May 14, 1910 



HORTICULTURt 



725 



The Most Ornamental Crabs 



At no season of the year is the Arnold Arboretum so 

 attractive, from a floral point of view, as the present 

 and many and beautiful are the attractions presented to 

 the observant visitor on every side. Each special group 

 has its own claim upon the individual, and whether it be 

 the celebrated lilacs, the deciduous rhododendrons, the 

 wonderful cornuses or the flowering pears all are sur- 

 passingly beautiful and combine to make this famous 

 garden a delight to the eye and a pleasure to all who 

 love nature at her best. It is, however, the flowering 

 crab-apples which I would draw special attention to in 

 this note and no more beautiful shrubs or small trees 

 exist for the embellishment of American gardens. The 

 only regrets one has is that they are not more extensively 

 planted. The best flowering crabs belong to what is 

 botanically known as the Malus section of Pyrus and 

 this in turn is a member of the gi'eat order Rosacea3 

 which includes many of our most ornamental shrubs. 

 These Maluses certainly have many claims upon the 

 garden lover as they produce enormous quantities of 

 blossom in spring, their foliage remains in good condi- 

 tion till the fall and many of them carry a profusion of 

 ornamental fruits. They are extremely easy to culti- 

 vate and never fail to produce a galaxy of flower and, 

 what is of supreme importance, they are not seriously 

 affected by any of the injurious insects if the ordinary 

 precautions of spraying are taken. From the florist's 

 point of view it would seem that they are particularly 

 valuable as no flowers are more eagerly sought after 

 when obtainable and the small amount of attention 

 necessary to have them in good condition should strong- 

 ly recommend them to those engaged in commercial pur- 

 suits. 



To produce good flowering sprays or shoots for flor- 

 ists' work it is advisable to prune the flowering wood 

 hard back as soon as the flowers are over so that good 

 shoots are procured for next season and it should be 

 remembered that the blossoms are produced on the pre- 

 vious season's growth. By this system of pruning the 

 plants can be kept within moderate dimensions. Prop- 

 agation is easily effected by grafting and the most desir- 

 able stock to use is Pynis Malus though P. baccata can 

 be used but it appears that the former is the longer 

 lived. Varieties are now extremely numerous and for 

 some of the most desirable of them we have to thank 

 Jackson Dawson who has for many years labored to im- 

 prove the Malus section. That wonderful variety Malus 

 Arnoldiana will ever remain a monument to him. 



The following varieties though by no means exhaus- 

 tive will be found to include the mast ornamental. 



Malus floribunda, a native of Japan, is one of the 

 most desirable and makes an excellent specimen where 

 it has sufficient room to develop. The flowers are white 

 suffused with rose, of good size and produced in great 

 numbers along the full length of the branches. The 

 variety of this, named atrosanguinea is one of our hand- 

 somest flowering shrubs being a decided dark red color, 

 and the habit is frequently pendulous. 



M. Niedwetzkyana is particularly ornamental and 

 very distinct from any other species. The flowers are 

 large, extremely showy and a peculiar rosy-red color. 

 This Malus fruits quite freely and these are permeated, 

 as also are the leaves and bark, with a reddish tinge. 



M. Halleana or Parlonanii is one of the most beauti- 

 ful with rosy-red flowers which are semi-double and last 

 for a considerable time in good condition. This varie- 

 ty and M. Scheideckeri which has large flowers deeply 

 flushed with pink, are two excellent subjects for forcing 



Pyrds Malus Arnoloiana. 



Growing in the Garden of Wm. J. Stewart. 



in pots, for which purpose they might be much more 

 largely and profitably employed. 



Among the single-flowered varieties M. Arnoldiana 

 has no superior if an equal. Even young plants flower 

 abundantly and a well-established specimen in good 

 condition is unsurpassed by any spring flowering shrub. 

 The flowers are very large, white on the inner side and 

 heavily suffused with dark red on the outer which makes 

 an excellent contrast. The slightly pendulous habit oi 

 the long branches adds to the beauty of this exquisite 

 shrub which should find a place in all gardens. 



M. Sargentii is also extremely effective, the flowers 

 being very pure white and somewhat later than the 

 majority. This is a very valuable shrub, of medium size 

 and worthy of the name it bears. 



Malus spectabilis and its varieties furnish some of the 

 most ornamental small trees, the most noteworthy of 

 which is M. spectabilis Riversii, which has very large, 

 double, deep rose flowers and is the best of the double 

 forms. M. spectabilis with single flowers two inches 

 across and its variety Kaido with richer colored blos- 

 soms are very ornamental and the foliage often colors 

 richly in the fall. M. baccata, the crab-apple of Siberia, 

 is a beautiful small tree and very conspicuous when 

 loaded with bright red fruits. The varieties cerasefera 

 with scarlet and lutea with yellow fruits are worthy of 

 inclusion. 



Undoubtedly the finest of all the double-flowering 

 crabs is M. loensis flore-pleno, which does not flower till 

 the end of May. The individual blossoms are very 

 large, sweetly scented and a warm rose in color. This 

 makes a remarkably handsome tree or large bush. 



Other good crabs are Eingo, a Japanese species ; Daw- 

 soniana which is very effective as a specimen on grass : 

 Malus flore-albo-pleno : baccata floribunda, and Toringo. 

 a pleasing dwarf variety. 



