Deciduous trees
Niedzwetzky's apple
Malus niedzwetzkyana (Malus pumila var. niedzwetzkyana)
The species is named after the botanist Niedzwetzky, who collected the fruits of this apple in the vicinity of Kashgar and sent them to Dr. Dick, who introduced it into cultivation in Germany and gave it its name.
A small tree up to 8 m high, with smooth branches without thorns, young shoots dark purple. Leaves are also purple when unfolding; at full leafing only the petioles remain intensely colored, the blade dark green above, purple and pubescent beneath. This gives the crown a very distinctive coloration. Flowers are dark purple in bud, when opening — intensely pink or purple, on thin, white-felted flower stalks, which sets it apart from the general mass of flowering apples. Fruits are small, solitary, up to 2 cm, slightly spherical, with a waxy bloom, violet-purple, with pink-purple flesh.
Hardy and undemanding. Resistant to pests and diseases. Grows relatively quickly. Recommended for the widest use, especially good in colorful compositions and as a solitary planting on a lawn.
The French gardener L. Tillier believed that this apple has no equal from a decorative point of view in European horticulture. One can speak of its beauty only in the superlative. Against the background of the young spring green of other plants, the flowering Niedzwetzky's apple looks like a bright exotic bouquet. The tree makes no less impression in autumn when the crown is densely strewn with glossy purple fruits. The extraordinary tonality of Niedzwetzky's apple is due to the autumn pigment — anthocyanin. As a rule, it is formed in the spring in the cell juice of flowers or provides the autumn change of color of green leaves of plants. Niedzwetzky's apple is one of the few exceptions. It synthesizes anthocyanin throughout the growing season from leaf unfolding to the ripening of the purple apples with brightly pink flesh. This most beautiful and rare apple is listed in the Red Book as an endangered species. Niedzwetzky's apple possesses exceptional winter hardiness and does not require covering for the winter.
Location: light-loving and requires fertile, fresh soils. Does not tolerate waterlogged or excessively dry soils. Groundwater should be no closer than 2.5 m from the surface. Apple trees grow quickly starting from their third year of life.
Planting: two- to three-year-old trees tolerate transplantation without difficulty; large seedlings take root much more slowly. Plants should be planted in pre-prepared pits sized 80x80x100 cm, spacing between seedlings should take into account the crown size at maturity (usually 5 to 6 m). The soil mixture is composed of humus, leaf soil and sand in a ratio of 3:1:2; a little peat and double-granulated superphosphate can be added at a rate of 250–300 g per planting hole. The best time to plant is spring before bud break or autumn 1–1.5 months before the onset of frosts (until mid-October). Ornamental apples are tolerant of frost and drought, and withstand dusting, air pollution and soil salinization.
Care and pruning: the same as for ordinary fruit apple varieties.
Propagation: by sowing seeds: early autumn — with freshly collected seeds; late autumn — after one-and-a-half to two months of stratification; for spring sowing — stratification from December until sowing with exposure under the snow at the end of the stratification period. Rare species, ornamental forms and cultivars are propagated by grafting.