Flowering Cherries

Gardening Tips for the Month

• Broadcast wildflower seeds on hillsides for colorful blooms and erosion control.
• Apply “Hydrangea Bluing Formula” or aluminum sulfate around blue hydrangeas.
• Plant cool-season crops such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and lettuce for a spring harvest.
• Turn in cover crops and conduct a soil test if your garden struggled last year.
• Plant potatoes as soon as possible to take advantage of cool spring weather.

Flowering Cherry Trees

One of the most beautiful sights in spring is the profusion of flowers on flowering cherry trees. Cultivated over centuries in China and Japan, these trees include over 120 named varieties in Japan, with about 50 grown in the U.S. Many varieties look similar, featuring single or double flowers in white or pink that typically bloom before the leaves appear. Branches may be upright or pendulous.

All flowering cherries require good drainage. If your soil is heavy, plant them on a mound or in a raised bed. They thrive in full sun and need some summer watering.

Popular Varieties

• ‘Kwanzan’

  Features large, double deep-pink flowers over two inches across with 30-50 petals, borne in clusters. Grows 15 to 25 feet tall with upright, vase-shaped branches. New leaves are coppery bronze, and the tree does not bear fruit.

• ‘Akebono’ (Daybreak)

  Produces abundant single pink flowers that fade to white. Develops an umbrella-shaped crown, reaching 25 feet tall and wide. Glossy, dark green leaves turn bright yellow in fall. Small fruit attracts birds.

• ‘Shirotae’

  Known as “snow white,” this variety has fragrant, semi-double white flowers from pink buds. Features a strong horizontal branching habit, growing 20 feet tall and 25 feet wide.

• ‘Mount Fuji’

  Displays pure white, sweetly fragrant flowers. New leaves are bronze, turning green in summer and yellow to orange in fall.

Weeping Flowering Cherries

Weeping cherries are especially striking when given space to grow. Their graceful branches sweep down to the ground, creating a rounded form with heavy, early blooms. Available as high or low-headed trees:

• High-headed

  Grafted at five to six feet, blooming with double rosy-pink flowers. Can grow to 15 feet tall.

• Low-headed

  Grafted at 30 inches, featuring single pink flowers. Forms a six-foot mound.

Avoid topping these trees, as it ruins their graceful form. Remove any upright shoots from the rootstock to maintain their shape.

Flowering cherries are the quintessential symbol of spring in a Japanese garden and make an outstanding focal point for any landscape.