Malus Cultivars G-I
Sponsor
Kindly sponsored by
Francine: 'after many informative Tours and Study Days with the IDS I feel it only fitting to help and promote such a wonderful organisation'
Credits
Julian Sutton (species), Nick Dunn (cultivars) (2021)
Recommended citation
Sutton, J. & Dunn, N. (2021), 'Malus Cultivars G-I' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Genus
Infraspecifics
Other taxa in genus
- Malus × adstringens
- Malus angustifolia
- Malus × arnoldiana
- Malus asiatica
- Malus × astracanica
- Malus × atrosanguinea
- Malus baccata
- Malus bhutanica
- Malus × brevipes
- Malus chitralensis
- Malus coronaria
- Malus crescimannoi
- Malus Cultivars A-B
- Malus Cultivars C
- Malus Cultivars D-F
- Malus Cultivars J-K
- Malus Cultivars L-M
- Malus Cultivars N-Q
- Malus Cultivars R
- Malus Cultivars S
- Malus Cultivars T-Z
- Malus dasyphylla
- Malus × dawsoniana
- Malus domestica
- Malus doumeri
- Malus florentina
- Malus × floribunda
- Malus fusca
- Malus × gloriosa
- Malus halliana
- Malus × hartwigii
- Malus × heterophylla
- Malus honanensis
- Malus hupehensis
- Malus ioensis
- Malus kansuensis
- Malus kirghisorum
- Malus komarovii
- Malus × magdeburgensis
- Malus × micromalus
- Malus × moerlandsii
- Malus montana
- Malus ombrophila
- Malus orientalis
- Malus × platycarpa
- Malus praecox
- Malus prattii
- Malus prunifolia
- Malus × purpurea
- Malus × robusta
- Malus rockii
- Malus Rootstock Cultivars
- Malus Rosybloom Cultivars
- Malus × scheideckeri
- Malus sieversii
- Malus sikkimensis
- Malus × soulardii
- Malus spectabilis
- Malus spontanea
- Malus × sublobata
- Malus sylvestris
- Malus toringo
- Malus transitoria
- Malus trilobata
- Malus tschonoskii
- Malus turkmenorum
- Malus yunnanensis
- Malus × zumi
We aim to include the most important contemporary ornamental cultivars in Europe and North America, a few likely to become so, and a selection of significant older varieties. Orchard apples are excluded. Where a cultivar can confidently be attributed to a species or hybrid nothospecies, we duplicate the description there, but these cultivar pages include everything.
'Gardener's Gold'
Growth Rate/Size: Medium (<6 m)
Form/shape/habit: Rounded, dense
Foliage: Large, green
Flower colour: White, flushed pink
Flower size: Medium (<4 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Mid
Fruit size: Large (>3 cm)
Fruit shape: Oblong/oval, slightly ribbed
Fruit colour: Yellow flushed pink
Fruit season: Late, persistent
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Low susceptibility
Raiser/collector: Ivan Dickings, Notcutts Nurseries, Suffolk, UK
Date of introduction: 1990
General notes: An impressive, strongly growing variety with attractive large, golden, persistent fruit.
'Golden Gem'
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Rounded, dense
Foliage: Small, light green
Flower colour: White from pink buds
Flower size: Small (<3 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Mid
Fruit size: Very small (<1 cm)
Fruit shape: Round
Fruit colour: Golden-yellow
Fruit season: Early
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Resistant
General notes: A pretty, small tree with a bushy habit. Flowers are small, dense, scented and appear as a white cloud when in full bloom. Fruit are small, abundant, very attractive but brief. A good pollinator for orchard apples. There is uncertainty around the origin of this variety. Fiala (1994) studied four North American specimens under this name, which he considered might be distinct clones; the best of them was USDA introduction 307500, brought from Germany, which might imply a European origin. Jacobson (1996) equates it with ‘Cheal’s Golden Gem’ (Joseph Cheal, UK, pre-1929).
'Golden Glory'
Synonyms / alternative names
Malus yunnanensis 'Golden Glory'
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Broadly spreading
Foliage: Large, lobed
Flower colour: Ivory white
Flower size: Medium (<4 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Late
Fruit size: Small (<2 cm)
Fruit shape: Round
Fruit colour: Bronze, red blush
Fruit season: Mid
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Resistant
Parentage/origin: Chance M. yunnanensis seedling
Raiser/collector: Lawrence Banks VMH, Hergest Croft, Herefordshire, UK
Date of introduction: 2017
General notes: Soft ivory flowers, healthy foliage, attractive fruit and superb autumn leaf colours: a tree that offers many seasonal delights, worthy of planting in any situation.
(Description duplicated under Malus yunnanensis ‘Golden Glory’)
'Golden Hornet'
Synonyms / alternative names
Malus × zumi 'Golden Hornet'
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Upright, spreading
Foliage: Green
Flower colour: Pure white from pale pink buds
Flower size: Medium (<4 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Mid
Fruit size: Small (<2 cm)
Fruit shape: Oblong/oval
Fruit colour: Golden-yellow
Fruit season: Mid
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Low susceptibility
Parentage/origin: Perhaps a seedling of M. × zumi ‘Calocarpa’, but there is no overwhelming reason to assign ‘Golden Hornet’ itself to M. × zumi
Raiser/collector: Waterer, Sons, & Crisp, Berkshire, UK
Date of introduction: By 1949
General notes: A very popular garden tree of the past, now somewhat superseded by better, persistent yellow crabapples such as M. ‘Comtesse de Paris’ and M. ‘Gardener’s Gold’. Always a good showing of fruit when in peak season, but unfortunately it remains on the tree after deterioration, which can be unsightly.
'Gorgeous'
Awards
AGM
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Rounded, dense
Flower colour: Pure white from pink buds
Flower size: Small (<3 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Mid
Fruit size: Medium (<3 cm)
Fruit shape: Round
Fruit colour: Crimson to orange-red
Fruit season: Mid to late
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Low susceptibility
Parentage/origin: (M. × zumi) × M. halliana
Raiser/collector: Hayward Wright, Aukland, New Zealand
Date of introduction: 1925
General notes: A good all-round variety which has stood the test of time. Very prolifically fruiting, and a relatively compact tree.
'Gracilis'
Synonyms / alternative names
Malus baccata 'Gracilis'
Malus baccata f. gracilis Rehd.
Growth Rate/Size: Medium (<6 m)
Form/shape/habit: Broad and weeping, usually top-grafted
Foliage: Glossy green, smaller than typical M. baccata
Flower colour: White from deep pink buds
Flower size: Large (>4 cm)
Flower form: Single, narrow petals
Fruit size: Very small (<1 cm)
Fruit colour: Yellow-orange, red or brownish
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Susceptible
Parentage/origin: Selected from seed of M. baccata collected in Shaanxi (probably Purdom 329 of 1910 – (Rehder 1920))
Raiser/collector: Named 1920 at the Arnold Arboretum, MA, USA, from a tree sent by the Veitch Nursery, UK
(Description duplicated under Malus baccata ‘Gracilis’)
'Guardsman'
Synonyms / alternative names
Malus trilobata 'Guardsman'
Eriolobus trilobatus 'Guardsman'
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Narrow, upright
Foliage: Dark green, deeply lobed and toothed
Flower colour: White
Flower size: Medium (<4 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Very late
Fruit size: Small (<2 cm)
Fruit shape: Ellipsoid
Fruit colour: Green with occasional red flush
Fruit season: Early
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Resistant
Parentage/origin: A M. trilobata clone
General notes: Marketed by British nurseries for its upright habit, but dubiously distinct from other clones of this excellent species, to which the following comments also apply. With its maple-like leaves, narrow shape and slow growth it is ideal for the smaller garden or municipal plantings. Although sparse in flower and fruit it should be more highly valued and planted for its autumn display, one of the most striking of any tree under British conditions.
(Also mentioned under Malus Cultivars G-I ‘Guardsman’)
'Hargozam'
Synonyms / alternative names
Malus HARVEST GOLD®
Growth Rate/Size: Large (>6 m)
Form/shape/habit: Broadly columnar to vase shaped
Foliage: Green
Flower colour: White
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Late
Fruit size: Small (<2 cm)
Fruit shape: Round
Fruit colour: Golden-yellow
Fruit season: Highly persistent
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Highly resistant
Raiser/collector: James Zampini, Lake County Nursery, OH, USA
Date of introduction: About 1985
'Harry Baker'
Awards
AGM
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Rounded, open
Foliage: Large, deeply flushed maroon
Flower colour: Pink
Flower size: Large (>4 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Early
Fruit size: Large (>3 cm)
Fruit shape: Oblong/oval
Fruit colour: Dark red
Fruit season: Mid
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Resistant
Raiser/collector: Terry Read, Loddon, Norfolk, UK
Date of introduction: 1998
General notes: An excellent, showy variety for rich pink flower, leaves, and impressive red fruit with dark red flesh that makes a superb crab apple jelly. Named in 2002, for Harry Baker, Fruit Superintendent at RHS Gardens Wisley, Surrey.
'Hillieri'
Growth Rate/Size: Medium (<6 m)
Form/shape/habit: Broadly spreading
Foliage: Small
Flower colour: Bright pink
Flower size: Small (<3 cm)
Flower form: Semi-double, with 5–9 petals
Flower season: Late
Fruit size: Very small (<1 cm), sparse
Fruit shape: Round
Fruit colour: Yellow/orange
Fruit season: Mid
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Low susceptibility
Parentage/origin: Selected from a batch of unknown European origin; perhaps attributable to M. × scheideckeri
Raiser/collector: Hillier Nurseries, Winchester, Hampshire, UK
Date of introduction: Before 1928
General notes: The abundant semi-double bright pink flowers are very attractive, and come quite late in the Malus season. The fruit is insignificant. Used on commercial apple orchards as a pollinator. Rarely offered for garden planting in modern times, but it has a certain charm.
'Hopa'
Growth Rate/Size: Medium (<6 m)
Form/shape/habit: Rounded, open
Foliage: Green
Flower colour: Purple-red
Flower size: Large (>4 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Mid
Fruit size: Small (<2 cm)
Fruit shape: Round
Fruit colour: Orange-red
Fruit season: Mid
Disease resistance/susceptibility: High susceptibility
Parentage/origin: M. sieversii f. niedzwetzkyana × M. baccata
Raiser/collector: Niels Hansen, South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, USA
Date of introduction: 1920
General notes: One of the most influential of Hansen’s rosybloom varieties, bred from his own introduction of M. sieversii f. niedzwetzkyana, which have flamboyant red/purple flowers. Unfortunately, there is a medium to high risk of disease later in the year.
'Indian Magic'
Awards
AGM
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Rounded, open
Foliage: Large, purple-flushed
Flower colour: Rose-pink
Flower size: Large (>4 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Mid to late
Fruit size: Very small (<1 cm)
Fruit shape: Ellipsoid
Fruit colour: Red maturing orange
Fruit season: Mid
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Resistant
Parentage/origin: M. × zumi ‘Calocarpa’ × M. ‘Almey’
Raiser/collector: Robert Simpson, Simpson Nursery, IN, USA, about 1955
Date of introduction: 1969 (North America), 2010 (UK)
General notes: One of the most attractive flowering crab apples, its glowing rose-pink flowers persist for several weeks. Small purple fruits turn orange by the new year. A fine variety worthy of wider planting. Named for a horse owned by Simpson.
'Indian Summer'
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Broadly spreading
Foliage: Bronze when emerging, turning green later
Flower colour: Rose-red to light pink
Flower size: Large (>4 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Mid
Fruit size: Very small (<1 cm)
Fruit shape: Round
Fruit colour: Bright red
Fruit season: Late
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Resistant
Parentage/origin: M. × zumi ‘Calocarpa’ × M. ‘Almey’
Raiser/collector: Robert Simpson, Simpson Nursery, IN, USA, about 1955
Date of introduction: By 1985
General notes: A sister to M. ‘Indian Magic’ with a lighter pink flower. Not in general circulation in Europe, but a good collectors’ hybrid for its showy flowers and good disease resistance.
