Golden Hornet Crab Apple Trees

• Variety: Golden Hornet, the yellow-fruited Crab Apple
• Latin name: Malus x zumi 'Golden Hornet'
• Sold as: Bareroot standards, 6/8 and 8/10cm girth. Pot-grown, 12 litre
• Flowers: White, from pink buds, in spring
• Fruit: Deep yellow, 2.5cm, held well into winter. Good for jelly
• Pollination: Self-fertile, and a pollinator for eating and cooking Apples
• Mature size: 4 to 6m tall
• Time to full size: 20+ years
• Position: Full sun for fruit. Takes partial shade. Exposed or sheltered
• Soil: Any moderately fertile, well-drained soil, chalk and clay included
• Wildlife: RHS Plants for Pollinators
• Hardiness: H6, hardy through the British winter
• Delivered: Bareroot, November to April. Pot-grown, all year when in stock. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Golden Hornet is the Crab Apple for yellow fruit: white flowers from pink buds in spring, then a heavy crop of deep yellow Crab Apples that hang on the bare branches well into winter. It is self-fertile, pollinates eating Apples, and makes a golden jelly.

Golden Hornet Crab Apple Trees

Golden Hornet gets its name from the honey yellow crab apples, which stay on the branches well into winter. These are excellent for jelly making (which is golden) or pressing into cider, although Butterball is slightly better in that the fruit can be stored for longer before use. The flowers open in spring from bright pink buds: most will be pure white, some will keep a pink blush.

They're one of the best pollinators for apple orchards; along with the likes of John Downie, they have an especially long flowering period that covers almost all apple pollination groups.

Browse our variety of crab apple trees or our full range of trees.

Delivery season: Crab apple trees are delivered bareroot from late autumn to early spring, November to April, and pot-grown in any month when in stock.
Choosing a size: Small trees are cheaper, easier to handle and more forgiving of less than ideal aftercare, so they're best for a big planting project. If instant impact is your priority, or if you are only buying a few plants for use in a place where it's convenient to water them well in their first year, then you may as well use bigger ones. All our bareroot trees are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Growing Golden Hornet Crab Apples

Any well drained soil. Full sun is ideal if you plan to harvest the fruit, otherwise partial shade is fine. Tolerant of pollution.

If scab is a problem in your area, consider using the highly disease resistant Red Sentinel.

History & Trivia

This tree was bred in 1948 by J Waterer & Sons Nursery. The records do not survive, but the ancestors are thought to be Malus prunifolia rinki / coccinea crossed with M. sieboldii calocarpa, which led to a variety called Wintergold, of which Golden Hornet is an improved version.

Standard trees are measured by their girth in centimetres 1 metre above ground level: their trunk's waist measurement. Unlike sapling trees and hedge plants, standards aren't measured by their height, which will vary quite a bit both between and within species.
So, a 6/8cm standard tree has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8cm and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10cm around. This measurement makes no difference to the tree's final height.
On average, standard trees are 2-3.5 metres tall when they arrive, but we cannot tell you precisely how tall your trees will be before we deliver them.

Planting Companions

Plant yellow against red: Red Sentinel holds its deep red fruit as long as Golden Hornet holds its yellow. Butterball is the other yellow, and John Downie is the classic jelly Crab Apple. See all our Crab Apple trees, and dust bareroot roots with Rootgrow as you plant.

Why Ashridge?

Ashridge has sold trees since 1949 and is a Which? Best Plant Supplier 2025. Your Golden Hornet Crab Apple comes bareroot, lifted while dormant, or pot-grown for planting in any month. Bareroot trees are guaranteed for 12 months, and so is a potted tree delivered leafless between November and March.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will Golden Hornet pollinate your Apple trees?

Yes. Every Crab Apple we sell is self-fertile and a pollinator for eating and cooking Apples. Golden Hornet has long been planted in orchards for that job.

Can you eat the fruit?

Cooked, yes. The fruit makes a golden jelly, and you can add it to a cider pressing. Raw, it is too sharp to enjoy.

How long does the fruit stay on the tree?

Well into winter, long after the leaves have gone. That is the reason to plant it where you see it from the house.

How big does Golden Hornet grow?

4 to 6 metres tall.

What soil and site suit it?

Any moderately fertile, well-drained soil, including chalk and clay. Give it full sun if you want the fruit. It will tolerate partial shade.

When are the trees delivered?

Bareroot trees are delivered from November to April, while they are dormant. Pot-grown trees can be delivered and planted in any month when you find them in stock.