Flowering Cherries (Prunus)
- Spectacular Spring flowering trees
- Varieties for all gardens
- Many boast fine Fall color
- Attractive bark is an extra Winter feature
- Even young trees make an impact
Local Advice for Local Gardeners
Famous for their spectacular Spring display, at their peak flowering cherries are the most colorful of all trees, and some are among the earliest of all Spring flowers. With white or pink flowers, single or double, the blizzard of bloom can take your breath away. True, the flowering season can be short, but fortunately this is balanced by the other attractive features of many varieties. Some have purple leaves all season, a few even have edible fruit, with others their buttery Fall color is dramatic, and especially wonderful are those that have an elegant arching or weeping habit or unusually attractive bark and twigs.
Choose from these types
- Specimen cherries – familiar classic flowering garden trees in a variety of growth forms
- Weeping cherries – arching or weeping habit for an Oriental Zen-like look
- Dwarf cherries – for containers or patio gardens
- Dark-leaved cherries – purple foliage provides color after the flowers have fallen
- Cherries for hedges – ideal for informal flowering hedges
- Upright/columnar cherries – good choice for tight spaces
Flowering cherries like:
- Soil - Will do well in many soils, though they appreciate good fertility
- Light - Cherries thrive in full sun, although some will also are fine in a little shade
- Moisture - Happy if not either very dry or waterlogged
- Remember stake newly planted trees to ensure their stems grow straight
- Also the roots of specimen trees planted in lawns can be very shallow, so raise the mower blades when mowing under the branches
Where to grow flowering cherries:
- Specimens - Ideal as a spring specimen, a lawn tree, and as a bold feature before much of the garden has come into color
- Avenues - In large gardens a number of cherry trees along both sides of the driveway is a memorable feature that creates a lovely canopy
- Containers - Small varieties, especially P. incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’, are ideal container plants; plant dwarf blue bulbs such as scillas around the base
- Hedges - A few varieties, like Purple-leaved plum (P. cerasifera ‘Nigra’), make good low or medium-sized hedges
- Mixed borders - Purple-leaved plum is especially valuable at the back of mixed borders, with clematis growing up through it
Seasonal care
- Spring - Pruning is generally inadvisable, but if necessary prune after flowering and cut flush to the stem
- Summer - Tear off any suckers emerging from the roots
- Fall - Check stakes on young trees. Clean the trunks of those with attractive bark
- Winter - Knock off accumulated snow to keep branches from breaking
Terrain’s Top Ten Flowering Cherries
- Prunus ‘Amanogawa’ (columnar, semi-double pale pink)
- P. cerasifera ‘Nigra’ (aka P. pissardii ‘Nigra’ pink with purple leaves)
- P. ‘Hally Jolivette’* (pinkish white)
- P. incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’ (white dwarf with zig-zag branches)
- P. ‘Kiku-shidare-zakura’ (aka ‘Cheal’s Weeping’; small weeping double pink)
- P. ‘Okame’* (double pink with red buds)
- P. pendula ‘Pendula Rosea’ (aka P. subhirtella ‘Pendula’; weeping rose pink )
- P. sargentii (tall single pink)
- P. ‘Shirofugen’ (late double white with pink buds)
Also, look for these new varieties; P. cerasifera Crimson Pointe™ is a columnar tree with purple leaves and white flowers and Royal Burgundy has deep pink, double flowers and fiery fall color.
* Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Gold Medal Plant (www.goldmedalplants.org)
Don’t miss the ancient tradition of Sakura Matsuri, or Cherry Blossom Festival, which takes place in Philadelphia every April, when, amid many festivities, 1,000 cherry trees of all kinds show off their fantastic flowering.
Did you know… Almonds, prunes, peaches and apricots are all closely related to flowering cherries.
Written by Graham Rice