The Honey Crisp apple was developed by the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station for its cold hardiness and released for cultivation in 1991. It is a popular eating apple described as sweet, tart, and crisp and noted for its good shelf life.

The difference between apples and crabapples is the size of the fruit. If the fruit is 2 inches or greater, it is considered an apple; if less than 2 inches, it is considered a crabapple. While apple fruit trees are generally grown commercially and in quantity as a crop, they can also be grown in the home garden. Special attention to pollination, disease/pest vigilance, and pruning may be required for the trees to thrive and fruit in the home environment. Although apple fruit trees produce attractive flowers, hybridizing efforts focus on fruit characteristics, such as taste, texture, and storage capacity -- and on disease resistance. Since apple cultivars are usually grafted onto a root stock, it is often possible to select a tree for the home garden that is smaller than its commercial counterpart. Apple trees produce best fruiting when they are between 10 and 30 years of age.