Flowering crabapples

The Jardin botanique de Montréal's flowering crabapple (Malus spp.) collection lets visitors enjoy the impression that they are strolling through an orchard.

In addition to displaying a large number of mature trees, the collection also allows gardening enthusiasts to compare hundreds of specimens. Growing alongside botanical species are many different cultivars and hybrids, each with special characteristics, from their blooms to their leaves, fruit, shape and growth habits.

In addition to the site's esthetic and educational qualities, the collection's fruit attracts a wide variety of birds that come there to feed and nest. There are some 200 crabapples in the collection, representing over 63 cultivars and hybrids and 31 botanical species.

Montréal's official tree

The city chose the flowering crabapple as its floral emblem in May 1995. Choosing a spring-flowering plant is a way of celebrating rebirth, just as other large cities do – Amsterdam has its tulips and Tokyo and Washington have their cherry trees.