This crab apple is showing an abundance of fruits in the Winter Garden.
Containing 35 species the apple and crab apple genus Malus occurs in woodlands of Europe, Asia and North America. All have attractive five-petalled, spring flowers, and edible fruits. Malus x robusta ‘Red Sentinel’ is one of the crab apples. Reaching a height and spread of seven metres, it produces clusters of single white flowers in spring, and a mass of glossy red fruits to 2.5 cm in autumn. These may persist through winter, though are often stripped from the tree by birds before the end of November. ‘Red Sentinel’ arose from a cross of the Asian Malus baccata and Malus prunifolia made by Notcutts Nursery in the 1950’s.