Yoshino Cherry

Spreading, wide vase shape to 30' (40') tall and wide. Like many cherries, these are fast-growing short-lived (not generally more than 50...Read More years). Very beautiful during their famously short season of bloom.

This is widely believed to be a hybrid, but there is some controversy about the parentage. Usually considered P. serrulata x P. subhirtella or P. speciosa x P. subhirtella.

I LOVE my Yoshinos. Here in the Northwest corner of Washington state, our temps can dip down close to zero degrees at least for a week e...Read Moreach winter. We also deal with 40*-plus fluctuating temps in early to mid spring, going from near 70* in the daytime to below 30* at night, causing disturbing freeze-thaw events. The trees are completely non-plussed by any of this. They're planted in two rows along a grassy road leading up to our upper pasture. I watered them religiously at least twice a week the first year and once a week (or two) the next two. The grassy road slopes and our summer temps can linger at 95* to 104* for several weeks on end. I think I dragged the hose up that road once or twice last summer, but that was all. They're blooming beautifully right now---like a gorgeous tunnel. I bought them at Lowe's with a severe root prune and bare root. Truthfully, I had my doubts. 6 out 8 survived marvelously; I replaced one with another tree from Lowe's and it's doing exceptionally well. I fertilize using a general flowering tree fertilizer on them every 2 years and spread (not too thick!) wood ash from our fireplace around them each spring. I've never had a problem with pests and have pruned them only lightly once. They grow FAST. They're sensitive to being planted too deep and I actually had to remove about 3 inches of soil in a wide circle around two of the trees that stopped growing but continued to flower. They immediately started putting out growth fast and furious. Their shapes are very individual with some springing more upright and others forming a more rounded habit. Deerlike the lower branches but not overly so. GREAT tree---highly recommend it.

This tree has been extremely successful in my zone 5a yard, which surprised me, since I associate it with warmer climates. It bloomed wh...Read Moreen very young, and it is on the windiest side of my yard, completely unprotected from the elements. Since I have clay soil, I give it fresh compost and pine bark mulch and use ironite on it each spring.

The city of Macon, Georgia, has more of these trees than are planted in Washington, DC, and Prunus x Yedoensis seems to love it here. O...Read Moreur soil is acidic, we get above average water, and, of course, we have plenty of sun. I planted three bare-root seedlings in the full sun of my front yard in December of 2003. (These trees are best planted in the winter to allow the roots to get established.) I managed to kill one tree accidentally, but the other two are thriving. I watered them weekly for the first year, and after that I ignored them (with the exception of needing to defend the weaker tree from an ant attack last Summer). Now, less than three years from when the seedlings were planted, one tree is @ 15 feet tall, and the other is @ 12 feet. Beautiful white blooms appear in the third week of March here in Middle Georgia (zone 8a).