Royalty', on the other hand, was developed in Sutherland, Canada in the 1960s. It is part of the "Rosybloom" series of ornamental apple trees, hybrids obtained from Malus niedzwetzkyana, a species native to Central Asia bearing red-fleshed fruits.

'Royalty' ornamental apple tree has an upright habit when young spreading over time. Its average dimensions at maturity are about 6m (20ft) in height and 4m (13ft) in spread.  It maintains a harmonious shape without the need for pruning.

Flowering occurs as early as April, in the form of numerous buds of an almost red pink colour. They open into single flowers, 3.5 to 4 cm (1 to 2in) in diameter, dark and intense purple pink in colour. These flowers, gathered in small clusters, contrast beautifully with the young leaves, which are reddish purple to bronze, and will lighten and turn green in summer, before turning red again in autumn. The flowers are followed by the formation of a multitude of small apple-like fruits, 1.5 to 2 cm (1in) in diameter. At maturity in late summer, they are dark red in colour. Highly appreciated by birds, these fruits remain attached to the bush for half of the winter, until December. The deciduous foliage is composed of elliptical, alternate and toothed leaves. Note that this variety is quite susceptible to fire blight.

Malus 'Royalty', like many flowering apple trees, is a good pollinator for early-flowering fruit trees. Its flowering, abundant but perhaps less long lasting than that of flowering cherry trees, is prolonged by the beauty of its foliage from spring to autumn and the beauty of its fruits. The habit and bark add to the charm of this remarkable plant with an astonishing personality. It will find its place in a medium to large-sized garden, in an informal hedge, accompanying, for example, large shrubs or climbing roses trained as bushes, evergreen Viburnums and lilacs. When space is available, ornamental crab apple trees, planted in a large hedge or on a slope, create a rather magical display in spring and autumn with their often sumptuous colours at the end of the season.