Crabapple Sugar Tyme
Crabapple ‘Sugar Tyme’ in bloom at Missouri Botanical Garden (www.mobot.org)
* Common name: Crabapple Sugar Tyme(R)
* Botanical name: Malus ‘Sutyzam’
* What it is: A small, upright, ornamental tree that’s covered with bright-white flowers in April. It then produces berry-sized red fruits in fall that hold into early winter before birds clean them off.
* Size: 18 feet tall, 15 feet wide.
* Where to use: Best as a front-yard specimen in full sun. Also useful for growing-season screening in sunny side yards and around a patio if you don’t mind the possibility of some fruits falling on it (or birds depositing what’s left of them).
* Care: Prune off crossing or excess branches each winter or after bloom. Remove lowest branches as tree grows. Once established, no watering or spraying should be needed. An annual spring scattering of Tree-tone or Plant-tone is optional.
* Great partner: Blue Siberian squill bulbs for spring color; hardy geraniums for a summer-blooming underplanting.