Thunderchild Flowering Crab vs Purple Leaf Sand Cherry - TreeTime.ca

Thunderchild Flowering Crab vs Purple Leaf Sand Cherry

Prunus x cistena

Malus x adstringens Thunderchild

CUSTOM GROW

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry
Thunderchild Flowering Crab

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry provides bright reddish-purple leaves that turn bronze-green in the fall. In the spring, tiny flowers with a pinkish white hue bloom. The flowers are small, but the impact comes from the shrub blossoming all at once.

The Purple leaf sand cherry can be susceptible to pests and diseases in more humid areas; a typical life span is approximately 15 years. Not suitable for a privacy hedge on its own but is often alternated with lilacs. Often used as an accent plant that attracts birds and bees.

Thunderchild Flowering Crab is a hybrid crab apple known for its attractive and fragrant dark pink blossoms and deep purple mature leaves.

Tree farmers will find this hybrid appealing as a pollinator for other apples, while home growers will enjoy the red pome's ability to attract flocks of Cedar Waxwings in the early spring.

This species is reportedly resistant to fireblight.

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry Quick Facts

Thunderchild Flowering Crab Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 3a
Height: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Height: 5 m (15 ft)
Spread: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Spread: 4 m (12 ft)
Light: any
Light: full sun
Moisture: dry, normal
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Suckering: low
Suckering: none

Toxicity: the leaves and seed are slightly toxic

Foliage: purple leaves
Foliage: dark purple leaves
Fall colour: dark red
Fall colour: dark red
Bark: dark red to purple
Flowers: pinkish
Flowers: dark pink blossoms
Fruit: dark red fruit
Fruit: small red pomes that hang through the winter
Berries: small red pomes that hang through the winter
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Other Names: purpleleaf sandcherry