Scarlet Brandywine® crab apple trees

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• Self-fertility: Self-fertile
• Blossom colour: Pink
• Blossom colour: Pink - dark
• Fruit colour: Orange

Scarlet Brandywine is a new crab-apple which features a mass of dark pink flowers, and in spring is possibly the most attractive of all crab-apples.

The reason for the superb blossom is that, unusually in a crab-apple, these are "double" flowers, with many more petals than the simple "single" flowers of most crab-apples. As a result the blossom looks more like that of a flowering cherry than a crab-apple, and close up the flowers resemble miniature roses.

To add to the spring interest, the blossom also has a rose-like scent.

The large leaves are an attractive dull green with bronze shades. 

Scarlet Brandywine bears very small fruitlets but the main autumn interest is the leaves, which turn to orange-red.

Scarlet Brandywine crab apple trees for sale

Pot-grown

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

• PG12-year 12L pot-grown tree, Semi-vigorous rootstock£73.00< 5 in stock
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

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Need help?

Ask our fruit tree experts on 01759 392007 or fill in our contact form.

Tree specification

Photos of trees as supplied | Tree sizes and forms

Next deliveries

Delivery from week commencing 2nd February 2026 onwards.

Delivery charges

Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.

Growing and Training

Scarlet Brandywine belongs to the Prairie Crab species of crab apples and is therefore cold-hardy and easy to grow.

It grows with a strongly spreading habit.

As with many double-flowered or dark-blossomed crab-apples, the pollen is sterile and will not pollinate other apple varieties.

Although it flowers quite late in the crab-apple flowering season, Scarlet Brandywine blossom has very poor frost-resistance and a bad overnight frost will create ugly brown patches on the flowers. If a cold snap is forecast try to cover the tree with horticultural fleece.

History

Scarlet Brandywine is closely related to Malus Brandywine. Although Scarlet Brandywine has arguably the more impressive blossom, the flowers of Brandywine are not far behind, and it has larger fruitlets in the autumn. It is hard to choose between them.

British-grown trees

Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK. Find out more.

All our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance. Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS. Find out more.

Guaranteed fruit trees

When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden while it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund, subject to some conditions. Find out more.

More about crab apple trees

We have a huge range of crab-apple trees, with blossom colours from white to dark crimson, and fruitlet colours from red to orange to yellow, and lots of different sizes and forms.

It is well-known that many crab-apples (especially the ones with white blossom and green leaves) are excellent pollinators for mainstream apple varieties. This is because they produce huge quantities of pollen, usually over a long period, and with good compatiblity. Evereste, Golden Gem, Golden Hornet, John Downie and Red Sentinel are popular for this purpose.

While crab-apples are primarily used for their ornamental value, many are also useful for crab-apple jelly, and providing natural pectin for cooking with.  Have a look at Laura, Jelly King, Pink Glow, and Harry Baker.