Prairie Fire®

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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

All our pot-grown trees are grown for us to our specification by the Frank P Matthews nursery.

All pot-grown trees are suitable for planting out in the garden, some are suitable for growing in containers.

• 11-year bare-root tree £44.00

  
  Medium size (2.5m-3.5m after 10 years)
  

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• 22-year pot-grown tree £73.00

  
  Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
  In a 12L pot
  Medium size (2.5m-3.5m after 10 years)
  

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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 featuresAttractive flowersAttractive fruitAttractive tree / plantScented flowers
• Growth habitUpright-spreading / Vase
• Height after 10 years2.5m-3.5m / 8ft-12ft
• PruningLight prune
• WildlifeAttractive to birds
• Flower colourPink - dark
• Flower formSingle flower (5-8 petals)
• Flowering monthApril
• Leaf colourGreen
• Leaf colour - autumnOrange / Gold
• Fruit colourRed
• Fruit sizeLarge
• Fruit persistenceRipens over a period
• Country of originUnited States
• Annual cycleDeciduous

What will it look like?

Illustrative example of a pot-grown tree of this variety as supplied. Approximate girth: 6/8cm. We try to keep all pot-grown trees down to about 1.5m as supplied, but some may be larger. 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.