Decked out for Christmas

Siberian Crabapple Adds a Festive Touch.

This is most certainly a crabapple but is it really the Siberian variety?  With over 1,000 known varieties of crabapples, 120 of which are cold-hardy enough to thrive in Minnesota, it’s hard to know for sure.

While my non-local friends consider any winter day in Minnesota to be Siberian, today’s fresh, invigorating conditions invite an outdoor stroll and reward the walker with spectacularly blue skies and trees decked for the holidays with the bright red cheerfulness of winter crabapples.

"Crab-apples, Crab-apples, Out in the wood, Little and bitter, Yet little and good!"

Cicely Mary Barker

Foragers claim that freezing temperatures can turn bitter crabapples into treats that taste like dried cranberries, but these, high up in the tree, are just for the birds to enjoy.