Plant John Downie for a Crab Apple with Flavour.

Posted by TopVeg - November 22nd, 2007

Crab-apple-flowerThe only Crab Apple cultivar recommended for culinary use is ‘John Downie’.

This tree (Latin name - Malus John Downie) produces large, rich orange and red fruit with a good flavour, which are wonderful for making preserves. The fruit of John Downie is unusual because it does not overwinter on the tree.

John Downie is a vigorous tree producing masses of cup-shaped, white flowers opening from pale pink buds in late spring. Upright becoming conical with age it makes an excellent ornamental tree for a small, urban garden. It flowers best when situated in full sun.

crab-apple-tree

Apart from John Downie, the best flavoured crab apples are wild hedgerow forms. Good ones can be propagated from cuttings, and even grafted! Seedlings are likely to be useless.

The best time to plant a crab apple tree is in the winter months of November, December, January or February. The Crab Apple to plant for a good flavoured fruit is the cultivar ‘John Downie’.

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Delia's Kitchen Garden: A Beginners' Guide to Growing and Cooking Fruit and Vegetables

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2 Comments »

  1. They have a John Downie crab apple at the RISC roof garden (http://www.risc.org.uk/garden/) and the garden co-ordinator loves it to bits!

    Comment by Emma - November 23, 2007 6:20 am

  2. Emma - no wonder the co-ordinator at the Risc roof garden loves the John Downie - it must be magic to see the flowers & then the apples - high up in the middle of Reading!
    TopVeg

    Comment by TopVeg - November 26, 2007 12:49 pm

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