Growing crabapples

I’m really trying to not sow any seeds indoors this year because they take so much space. Also, seedlings need lots of attention. Last year I had a house full of seedlings; vegetables, annuals, perennial, even shrubs and trees! So I’m trying to avoid all that clutter now.

But just yesterday I tried getting some crabapple seeds out of the dried apples I had already forgotten about. They were Malus ’Cowichan’ seeds, formerly known as Malus ‘Kadetti’ in Finland, because the specimen was first found growing in Helsinki, by street Kadetintie. It was only recently that the researchers found out it’s actually ‘Cowichan’, thanks to modern test methods. It’s not supposed to be growing this north, but I found a tree growing on the yard of an apartment building where I used to live before. When I was still living there, we planted a Malus‘Makamik’ right next to it. ‘Cowichan’ has lovely rose-pink flowers while ‘Makamik’ blooms are a little darker.

So last fall I did some apple picking at my own neighbourhood and got apples of both varieties. Both types are beautifully red. ‘Cowichan’ apples are bigger and rounder than those of ‘Makamik’.

Unfortunately I was too lazy to further process the apples… well, what I mean is that I forgot to harvest the seeds, left the apples on a plate to dry, and now they are almost rock hard. I’m not even sure if the seeds are still viable, but lack of knowledge never keeps me from experimenting, so I dug out some seeds yesterday, sealed them in a plastic bag and put then in the fridge. I’ll try to sow them soon, even though it means I will have some pots full of soil in the fridge for a few months. That’s nothing new. Last spring I had plenty of pots in the fridge just to make the seeds believe they’re overwintering in very nice and mild conditions. Or at least very controlled conditions compared to those outdoors. I could go and have a peek every now and then, which I can’t do if the pots are buried in the snow.

'Cowichan' or 'Kadetti' above and 'Makamik' below.

I also have some rose hips drying out too. I should try to remember this tonight and try to see if there’s anything to be saved any more. I have some lovely Finnish cultivars growing in the garden, and I would like to see what their seedlings would look like.

I did manage to grow some apples last year, and now I’m eager to see if they survive the winter! I had some seedlings of an edible garden apple, but as the name tag had been lost (or stolen by a magpie?) I completely forgot the name of the cultivar. I also bought some crabapple seeds of the cultivar called ‘Prairiefire’. The seedlings were beautiful! All of them had leaves with varying shades of red. I would have planted them all over the garden, if my plot only was big enough. But as it isn’t, I only planted two of them. I hope they will do well over here up north, because trees are like babies in a sense that those you grow yourself are the most beautiful ones, just as every mother has the most beautiful child.

I already have some crabapples growing in my garden. I have chosen my two favourites, and the third one is a tree that I bought last autumn for a good discount. So I just couldn’t leave it behind, I had to bring it home. That one is ‘Hopa’. The other two are ‘Royalty’ and ‘Aamurusko’ (=”Dawn”), both pictured below.

 

I don’t think ‘Hopa’ is special in the way these two are, but I like pink blooming trees, so it can stay. ‘Aamurusko’ is not the hardiest one of the cultivars, so I’m kinda trying to stretch the hardiness zones here. Then again, this tree is not the only one testing its limits in my garden, so it has fairly good chances to survive when compared to some other plants (no, I won’t admit that I have several magnolias planted in my garden as well). Anyway. I’d better sow those ‘Cowichan’ seeds this year, just in case that none of my existing crabapples survive. And if they do, I will be planting more crabapples anyway – maybe at night on my neighbours’ yard, as I don’t have any more space for trees on my own yard.

'Cowichan' aka 'Kadetti'