Thunderchild Flowering Crab vs Water Arum - TreeTime.ca

Thunderchild Flowering Crab vs Water Arum

Malus x adstringens Thunderchild

Calla palustris

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

CUSTOM GROW

Thunderchild Flowering Crab
Water Arum

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.

Water Arum is a native perennial wetland plant known for its showy white oval sheaths (spathe) that surround a yellow-green, cylindrical flower spike (spadix). It has large, oblong, heart-shaped leaves on stems that rise above the water from shallow, spreading rhizomes. The blossoms are followed in late summer by tiny, pear-shaped fruits that ripen to bright red, adding ornamental interest to wet habitats.

Water Arum provides food for birds and small mammals that eat its berries, and its flowers attract pollinators. It can tolerate cold climates and forms colonies in shallow water and saturated soils. It is well-suited for ecological restoration, riparian planting, naturalisation, and habitat projects in wet and shaded environments.

Thunderchild Flowering Crab Quick Facts

Water Arum Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 1b
Height: 5 m (15 ft)
Height: 0.2 m (0.8 ft)
Spread: 4 m (12 ft)
Spread: 0.2 m (0.8 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: shade, partial shade
Moisture: normal
Moisture: wet
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Growth form: colony-forming
Spreading: rhizomes - medium, seeds - low
Suckering: none


Toxicity: toxic if ingested
Foliage: dark purple leaves
Fall colour: dark red
Flowers: dark pink blossoms
Flowers: white sheath around and yellow spike
Bloom time: spring to summer
Fruit: small red pomes that hang through the winter
Berries: small red pomes that hang through the winter
Berries: red, in clusters
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, YT, NT, PE
Other Names: bog arum, swamp lily, wild calla, wild dragon