Whitney Crabapple Tree | Bare Root, Zone 3

Representative photo of ripe red-blushed crabapples on the branch, not Whitney itself

Whitney Crabapple

$39.99

Reliable shipping

Flexible returns

Pollination Needs a partner

Bloom group 4 of 7 (Mid)

See trees that will pollenize it Apple Pollination Map

Ripening

Will it finish before your first hard freeze?

Check it on the Ripening Map (opens in a new tab)

Disease resistanceResists 3 of 4

Apple scab : Resistant, 4 of 5
Cedar-apple rust : Moderate, 3 of 5
Fire blight : Resistant, 4 of 5
Powdery mildew : Resistant, 4 of 5

Scored 1 to 5. Higher resists better, and ? means no published data yet.

See it on our crabapple disease chart (opens in a new tab)

At a glance: Whitney Crabapple is a crabapple tree rated hardy to zone 3 in our ratings (winters to -40°F), and not self-fertile, so it needs a different variety nearby as a pollenizer (bloom group 4 of 7, mid for an apple or crabapple).

Hardy to	Zone 3 to 8. A bare number means the whole of zone 3, colder half included (winters to -40°F). Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator.
Chill hours	About 700 hours (600 to 800). From published figures. Montana winters give it plenty. In milder climates, make sure your winters average at least this much. Check your chill hours or see our sources.
Pollination	Needs Cross-Pollination. Bloom group 4 of 7 (mid), late spring here. Plant a different apple or crabapple variety that blooms in groups 3 to 5. Its pollen quality isn't confirmed yet, so don't count on it as the only pollenizer for another tree. Good partners we carry: Otterson Crabapple, Trail Crabapple, Alexander Apple, Burgundy Apple and 103 more. Apple Pollination Map.
Rootstock and size	Dolgo: full size, about 20 to 30 ft tall unpruned. Very hardy and well anchored. Our rootstock guide.
Good for	Canning and freezing (7/10), juice and sweet cider (7/10), pollenizing other trees (7/10), sauce and butter (7/10), fresh eating (6/10), jams and jellies (6/10). Scores are our own 1 to 10 ratings; 8 and up makes our Best Of lists.
Deer	A deer favorite. Fence it or cage it.
What you get	Bare root, 2-3 ft. bud grafts on one year older rootstock. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

Overview

Whitney Crab is a classic edible crabapple valued for its sweet fruit, reliable flowering, and cold-climate adaptability. It produces small, attractive crabapples that are pleasant fresh and versatile for kitchen use.

Fruit Quality & Uses

Whitney Crab produces small fruit, typically 1–2 inches in diameter, with sweet, juicy, slightly yellow flesh. While we have not personally used it for cider, some sources report it performs well for canning, preserving, pickling, spicing, and cider. Albemarle Ciderworks notes that Whitney Crab averages 11.39% sugar, which can ferment to 5%+ alcohol in cider production.

Blossoms & Ornamental Traits

Blossoms are pinkish white and bloom reliably each year. While the foliage is not as dramatic as Red Splendor, Whitney Crab is noted for more consistent annual flowering, making it dependable for both fruiting and pollination.

Pollination

Whitney Crab is self-fertile and also serves as an effective pollenizer for other apples and crabapples with overlapping bloom.

Cold Hardiness & Disease Resistance

Whitney Crab is cold-hardy to Zone 3, heat-tolerant, and scab-resistant. Fruit typically ripens in late August to early September, making it a dependable option for colder climates with shorter growing seasons.

About the photo: this isn’t Whitney itself. Photos of Whitney are either under copyright or simply unavailable, so we picked the open-source image that looks closest to the fruit. Photo: “Crabapples” by Wehha, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0.

Questions we get about Whitney Crabapple

Does Whitney Crabapple need a pollenizer?

Yes. Whitney Crabapple needs pollen from a different variety that blooms at about the same time. Plant a different apple or crabapple variety that blooms in groups 3 to 5. Its pollen quality isn't confirmed yet, so don't count on it as the only pollenizer for another tree. Partners we carry include Otterson Crabapple, Trail Crabapple, Alexander Apple.

How cold hardy is Whitney Crabapple?

We rate Whitney Crabapple hardy to zone 3, which means winters down to about -40°F. Our ratings come from real winters at our two Montana sites and from trusted growers across the North, not from a catalog average.

How many chill hours does Whitney Crabapple need?

About 700 hours of winter chill (we count hours at or below 45°F), likely somewhere between 600 and 800. That comes from published figures for this variety. Two nurseries list 600 and 800 hours. We use 700. Our chill hours guide has a calculator for your winters, and our research page lists the sources.

How big does Whitney Crabapple get?

We graft Whitney Crabapple onto Dolgo (full size), which makes a tree roughly 20 to 30 ft tall if you never prune it.

What is Whitney Crabapple good for?

Our top use scores for Whitney Crabapple are canning and freezing (7/10), juice and sweet cider (7/10), pollenizing other trees (7/10), sauce and butter (7/10).

Is Whitney Crabapple disease resistant?

For some diseases, yes. It's resistant to apple scab, fire blight and powdery mildew. It holds up moderately well against cedar-apple rust. Our crabapple disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Will deer eat Whitney Crabapple?

Yes, deer love it. Protect Whitney Crabapple with a fence or a cage, especially while it is young.

What arrives, and when does Whitney Crabapple ship?

A dormant bare-root plant, roots wrapped in moist sawdust with a vapor barrier, shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring. Sizes offered: 2-3 ft. bud grafts on one year older rootstock. We guarantee our plants bud out. Stone fruits can be slow, so if one still has not budded out by August 15, write to us and we credit you for the following spring.

Juice data

SG (Brix)	Acid g/L	Tannin g/L	pH
1.057 (14.0) P	4.0 E	1.0 E	not published

On these numbers it's a sweet on the Long Ashton scale. Letters show how solid each number is: M measured, P published but weaker, E our estimate.

Growers report 10 to 18 Brix. Sweet crab.

Sources: Growing Fruit forum, sweet crabs and precocious cider crabs threads

Run Whitney Crabapple through the hard cider calculator to see what it does in a blend.

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Pollination partners

Trees that will pollenize Whitney Crabapple

Whitney Crabapple needs a different apple or crabapple nearby to set fruit. Every tree below blooms at the same time and has pollen that works for it. Plant partners within about 100 feet.