TREE OF THE MONTH

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Malus baccata, var. mandshurica

May

How the Siberian crab arrived in this garden, in the 1930s, I'm not sure, but there are few bigger specimens in the country than the one by our churchyard gate, and none, I swear, more beautiful. Its four main stems reach 40 feet high and perhaps 60 in spread. Early to mid May is its flowering time; this year the middle of the month. Brides have been known to time their weddings for a photograph under its snowy canopy.

Its tiny long-stalked red apples are gratifyingly fertile. Within seven years its progeny are showing their simple cup-shaped flowers, but it is no back-garden miniature. It deserves a generous and prominent place, where I suspect it will live for a century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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