A bit on the late side to be getting apple trees. Some places still have some. Zone 5, almost any tree can be planted.
Looking for winter food, or to draw attraction to your spot at a particular time of year. Most cider apples work pretty good. Other common ones are galarina, enterprise, franklin cider, arkansas black, granny smith, honeycrisp, winesap, and sundance At home I focus on both eating apples for me and having consistent apple prodction from august till winter. Got multiples of liberty, enterprise, galarina, sundance, kerr, and pristine. Cummins nursery has the best explanation of almost any common variety in the US. I have another thread going about last to bloom trees, which I prefer at home.
There's over 4000 known apple varieties. When it comes to crabapples, each one can be different. Even the ones you plant from their seeds can vary. Watch each tree well and pick your favorite 1 or 2 out of the group to graft.
P18, antonovka, dolgo, M111, B118, G890, M7, and domestic apple are commonly liked ones on this site. At home in zone 5/6 in heavier clay I prefer M111, but have M7, antonovka, and B118 doing well in the ground. I have some drainage issues that have been mitigated with drainage channels, so that another reason I prefer M111. At my sandy soil hunting club I prefer antonovka and B118. Trying out a few dolgo seedlings this fall. It used to be zone 3, but USDA redid the map this year and say it;s zone 4 right now. About 40 miles east of lake ontario, the wind makes lake effect snows early and they get polar vortexes every few years. My trees survived a -35 deg night 2 years ago. I have 30-06, drotpine, crossbow, kerr, All winter hangover (AWHO), and will be planting farnklin cider, winter wildlife, dolgo, and more of what I already have up there. Trailman might go up there too. Sometimes crabapple have extended bloom times, so they might recover from an early frost. A few trees like golden delicious have exntended bloom times too.
At home I have alot of disease resistant varieities. I was thinking I have to spray less, but I'm doubting this now. The nautral world is after apple trees. Deer, rabbits, voles, beetles, aphids, caterpillars, japanese beetles, ants, and the list goes on. Some of the diseases can be handled with another chemical in the tank.
Short story long, find a place that sells what you like and has roostock.
