Prairie Fire® Malus 'Prairie Fire' is an outstanding small American crab-apple. The main attraction is the abundant stunning dark pink blossom - helped by flowers which are quite large by crab-apple standards.
Seen from a distance on a spring day, particularly in the early morning or late afternoon, the tree really does look like a fire.
In autumn the red cherry-like fruitlets are also quite large, and useful for wildlife. In areas with warm autumn days and cool nights the leaves take on golden hues.
Prairie Fire crab-apple trees for sale 1 1-year bare-root
tree
£32.95
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2 2-year pot-grown
tree
£54.95
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Pre-ordering You can pre-order now for delivery from late September 2021 for pot grown trees (or early December for bare-root). You do not need to pay at this stage - just add items to the basket and checkout as usual.How to grow Malus 'PrairieFire' is easy to grow and not usually troubled by diseases. It has a distinctly spreading habit.
History Malus 'Prairie Fire', more correctly known as Malus 'Prairiefire', was developed by Daniel Dayton at the University of Illinois in the 1980s. The university was part of the highly-regarded disease-resistant apple program of the "PRI" co-operative of Purdue, Rutgers, and Illinois universities . Many of the PRI varieties have the letters "pri" in their names, and Prairiefire maintains this tradition.
Like many of the newer crab-apple varieties it is far more disease-resistant than the old traditional ones.
Prairie Fire characteristics Attractive features Attractive flowers Attractive fruit Attractive tree / plant Scented flowers Growth habit Upright-spreading Height after 10 years 2.5m-3.5m / 8ft-12ft Pruning Light prune Flower colour Pink - dark Flower form Single flower (5-8 petals) Flowering month April Leaf colour Green Leaf colour - autumn Orange / Gold Fruit colour Red Fruit size Large Fruit persistence Ripens over a period Country of origin United States Wildlife RHS perfect for pollinators Attractive to birds Annual cycle Deciduous What will it look like? Illustrative example of a pot-grown tree of this variety as supplied.
Approximate girth: 6/8cm.
Trees should reach their mature height after about 10 or more years.
We may also have 1-year bare-root trees of this variety - they are not shown here.
How to choose a crab-apple tree We list more than 40 different crab-apple trees. Choosing can be difficult! See our article explaining the different characteristics of crab-apple trees which will help you narrow down the selection.
Choose from over 280 flowering cherries, crab apples, rowans and other ornamental trees.