Coral Spear Crabapple

Coral Spear™ is one of the newer J. Frank Schmidt narrow-columnar crabapple introductions for tight urban planting situations — the 8 ft mature spread fits sidewalk planting strips, narrow yards, and street- tree settings where typical 15-20 ft spread crabapples cannot be accommodated. The cultivar offers pink flowers that hold their color through the bloom period (most pink crabapples fade toward white as flowers age) combined with disease resistance rated Excellent across all four major diseases per JFS. For PNW urban-tree applications and high-density residential plantings, the Spear™ family (Coral Spear, Ivory Spear, Raspberry Spear) addresses the narrow-vertical design niche better than older columnar choices like ‘Red Barron’ or 'Marilee®'. Sourcing note: recently introduced JFS cultivars are available primarily through wholesale and design-grade nurseries; retail availability in PNW has been growing. Cross-reference with sibling Spear™ cultivars: ‘Ivory Spear’ (similar size, white flowers), ‘Raspberry Spear’ (similar size, purple foliage with magenta flowers).

— Chris Welch, ISA Certified Arborist