Regarding Dolgo crabs..I don't mind tart or even astringent flavour , and find that the best tasting apples are a mix of sweet and tart and other complex flavours....not so keen on sweet all by itself....like Red Delicious ....boring apple !.....I love russets because, although they are very sweet, they are also tart and malty and have other flavours ....which brings me to Dolgo crabapples....lots of comments about how they are only good for jelly......I strongly disagree, I only just planted my 2 Dolgo crabs last year and well, they are tiny, but incredibly delicious...they have wonderful sweet/tart flavour but also a tropical fruitiness not just golden orange colour, but also golden orange fruit flavours such as mango and passionfruit...they are delicious right off the tree in my opinion...they are tiny , dime size, or nickle size, but packed with flavour.

You have a wide variety of trees mentioned here. Adams is a full-sized tree, 25X25Ft with outstanding foliage and beautiful pink flowers. Coralburst is a compact growing tree but will obtain a size of 12X12FT or greater in time. The branches of this tree will become covered in light pink flowers. There are few trees the shape of Coralburst and they are very impressive over time. Sugartyme is pure white but a fullsized crab as well. Prairiefire is perhaps, one of the very best crabs you can purchase with an intense, almost electric red color and dark foliage. They are usually available and worth driving to purchase if you can find one. I will tell you that they are also very large and will obtain at least 25X25FT or greater in size. I would look at your site and determine the size crab that you want that will fit your yard. While most crabs are large trees as mentioned above, there are smaller varieties as well. Camelot is a 10X10FT crab and a beautiful pink. Candymint is a smaller crab as well. I have two of them in Maine and they both bloom profusely with a peppermint candy colored flower. They also have a downward sweeping form and will fit smaller yards. Tina is in the same league as Prairiefire. It obtains a 10X15FT size, wider than tall and will become absolutely covered in thick, white, flowers. One of the best. Goodluck with your decision.

It has rained here,then the sun came out. I was outside picking up branches from the winds that blew through...and my neighbor was walking by...stopped and commented on this tree. She commented on the slight sweet fragrance asking if it was the tree she was smelling? I told her to go ahead and take a closer sniff of the blooms and see. She laughed out loud and declared indeed it was! When the wind blew again...you could smell a faint sweet smell. Really wish I knew this variety. Assumed it was Amethyst Falls...but...no where do ones say it smells pleasant. I am thinking another variety it must be. For it has the small blooms/racemes that the Amethyst Falls are known for.

North American species of milkweed need to have their seed cold stratified during the winter months in order to assure optimum germination, as mentioned by napapen. Most methods use a cold, moist stratification. I've not had personal good luck using a moist medium, but rather a dry medium. I seem to grow molds better the moist way than germinate milkweed seed (or any other seed needing cold strat for that matter). Check out the two links below that will help teach you the technique(s): How To Cold Stratify Seeds: Cold Moist Stratification of Milkweed Seeds Start them now, as the winter season is in full gear. I stratify mine for 6-8 weeks before planting. That will put you roughly in March for potting up or placing them in the ground. A. fascicularis is especially easy to germinate. With A. fascicularis, you should be able to harvest seed the first year if your plants are growing strong and vigorous. A. speciosa may take two or three years before they set seed. Keep us posted on your endeavors!