OSU Crabapples, 800 Strong, Now Starting to Blossom in Wooster

WOOSTER, Ohio  Jim Chatfield, Ohio State Universitys Wooster-based crabapple guru, says nows a good time to come hang with his buds.

Some 800 flowering crabapple trees at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster are now in bloom or are ready to start.

Theyll hit their peak this weekend (May 3-4), Chatfield said, and should last through the middle or the end of next week.

“Theyre really looking wonderful, said the horticulture specialist, who works at the Ohio State University Extension Center at Wooster. “Virtually all of them are showing their bud color now.

“In some ways, it„¢s even more beautiful now, in the time leading up to the peak, he noted, because of those set-to-burst buds.

The buds come in shades of red, pink and white. So, of course, do the blooms, with rose, carmine, salmon and burgundy among the many hues.

Some of the early bloomers  types such as Dolgo, Spring Snow and Strawberry Parfait € have already started to pop.

In all, OARDC and its Secrest Arboretum are home to more than 300 different types of crabapple trees. Seventy-five of them, represented by more than 350 specimens, grow in just one spot. Called “Crablandia, its one of 18 National Crabapple Evaluation Plots.

Seeing the trees is free, dawn to dusk, and can be done by car or on foot.

Find OARDC at 1680 Madison Ave., south of U.S. 30 in Wooster.

Coming soon there is Plant Discovery Day, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday, May 3, sponsored by Secrest Arboretum, with a plant sale, two plant auctions, an art sale, a bug zoo, food vendors and guided arboretum walks. Admission is free.

To find out more, call (330) 263-3761 or go to http://secrest.osu.edu/.

OARDC and OSU Extension are the research and outreach arms, respectively, of Ohio States College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

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