10 Apr '06 7:20 pm I bought these what I call Cherry Blossom Trees at an auction unnamed. I would love to know what their real name is.
Everyone asks me as they are a real picture. The leaves change to a beautiful burgundy colour in winter then before you know it they have the blossom (way before spring). Then they get green leaves late spring which slowly change colour.
Any ideas??
Jack Holloway
Passionate Gardener
SEQUOIA FARM Haenertsburg South Africa
Malus purpurea?
11 Apr '06 4:28 am Hi Goose!
I don't have my books with me, but if the leaves tend to be reddish all year then this looks like what I think is Malus purpurea (the purple crabapple). I will go check. THe leaves aren't as purple as Prunus nigra (aka P. cersivera or something like that) which are a solid wine-red colour. Rather they seem to have the green shining through the wine-red. The fruit are also a deep wine-red; the whole effect is of the same wine-red pigment overlaying a 'normal' crab - leaves, blossoms and fruit. I will take some pics of mine to compare.
Liza
gardening consultant
Waterloo, Belgium
Beautiful Tree...
11 Apr '06 5:22 am Dear Goose, according to your description, photos, and also the photograph AND description of my (precious) huge book, your Tree seems to be a Malus "Royalty". In order to verify yourself my hypothesis, you can search the plant by its name in Google/Images.
goose
Weekend Gardener
Coatesville , Auckland
Malus Royalty
11 Apr '06 9:55 pm Thanks Liza thats great. The images on Google and my photos do look very much alike. I will need to take a closer look at the berries after flowering. I dont remember if they looked like those images or not. But Malus Royalty sounds great to me.
Jack Holloway
Passionate Gardener
SEQUOIA FARM Haenertsburg South Africa
Malus Royalty?
12 Apr '06 8:15 pm My books describe Malus Royalty as the best of the purple-leaved malus, so I hope that is what you've got
I took pics yesterday of three different trees I have as Malus x purpurea (correct name now!), and was astonished just how different they were. I should add that my source might well have propagated from their own seedlings, so I am suspicious of the exact naming of all my prunus and malus! In fact I am not even certain if all three came from the same source. In general South African naming of clones is non-existant anyway, when compared to Europe and the UK - I don't know how good NZ is - comments would be appreciated! In the final analysis, after looking at Google Images (wonderful source, aren't they, Liza ) I think M. 'Royalty' is a form of M x purpurea...
