In the early portion of the 20th Century the Japanese Flowering cherry was introduced into the landscape of Washington D.C.  The cornerstone of this kind act of diplomacy occurred in 1912 when the City of Tokyo donated some 3,000 flowering cherries to our nation's capitol.  The cherries were placed in many areas, the most famous being the Tidal Basin of Washington where the Jefferson Memorial resides.  Washington celebrates annually with the "Cherry Blossom Festival".  This flowering tree has grown to a a staple in our landscape today.

    Both flowering and fruiting cherries fall into the genus Prunus.  Cherries do not have an unlimited life span, but grow rapidly, generally living 25 or 30 years.  The spectacular blossoms are open from late March to early April.  The trees are single trunked with an attractive brown bark tingled red.  The deciduous foliage emerges following the blossom time and remains until late October.

    The key to success with all cherries is proper drainage.  Stoned fruits, which include cherries, plums, and peaches, are intolerant of poor drainage and heavy clay.  Such conditions leave them prone to root rot and the incurable bacterial gummosis.  Assuming one has avoided such conditions, these plants will thrive in full sun situations.  Do not be alarmed,  just make sure your soil drains properly.  The last negative thing I will say is that the Japanese beetles find cherries quite tasty.  It should be noted that the genus Prunus covers a wide array of plants including flowering plums, flowering almonds, flowering apricots, and cherry laurels.

    Of the many varieties of flowering cherries, probably the most popular cultivar is the "Kwanzan" flowering cherry (Prunus serrulata "Kwanzan").  This plant rapidly grows to  height of 20 to 30 feet.  The blooms are a clear pink, double flower (multiple petals like a carnation).  The blooms tend to last 3 weeks, yielding to a light green foliage with a red tinge.

    Another flowering cherry is the "Yoshino" cherry (Prunus x yedoensis).  The Yoshino does not grow as fast as the Kwanzan, but it will attain the same size.  The single flowers (having 5 simple petals) are dainty and "snow storm" white.  Compared to a Bradford pear or a white dogwood, I can spot the blossom of a Yoshino a mile away.  The wind tends to make the bloom period shorter than that of the Kwanzan, but it is worth the thrill.  The bark is darker, as is the foliage - a trait which I prefer.  While both trees are beautiful, you might  sense my preference.

    Flowering cherries also come in weeping forms.  The "grafted" form (Prunus subhirtella 'Yae-shidare-higan') grows about 2 or 3 feet than the graft for a total height of about 8 feet.  The spread is about 6 or 8 feet in diameter.  This plant is great for small areas and can be maintained by giving the weeping branches a haircut to keep them off of the ground. Other pruning would include removal of non-productive branches.  The natural (non grafted) form is Prunus subhirtella pendula.  This form needs lots of room, as the low growing tree can spread to a diameter of 25 feet.  If you have the space, this cherry proves to be a show-stopping specimen.

    My observation has been that established flowering cherries can endure the droughts we commonly have in the Fredericksburg area.  On the other side of the coin, I have watched with interest as two Kwanzans with identical situations have taken different paths in the last 5 years.  Both trees are on the same property in raised soil encircled by concrete curbing, growing in beds 20 feet in diameter - kind of like a swimming pool.  In the year of 1998 when El Nino was upon us, one of the two 20 foot in diameter trees when into sharp decline, as though the plant was affected by cancer.  While both trees still survive today, the afflicted tree lost a great portion of its frame and was nearly half the mass of the healthy tree. Finally the two trees are growing at the same pace, though the unaffected tree is still more massive, as it always will be.  I believe the roots soaked in water and the lesser tree suffered great root rot damage.  As Ellen would tell me, enough already...  Until next week.

                                                                                                                Andy Lynn