Loho: You don't say where you are located, critical information for choosing apple varieties, but if you plant E. Spitzenberg you surely won't be bored. You will be busy as hell trying to figure out how to deal with fireblight. I had one and it was history some time ago for that reason. Just a few weeks ago, I took out a Cox's Orange that had been in the ground for 14 years, producing a decent crop in only one of all those years. If you had to choose the one most difficult apple to grow, it would be Cox. And it's not that good, compared to many modern varieties, accepted "heirloom" wisdom to the contrary. 90% or more of the apples crack, most develop a thick, scabby russet, and it doesn't keep very well. As for red-fleshed apples like Scarlet Surprise, expect it to be just plain sour. I have a Geneva Crab here that produces beautiful red-fleshed apples, but so sour that no one would eat one fresh off the tree. We use it for blending in applesauce or cider, where it gives the product a nice, pink color, but that is its only virtue. Apparently, you have eaten Ribston (I have not) or you wouldn't be impressed with it, but I would suggest you not fall too deeply in love with "heirloom" apples until you have tried them in your climate, whatever that is. I have tried a bunch of heirlooms, and the modern varieties like Fuji, Goldrush, Blushing Golden, and Pink Lady are much better for fresh use and storage, and a whole lot easier to grow. Applesauce is a different matter, and we use Yellow Transparent for that very successfully. I still have the saucemaking Yellow Transparent, Kandil Sinap, Pomme Gris, Macoun, Albemarle Pippin, Stayman, and Ashmead's Kernel, all of which have some virtues, but more vices and a lot more problems than the modern varieties in my climate. Ashmead's is good, but keeps only about 6 weeks in refrigeration before becoming mealy, while the Goldrush from a tree growing right next to it has a better flavor and keeps into April in the spare refrigerator. Albemarle Pippin keeps very well, but falls short in flavor compared to the modern varieties, even after storage. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Firebird and Sugar Tyme have the most persistant red fruit of the bunch. Firebird is the best selection IMO, but is only about 10 x 8'. Remove SnowDrift from your list. Search this forum for "Malus good fall color". There are many links in the that post to various sources regarding fruit persistance and disease resistance. Another good one for our area is Donald Wyman but that might be a bit too big. Red Jewel is probably the perfect selection for you and they are quite shapely. I didn't pull the trigger on one as I got conflicting reports on fireblight resistance.

You could call Nash Nursery in Laingsburg MI, near Lansing. I got a nice gift Coralburst crabapple from husband, who purchased it there. Blooms every year, well shaped. They have very healthy stock, but not sure how many varieties they might carry.

How about other trees in the same height category: paperbark maple Acer griseum corkscrew willow 'twisty baby' locust Redbud.....maybe a great native choice for you!!! or slower growing trees with outstanding foliage like some beech cultivars... 'roseomarginata' or some wonderful conifers that put on unbelievable spring shows like: Pinus contorta 'taylors sunburst' 3-4 WEEKS!!!of yellow new growth. See Photo. I could go on forever... red leaf japanese maple...bloodgood, atropurpureum, emperor(supposed to be the hardiest of all, emperor I or II) the debate with crabapples will always be...ARE THE WONDERFUL FLOWERS WORTH THE TROUBLE OF THE UNATTRACTIVE DISEASE RIDDEN FOLIAGE...AND IS ANYTHING WORTH SPRAYING IN MY GARDEN TO CONTROL DISEASE?...my honest opinion, there's plenty of wonderful plants that have outstanding characteristics that NEVER need to be sprayed. Blacklab Here is a link that might be useful: