For many years, flowering crabapples have gotten a bad rap. This has been especially true for home gardeners unwilling to spray for diseases. The lack of reliable products for disease control hasn’t helped either. Flowering crabapples are prone to four primary diseases: scab, fire blight, cedar-apple rust, and powdery mildew. Trees in the Pacific Northwest generally tend to be most susceptible to scab. (The leaves of scab-infected trees develop pale yellow spots that eventually turn black — not a pretty sight!) Thankfully, crabapple breeding is turning around, which is good news for home gardeners. Continue reading “Choice Flowering Crabapples”