Ruby Dayze Crabapple

Ruby Dayze® is J. Frank Schmidt's purple-leaf-flowering-plum challenger — a relatively new cultivar (PP31,232, late 2010s) bred to offer the saturated purple foliage and bright magenta pink flowers characteristic of ornamental Prunus cerasifera ‘Krauter Vesuvius’ and similar purple plums but in a crabapple framework with the advantages of disease resistance and lower management requirements. Excellent disease resistance across all four major diseases per JFS supports reliable performance in maritime PNW. The flowers and foliage are nearly the same color, creating an integrated rather than contrasting spring display. Cross-reference with other modern purple-foliage crabapples: 'Royal Raindrops®' (15-20 ft cutleaf foliage, magenta-pink flowers, smaller scale), ‘Purple Prince’ (20 × 20 ft rounded, rose-red flowers), 'Raspberry Spear®' (20 × 8 ft narrow columnar, magenta pink). Ruby Dayze fits the upright tightly oval niche distinct from the rounded Purple Prince and the narrower Raspberry Spear. Cross-reference purple-foliage decision tree: 'Royal Raindrops®' (cutleaf, 15-20 ft), ‘Purple Prince’ (rounded 20 × 20 ft), 'Ruby Dayze®' (upright tightly oval 22 × 16 ft), 'Raspberry Spear®' (narrow columnar 20 × 8 ft).

— Chris Welch, ISA Certified Arborist