Its showy, dark pink to red flowers are what draw most people to the prairifire flowering crabapple.
The stunning, long-lasting spring blossoms are a sight to behold. But this variety also offer year-round beauty with its changing leaf color.
Glossy maroon or purplish-red in spring, the leaves become dark green with purplish-red veins in the summer then a beautiful bronze color in autumn.
And to add to its visual appeal, the prairifire flowering crabapple is disease-resistant and able to adapt to many different site conditions.
History/Lore
The tree was introduced by Dr. Daniel Dayton, University of Illinois, in 1982 as a disease-resistant cultivar. His misspelling of the name was intentional.
Crabapple trees are actually members of the rose family, Rosaceae. As with roses, there is a never-ending desire to develop a new form and give it a fanciful name. This has resulted in approximately 800 cultivars of crabapples.
https://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?ItemID=820
Original photo's by @paradise-found
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