A close up of crab apple flowers. The blossoms are many times bigger than the fruit that follows.
The fruit of this apple tree, beloved by birds and animals is too tart for humans. It's also too tiny to utilize for canning or cooking and would take lots of sugar to tame its tarty nature.
Lying out on the balcony the other day I became aware of a lovely floral fragrance. Less bold than lilac, lighter that a rose, less cloying than gardenia or jasmine - I can only describe the light sweetness by what it is not. This gentle, sweet fragrance wafting and filling balcony and the rooms beyond must be the apple tree. The mock orange had since ceased to bloom. Nothing else could be the culprit that might be nearby.
It must be the apple tree. It simply must! Each blossom's subtle aroma compounded by many thousands until it became knowable to my nose.
Sticking my nose into a bundle of blossoms...Yes! It is the crab apple! When living at the Cottage I grew Red Rome Beauties and Mackintosh apples for eating, juicing, canning, but never caught a whiff of a scent from those smaller, but productive blossoms.
This tree cools the sun-heated air that enters my home on its warm south side. The wee, moist exudations of hundreds of thousands of leaves mitigates heated air passing through its canopy and thus to me and into my home. Want to cool your home? Plant a tree to shade its hot south side!
Windows situated away from its influence on the same south side must be closed on warm days to keep my home cool.
Beauty, blossoms, cooling, attracting wildlife, soft sweet fragrance! It's all here in this lovely tree.
* * *
Crab Apple Notes:
Crab apples make wonderful pollinators for apple trees humans like to grow and eat.
Crab apples bear the loveliest blossoms of the entire apple family. From white, to shades of pink, and into deep rose, crab apples will adorn orchard or garden with a spectacular Spring show.
Comments