Summer 2021 - important noticeWe are now accepting pre-orders for delivery from late September for pot grown trees and December for bare-rooted trees. More>
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Royal Beauty

Malus Royal Beauty is a classic weeping crab apple, with cascading crimson blossom in the spring.

In autumn the tiny crimson hawthorn-like fruitlets provide further interest. Their small size makes them very popular with small birds, which can eat them whole.

Royal Beauty is an excellent choice if you want a feature weeping tree in a relatively small space.

Our 2-year pot-grown trees are likely to blossom in the spring following planting.

Royal Beauty crab-apple trees for sale

  • 11-year bare-root tree £27.95
    Medium size (2.5m-3.5m after 10 years)
  • 22-year pot-grown tree £47.50
    In a 12L pot
    Medium size (2.5m-3.5m after 10 years)
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

If you wish to have more control over the height at which the branches start to weep, we sometimes have 1-year bare-root trees of this variety. These can be trained up to about 2m or more using a heavy-duty bamboo cane, giving a bit more height than we usually aim for with our container-grown trees.

After a while you may notice the branches grow long enough to start trailing on the ground. If you don't like this you can prune the branches back by about 30cm on a mild day in the winter.

Royal Beauty characteristics

  • Gardening skillBeginner
  • AwardsRHS Award of Garden Merit
  • Attractive featuresAttractive flowersAttractive fruitAttractive tree / plant
  • Growth habitWeeping
  • Flower colourCrimson
  • Flower formSingle flower (5-8 petals)
  • Flowering monthApril
  • Leaf colourGreen
  • Leaf colour - autumnGreen
  • Fruit colourRed - dark
  • Fruit sizeSmall
  • WildlifeRHS perfect for pollinatorsAttractive to birds
  • Annual cycleDeciduous

Similar varieties

  • See also Crimson Cascade
    Malus x purpurea
    Crimson Cascade
    A new weeping crab-apple with dusky pink blossom and small dark red fruitlets.
  • See also Louisa
    Malus
    Louisa
  • See also Sun Rival
    Malus
    Sun Rival
    A good alternative to Royal Beauty, with arguably more attractive spring blossom.

What will it look like?

Illustrative examples of 12L pot-grown trees 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.

Malus Royal Beauty crab apple tree
Malus Royal Beauty crab apple tree
Malus Royal Beauty top-worked
Malus Royal Beauty top-worked

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.