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The results of the plantexpert.com
worldwide crabapple evaluation trials conducted by Chris Kern. |
| Often I am asked "what is the
best crabapple?". I have found that suggesting a variety that is a great plant
is one area is often regarded as a "dog" in another area. This is the basis of
my crabapple "trials". READ THIS: I am
offering my opinion of a crabapple variety based on an evaluation on one day in one city
during one season. Take that for what it is worth. I found the results interesting and
helpful and thought you might also. Read the notes after the evaluation. Some days I felt
I was harder on the trees than on other days. Or it could have been the trees really were
not as nice looking. I tried very hard to be consistent with my observations. This
is the key: I looked at the plants like I thought your customers might look at
the plants, not like a horticulture professor may look at them (no offense intended). If a
tree is noted as BM (a nice way of saying what your dog leaves in your lawn) I think it is
best avoided. Your customers will wonder why it has almost no leaves or shows other
serious problems. Most varieties had samples of at least 3 trees to over 10. Most trees
were located in the same general area of each other. I wonder if that may exaggerate
disease problems on some varieties. |
Don't miss the exciting photos taken during
the plantexpert.com
worldwide crabapple evaluation trials. |
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Secrest- # |
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Bernheim - $ |
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Cox - & |
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Kingwood - * |
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Malus
- Variety |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
Adams |
+ |
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B |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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* |
^ |
B |
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Adirondack |
* |
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A |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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American
Masterpiece |
* |
^ |
B |
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American
Salute |
* |
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B |
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American
Spirit |
+ |
^ |
B |
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American
Triumph |
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D |
@ |
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Anne
E |
* |
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A- |
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* |
^ |
B |
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* |
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B |
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Arnold |
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+ |
^t |
B |
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baccata
Jackii |
* |
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A |
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Barbara
Ann |
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D |
@ |
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Bob
White |
+ |
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B |
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D |
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Beverly |
+ |
^ |
B |
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Brandywine |
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C |
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Burgandy |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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Camelot |
+ |
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B |
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Canary |
* |
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B |
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* |
^ |
B |
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Candymint |
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C |
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* |
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B |
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Canterbury |
+ |
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B |
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Cave
Hill |
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D |
@ |
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Centurian |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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D |
@ |
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Cinderalla |
* |
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B |
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Coralburst |
+ |
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B |
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* |
^ |
B |
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* |
^t |
B |
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* |
^ |
B |
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Crimson
Brilliant |
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D |
@ |
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Dainty |
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D |
@ |
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Daubloons |
* |
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B |
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Malus
- Variety |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
Dolgo |
+ |
^ |
B |
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* |
^t |
B |
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Donald
Wyman |
* |
^ |
B |
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* |
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B |
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Dorothea |
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D |
@ |
* |
^t |
B |
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Eleyi |
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D |
@ |
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Ellen
Gerhart |
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D |
@ |
+ |
^ |
B |
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Excalibur |
+ |
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B |
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Firebird |
* |
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B |
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Florabunda |
* |
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A |
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^t |
C |
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* |
^ |
B |
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Foxfire |
* |
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B |
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Freeman |
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* |
^ |
B |
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Glen
Mills |
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D |
@ |
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Golden
Harvest |
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D |
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Golden
Raindrops |
* |
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A |
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* |
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B |
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Guinevere |
+ |
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B |
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Harvest
Gold |
* |
^ |
B |
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* |
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B |
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Henry
F. Dupont |
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D |
@ |
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Holiday
Gold |
* |
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B |
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Hopa |
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D |
@ |
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Indian
Magic |
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D |
@ |
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D |
@ |
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Indian
Summer |
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D |
@ |
+ |
^ |
B |
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* |
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B |
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Jewelberry |
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D |
@ |
* |
^ |
C |
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Jewelcole |
* |
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A |
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Katherine |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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+ |
^t |
D |
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King
Arthur |
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C |
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Klehm's
Impoved |
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C |
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D |
@ |
Lancelot |
* |
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A |
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Lollipop |
+ |
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B |
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Louisa |
* |
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A |
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* |
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B |
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Lullaby |
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+ |
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B |
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Marshall
Oyama |
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C |
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* |
^ |
B |
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Mary
Potter |
+ |
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B |
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* |
t |
B |
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Malus
- Variety |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
Masek |
+ |
^ |
B |
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Maypole |
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* |
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B |
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Midget |
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* |
t |
B |
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Molten
Lava |
* |
^ |
B |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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* |
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B |
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Naragansett |
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* |
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B |
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Oekonomierat
Echtermeyer |
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D |
@ |
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Ormiston
Roy |
* |
^ |
B |
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Park
Centre |
* |
^ |
B |
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Pink
Princess |
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C |
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Pink
Cascade |
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+ |
^ |
C |
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Pink
Satin |
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D |
@ |
+ |
^ |
B |
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Pink
Spires |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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Pixie |
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C |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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Pond
Red |
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D |
@ |
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Purple
Prince |
* |
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B |
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* |
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B |
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purpurea
'Eleyi' |
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D |
@ |
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Prairifire |
* |
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B |
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* |
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B |
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t |
B |
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Prairie
Maid |
+ |
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B |
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Professor
Springer |
* |
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B |
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* |
^ |
B |
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Profusion |
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D |
@ |
+ |
^ |
B |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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Radiant |
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+ |
^ |
C |
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^t |
B |
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Red
Baron |
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D |
@ |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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Red
Bird |
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* |
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B |
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Red
Jade |
+ |
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B |
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* |
^ |
A |
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Red
Jewell |
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D |
@ |
* |
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B |
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Red
Peacock |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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Red
Splendor |
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D |
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^ |
B |
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* |
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B |
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Robinson |
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D |
@ |
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Robust |
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^ |
B |
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Royal
Fountain |
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D |
@ |
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Royal
Septor |
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D |
@ |
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Royalty |
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D |
@ |
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D |
@ |
+ |
^t |
B |
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sargenti |
* |
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B |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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+ |
^t |
B |
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Satin
Cloud |
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* |
^ |
B |
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Selkirk |
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C |
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Sentinel |
* |
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B |
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* |
^ |
B |
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Sinai
Fire |
* |
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B |
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Sliver
Drift |
* |
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B |
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* |
^ |
B |
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Silver
Moon |
* |
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B |
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* |
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A- |
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* |
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B |
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Snowcloud |
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^t |
B |
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Snowdrift |
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D |
@ |
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* |
^t |
B |
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Sparkler |
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D |
@ |
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Spring
Song |
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D |
@ |
+ |
^ |
B |
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+ |
^t |
B |
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Strawberry
Parfait |
* |
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A |
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Sugar
Tyme |
+ |
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B |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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* |
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B |
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Malus
- Variety |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
Tea |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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Thunderchild |
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D |
@ |
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Tina |
* |
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B |
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Tschonoski |
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* |
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A |
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Vanguard |
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* |
^t |
D |
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Velvel
Pillar |
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D |
@ |
+ |
^ |
B |
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* |
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B |
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Weeping
Candied Apple |
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D |
@ |
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^ |
D |
@ |
* |
^t |
D |
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White
Angel |
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+ |
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B |
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White
Candle |
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^t |
B |
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White
Cascade |
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D |
@ |
* |
^ |
B |
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Zumi |
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D |
@ |
+ |
^ |
B |
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+ |
^ |
B |
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Malus
- Variety |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
JB |
Leaf |
Overall |
BM |
|
| General notes and key: |
| In order to get a 'A' rating I had to make a special
note about how nice the tree looked. These trees looked very nice both close up and at a
distance. |
| 'B' rated trees can vary widely but will generally look
nice. You may not notice any problems from 50-75 feet away. You may notice beetle damage
or leaf spots up close. |
| 'C' rated trees had no positive or negative marks but
were observed. Most will have beetle damage on over 25% of the leaves but the leaves will
be clean. A few trees became 'C' rated because of a negative comment I noted about the
variety. |
| 'D' rated trees are best avoided. |
| You may be asking for customer complaints to use a tree
rated with 'D' and '@' in the evaluation area. These trees are generally 60-99% leafless. |
Japanese Beetle damage - * almost none, 0-5%, very hard
to notice
+ 25% or less of leaves damaged |
Leaf - ^ some leaf problems noted (spots, yellowing,
generally anything showing up on the leaf)
t overall leaf loss visible
but not extreme |
| I estimate the sample included 900-1300 tree
observations to arrive at the above chart. I left my personal opinion of a tree (form,
leaf color, fruit, flower, etc...) out of the evaluation. |
|
| Specific notes: |
| # - Secrest Arboretum, Wooster, Ohio. Evaluation
8/15/00. Many of the trees had multiple samples to evaluate and were planted in a grid 25
x14 (350 trees) over 5 or more acres. Trees rated 'A' earned the rating based on multiple
samples that all looked outstanding. Many of the trees were planted about 5 years ago
while others date back to the mid 70's. |
| $ - Bernheim Arboretum, Clermont, KY. Evaluation
8/22/00. A good sampling of larger established trees. I noted that I gave '^' (noting leaf
problems) rating pretty freely, however, most samples were not visually poor from a
distance. |
| & - Cox Arboretum, Dayton, OH. Evaluation 8/23/00. A
nice sample of average landscape size trees. Many trees were noted as 'thin' and are
marked with 't'. Leaf loss would amount to 10-20% and was visible from a distance but not
excessive. In general, I did not notice such leaf loss while driving in the
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area the next couple days. |
| * - Kingwood Center, Mansfield, OH. Evaluation 8/16/00.
Younger to older trees. Limited variety but usually in quantities of 3 or greater. |
|
