There are a number of ways you can positively ID a tree – fruit being the easiest – but flowers can provide a great clue.
With more than 15 types of fruit and over 100 different varieties at our place, we’ve got lots of experience with the way different flowers look.
Fruit blossoms can be very similar across varieties, but most fruit tree types have distinctive flowers.
Learning how apple flowers differ from apricot flowers (for example) is just another tool in your toolbox that will help you to be a great garden detective.
Spring is one of the key times to be paying lots of attention to your fruit trees and even taking photos for future reference.
Find out how to access resources and support to start a community orchard and build food security and resilience.
Fruit tree suckers should be removed every year or they cause problems, but it’s important to do it the right way.
Extending your fresh fruit season with late-ripening fruit trees is an easy way to increase food security and decrease risk.
Apple trees covered in gorgeous white blooms are one of the joys of spring. Their flowers add ornamental beauty while also attracting pollinators before producing sweet, delicious apples in the fall. If you’re considering adding an apple tree with white flowers to your yard, there are several excellent varieties to choose from. In this article, we’ll highlight some of the best white apple tree cultivars and provide tips on how to select, plant, grow, and care for them.
Why Grow a White-Flowering Apple Tree?
Including an apple tree with white blossoms in your garden offers many benefits
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Glorious floral display in spring before leaves emerge. Apple blossoms are among the showiest of all fruit tree flowers
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Lovely sweet fragrance from the blossoms in bloom.
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Attracts pollinators like honeybees, native bees, and butterflies. Apple blossoms provide an early season source of nectar.
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Ornamental interest if sparse or no fruit develops. Many ornamental crabapples and some apple cultivars bloom prolifically but don’t produce much edible fruit.
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Food production from varieties bred for fruiting. Dwarf and semi-dwarf trees produce full-size apples while taking up less space.
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Shade and visual structure once mature, with heights up to 30 feet depending on variety.
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Relatively low maintenance when properly established. Annual pruning and occasional pest management are the main tasks.
In short, flowering apple trees offer multi-season beauty and often practical fruit as well. With the range of sizes available, it’s easy to find one suitable for your specific landscape needs.
Best White-Flowering Apple Tree Varieties
Many apple cultivars bear white or pale pinkish-white blossoms in spring. Here are some of the most popular varieties to consider:
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Honeycrisp – Abundant white blooms followed by crisp, juicy apples in fall. Grows 15-20 feet tall.
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Gala – Profuse white flowers with a faint pink tint. Sweet, red-striped apples. Reaches 10-15 feet.
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Fuji – Prolific delicate white blooms. Large red sweet apples good for eating and baking. Grows 15-18 feet.
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Snowdrift Crabapple – Masses of fragrant, long-lasting white blossoms. Extremely disease resistant. Grows 20 feet tall and wide.
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Zestar!® Apple – Big clusters of white flowers.Early season sweet-tart yellow apples. Managesble 8-12 foot size.
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Golden Sentinel® – Abundant white blooms. Columnar apple tree bearing yellow fruit. Just 6 feet wide but grows 20 feet tall.
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Redlove® Fameuse – White spring flowers with a pink blush. Heirloom apple dating back to the 1600s. Resistant to diseases. 10-15 feet tall.
Look for varieties suitable for your climate and space limitations. Compact dwarf trees work well for small yards, while full-size standards reach up to 30 feet tall at maturity.
How to Choose the Best Spot for Planting
When selecting the ideal location to plant your flowering apple tree, consider the following factors:
Sunlight – Apple trees need full sun, which means at least 6 hours of direct sun daily. Morning sun is especially important.
Soil – Apple trees thrive in deep, fertile, well-draining soil. However, they can adapt to most soil types besides wet or compacted clay.
Spacing – Pick a spot with plenty of room to account for the mature height and width of your variety without crowding other trees. Most need at least a 15-20 foot radius.
Placement – Position the tree to showcase the spring blooms but avoid shading other plants later when the canopy fills out.
Pollination – For the best fruit production, plant another compatible apple variety nearby for cross-pollination.
Choose a prominent place in your landscape to show off your apple’s spring blooms and fall fruit.
When and How to Plant Your Tree
Spring is the optimal time to plant bare-root apple trees once the ground has thawed. Or you can plant potted trees from early spring through fall as long as you provide attentive care while they establish.
Follow these steps for planting your apple tree:
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Dig a hole 2-3 times wider than the root ball but no deeper. The tree should sit at its original growing depth.
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Set the root ball in the hole and backfill with the native soil. Water thoroughly to settle the roots and eliminate air pockets.
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Stake the tree for support the first year. Allow some flex rather than securing it tightly so the trunk can strengthen.
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Apply 2-3 inches of organic mulch like wood chips around the base out to the drip line. Keep it a few inches from the trunk.
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Water young trees regularly for the first two years while roots establish. Mature trees only need supplemental watering during drought.
Proper planting gives your flowering apple tree its best start to thrive for years to come.
Care and Growing Tips
Caring for your flowering apple tree will reward you with seasons of beauty and abundant fruit production. Here are some tips:
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Fertilize in early spring each year with an organic balanced fertilizer or well-rotted compost.
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Prune annually in late winter to shape the canopy. Make thinning cuts on outward buds to encourage horizontal branching.
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Monitor for common apple pests like aphids and treat organically at the first sign. Preventative neem oil spray deters pests.
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Pick up fallen leaves and fruit promptly to prevent disease issues. Rake mulch away from the trunk area.
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Water mature trees weekly in drought. Younger trees need frequent watering the first two years.
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For the best fruit production, plant a second compatible apple variety nearby to cross-pollinate.
With proper care focused on pruning, fertilizing, pest prevention, and occasional watering, flowering apple trees are relatively easy long-lived landscape specimens.
Design Ideas for Using Apple Trees in Landscapes
Here are some tips for creatively working flowering apple trees into your garden design:
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Use as a stand-alone focal point tree to showcase spring blooms and fall fruit.
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Line the edges of your yard with uniformly spaced apple trees for cohesion.
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Plant clusters of different varieties to attract pollinators.
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Scatter through informal cottage gardens for multi-season interest.
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Plant compact dwarf varieties in large containers on patios.
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Grow trained espalier apples against fences and walls.
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Create an orchard by planting in neat rows for an organized look.
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Flank both sides of a straight path to make an allee with apple tree colonnades.
Take advantage of the diverse tree forms available and get creative with placement to transform your landscape into a showstopper.
Flowering Apple Trees Are a Winning Choice
With their spectacular spring blossoms, ornamental and edible attributes, and adaptability to most climates, apple trees with white flowers deserve a spot in every garden. Take time to pick the perfect variety for your specific needs and conditions. Then plant, nurture, and enjoy your flowering apple tree for many years to come. The beauty and utility they bring will delight you every season.
Mail-Order Nurseries
Blue Hill Wildlife Nursery During my hunt for new crabapples, I stumbled onto this unique mail-order nursery located in Pennsylvania that specializes in varieties of fruit that attract whitetail deer for hunters. I’d never heard of anyone wanting to attract deer to their property! Owner Ryan Haines has been working on a collection of fruit varieties for more than 20 years that produce abundantly from a young age, are disease resistant, cold tolerant, flavorful, and very easy to grow. While he offers many different types of standard-size fruit and nut trees, his crabapples and applecrabs (large-fruited crabs) look amazing. If you aren’t easily offended and want a good chuckle, the names of some of the trees are pretty funny, including ‘Deer Candy’, ‘Road Kill’, and ‘Lockdown’. One thing to note is that trees only go on sale once per year in the fall, so be sure to use the “get alert feature” and put the sale date on your calendar because he sells out very fast.
Burnt Ridge Nursery & Orchards This long-standing, family-owned farm located in Onalaska, Washington specializes in northwest-native plants, fruit and nut trees, and a wide selection of ornamental trees and shrubs that are both fruiting and flowering. I’ve been ordering from this wonderful company for two decades now and I’m always thrilled with my order.
Cummins Nursery This small, New York-based nursery grows and ships thousands of fruit trees from their farm each year. They have a great selection, including lots of stone fruit, cherries, pears, and many types of apples—from red flesh to heirlooms to cider—and a good dozen crabapple varieties, too. I’ve always been really happy with everything I’ve ordered from them and love their tagline: “fruit trees for everyone.”
Fedco SeedsThis long-standing, Maine-based nursery specializes in varieties that perform well in cold climates. In addition to offering seeds, potatoes, onions, bulbs, and growing supplies, they also have a great selection of fruiting plants and trees. I’ve gotten a number of really special heritage varieties from them, including almost a dozen different crabapples. Their bare root trees are tiny when they arrive but will take off quickly once in the ground.
Orange Pippin Fruit TreesOrange Pippin offers more than a dozen great crabapple cultivars including the rare (here in the States) ‘Golden Hornet’ variety. I’ve been very pleased with the quality of their trees.
Raintree Nursery This specialty nursery located in Morton, Washington has an incredible selection of fruit trees, nut trees, unusual edibles, and berries, all of which have been carefully selected to thrive in the Pacific Northwest. They also offer native plants, ornamental trees, shrubs, and vines.
St. Lawrence Nurseries This nursery is one of my very favorites and has an amazing selection of fruit trees and fruiting plants. Located in Potsdam, New York, St. Lawrence is one of the only nurseries growing their stock in an extreme climate (zone 3), so anything you get from them will survive even the toughest growing conditions. I love that their tagline is “cold hardy plants for cold hardy people.” Owners Connor and Allyssa use organic, regenerative growing methods and all of their trees are planted, tended, and dug by hand to ensure the highest quality. Be sure to sign up for their mailing list (email [email protected] with your address) in order to get their wonderful printed catalog. It’s filled with stories, art, and colorful descriptions and is worth hanging onto because someday it’s sure to be a collector’s item.
Trees of AntiquityThis treasured mail-order nursery has been growing and shipping heirloom fruit trees around the country for more than 40 years. Their collection is unmatched, with 200 different historical apples available this season alone, including many of the Sweetmeat™ and Rosetta™ varieties bred by Albert Etter. If you search “Etter” on their site, all of these special varieties will come up. In addition to their incredible preservation efforts, Trees of Antiquity is also certified organic. I’ve been very impressed with their quality and selection and am excited to continue adding more of their varieties to our farm in the future.
Why does identifying fruit trees matter?
We know all the varieties of trees in our orchard and garden because we planted them. But if you’ve moved into a property with existing trees, you may have no idea what they are.
Why are we making a fuss about what sort of fruit tree you have? Surely you’ll find out soon enough when the tree has fruit, right?
Well yes, in theory.
But in practice, if you don’t know what sort of tree you have, you won’t be able to give the tree the appropriate care.
And if you don’t look after your tree the right way, there’s a good chance you won’t get any fruit at all. We highly recommend that all fruit tree owners tune into nature and learn to read what their fruit trees are telling them.
But the bottom line is that you risk another season passing and you’ll still be in the dark.
Malus SugarTyme™ (Crabapple) // One of the BEST White Crabapples – A TERRIFIC Small Flowering Tree
FAQ
Are crab apple trees good for anything?
As for as crabapple trees are excellent in desserts such as pies, chips, and tarts. Crab apple enthusiasts also love making them into jelly or jam. The high levels of pectin in these fruits help to give jelly or jam its jiggly texture. It’s up to you how you use these little apples.
Can apple blossoms be white?
Apple blossoms typically range from white to a dark pink, depending on the variety.
Will my apple tree produce fruit if it has flowers?
In early May, apple trees are covered in apple blossoms. In order for the blossoms to become apples, they must be cross-pollinated. This means that the pollen must travel from one flower to another before fertilization can occur. Bees are responsible for this essential task.
What kind of apple tree has white flowers?
Discover More Information On Spring Snow Crabapple – In the springtime, this pretty tree blossoms with stunning white flowers along the edge of the branches.