Crimson Cascade

Crimson Cascade is a new weeping crab-apple, featuring long whippy branches which flow down almost to the ground.

The main spring attraction is the mass of dusky pink blossom. The blossom is a combination of single and semi-double flowers.

In summer the cascading branches and green-bronze leaves make the tree a useful focal point in the garden.

In autumn the tree displays small round dark red/purple fruitlets.

Growing and Training

Weeping crab-apples usually remain fairly small, up to 2m or so but Crimson Cascade will eventually become a fairly large weeping tree, up to 3m or more in good conditions.

History

Crimson Cascade was raised by retired chemist Alan Warwick in Yorkshire, UK in the 1980s. At a time when almost all new plants are developed in huge university breeding programmes, Crimson Cascade was discovered the old-fashioned way - by planting a pip and watching it grow. In this case the pip was from a crab-apple called Malus x purpurea 'Aldenhamensis'. Crimson Cascade resembles Aldenhamensis in almost every respect except one - Aldenhamensis grows with a regular upright-spreading habit, whereas Crimson Cascade is strongly weeping. However, the branches of Aldenhamensis are quite long and whippy and it is not hard to see how a weeping form could have arisen from it.

Crimson Cascade was shortlisted for the Plant of the Year award at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2017.

Crimson Cascade characteristics

• Gardening skillBeginner
• Fruit persistencePersistent
• Self-fertile?Self-fertile
• Pollinating othersPoor
• Pick seasonLate
• Picking monthOctober
• Food usesNot suitable for humans
• PruningNo need to prune
• Country of originUnited Kingdom
• Period of origin1950 - 1999
• Fruit colourRed - dark

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