Cool Plant Alert

Jennifer Polanz

While I was at MANTS in January, I stopped by the Bailey Nurseries booth. While talking with Marketing & Communications Manager Ryan McEnaney, he told me about a cool tree that’s new-ish to the First Editions Shrubs & Trees lineup that I wanted to highlight here: Green Wall Spire Crabapple. This spring-blooming beauty is a columnar tree (5- to 6-ft. wide and up to 20-ft. tall) that can be used as a privacy screening or a specimen planting. In spring, pink buds form, turning into white blooms for a striking display before red fruit emerges. The green foliage turns bronze in the fall for multiple seasons of interest. It’s hardy in USDA Zones 2 to 8, so most of the country. GP